The Jena Giants honored their seniors Tuesday night, January 20, as they played Weston at home for Senior Night.
The Giants’ seniors are Zac Brown, Xavier Brown, Gus Morphis, Titan Smith, and Zadrien Cooper. These seniors were freshman when head coach Matt Whitman took over and have been a big part in rebuilding Jena Giants basketball.
Zac Brown, Xavier Brown, and Zadrien Cooper have been starters since their freshman season.
The Giants have gotten off to a great start this season and came into Senior Night with an 8-2 record. The Giants would easily take care of Weston by a score of 55-29.
In the game for the Giants, Xavier Brown had 11 points, 4 steals, and 4 rebounds. Zadrien Cooper had 8 points and 12 rebounds in the game, along with some exciting and crowd pleasing dunks. Silas Powell had 6 points and 2 steals as well.
On Friday, January 23, the Giants would take on the Bunkie Panthers in another District 2-3A matchup. These two teams have had some great matchups over the years, but the Giants have been unable to beat the Panthers. So, this would be a big game for the Giants trying to get over the hump and pick up the win.
It would be a low scoring defensive battle for both teams as Bunkie would take a 10-8 lead into the 2nd quarter. Once again, neither team could get much going in the 2nd quarter as Bunkie would take a 17-15 lead into halftime.
The two teams would exchange the lead a couple of times in the 3rd quarter but Bunkie would lead for most of the 2nd half. Jena would lead 32-30 in the 3rd quarter but that would be the last time the Giants would have a lead as Bunkie would go on to win 48-39.
In the game for the Giants, Zac Brown had 12 points, Zadrien Cooper had 11 points, Xavier Brown had 6 points, Titan Smith had 5 points, Gus Morphis had 3 points, and Daniel Hatcher would finish with 2 points.
The Giants are now 9-3 on the season and 2-1 in district play. They are currently ranked #11 in the Division III Non-Select power rankings.
This Friday, January 30, the Giants will travel to Vidalia for another district game against the Vikings. Next Tuesday, February 3, the Giants will be on the road against a good Glenmora team. Then on Friday, February 6,seni the Giants will return home as the Buckeye Panthers come to town.
