Jena played Tuesday night in second round
For the third straight season the Jena Giants started their playoff run under Head Coach Matt Whitman this past Friday night and a clutch three-point shot sent the Giants to the second round.
The #13 Giants took on district rival #20 Caldwell Spartans February 27 in Jena for the first round of the Division III Non-Select state playoffs. These two teams met back on January 9th in a district contest with the Giants making some big plays late to secure a 47-41 victory in Columbia. Jena would come in with a veteran team looking to make a run in their senior season. Caldwell came in looking to pull the upset as they had a large cheering section that at times made the Guy Campbell Memorial Gym sound like a Caldwell home game.
Caldwell would start the game on a 7-2 run before Jena would settle in and finish the quarter on a 6-0 run to take an 8-7 lead into the 2nd quarter with both teams struggling on offense.
Caldwell would take a 9-8 lead early in the 2nd quarter but that would be the last lead in the game for the Spartans. Jena would go into halftime leading 23-18.
The Giants would keep a lead throughout the 2nd half but just could not put the gritty Caldwell team away. Caldwell would continue to keep the game within 4 to 6 points throughout the 2nd half.
Then it would appear that disaster would hit Jena as junior forward Daniel Hatcher would pick up his 4th foul then his 5th foul on a technical foul that would foul him out of the game. Jena led at this point 47-43 but this would give Caldwell four free throws and possession of the ball. Caldwell would make two out of four free throws to cut the deficit to two. Caldwell would have a shot at the basket but would miss allowing Jena to get the rebound. However, a turnover at the Caldwell basket would allow Brennan Hardy to tie the game at 47 with 36 seconds remaining in the contest.
Jena would then inbound the ball to senior guard Xavier Brown who would pass it to his twin brother Zac Brown who would dribble to the base line and put up a shot that would go over the rim to the other side. Senior forward Zadrien Cooper would rebound the ball and pass it out to senior Gus Morphis who entered the game for Daniel Hatcher when he fouled out. Morphis would be wide open on the wing in front of the Caldwell fan section and would put up the threepoint shot that would go through the net barely touching it and giving the Giants a 50-47 lead with 11 seconds left.
Caldwell would attempt a three on the other end but would come up short as the Giants would go on to win 50-47.
Xavier Brown would lead the Giants with 14 points in the game. Zadrien Cooper had 13 points, Zac Brown had 7 points, Brittain Johnson had 6 points, Titan Smith had 5 points, Gus Morphis had 3 points, and Daniel Hatcher had 2 points.
With the win the Giants moved on to the second round. This contest was schedule for Tuesday night, March 3, which had the #13 Giants travel to #4 Doyle who had a bye in the first round.
Doyle High School is located east of Baton Rouge just off I12. Although Doyle is ranked 10 spots higher than Jena, the Giants are playing quality ball of late, and the game should be close. If all goes well, by the time you are reading this article we will be talking about how the Giants traveled south and pulled off the upset.
The winner of the Jena-Doyle game advances to the quarterfinal round and will take on the winner of the #5 Mamou and #12 Richwood game later this week.
