For the third straight season the Giants basketball team had made the playoffs, and for the second time in three years they were playing in the second round of the state playoffs.
This is an accomplishment that has not happened in a long time at Jena High School. After the Giants’ nail-biting win over Caldwell in the first round, they would move on to the second round to take on the #4 Doyle Tigers.
The Giants came into the game as the #13 seed with a 14-8 record on the season while Doyle came in with a 26-5 record on the season. Both teams would feature a balanced attack with guards that can shoot from outside and post players that can score and defend near the rim. Both teams would also have veteran teams featuring lineups led by juniors and seniors.
Doyle would jump out to a 16-7 lead going into the second quarter and at one point would have a 15-point lead in the second quarter. The Giants would battle back though and cut the deficit to seven, going into halftime with Doyle leading 26-19.
In the third quarter it would appear that Doyle was going to run away with the game as they would have their biggest lead of the game at 18 and would take a 17-point lead into the final quarter.
The Giants, however, would not give up as they would slowly chip away at the lead in the final quarter. Senior Xavier Brown would make a three point with under two minutes left in the game to get the Giants within six at 59-53.
That would be as close the Giants would get though as Doyle would go on to win 67-58.
Senior Xavier Brown would lead all scorers in the game with 25 points while Zadrien Cooper would have 18 points. Titan Smith had 5 points, Daniel Hatcher had 4 points, Zac Brown had 3 points, and Brittain Johnson had 3 points.
The Giants’ great season came to an end and with it some great senior careers end also. The five seniors Xavier Brown, Zac Brown, Zadrien Cooper, Titan Smith, and Gus Morphis were all freshman when head coach Matt Whitman was hired and have been major contributors to the program for four years. Together as a group they have turned the program around as the two years before they got to high school the basketball team didn’t make the playoffs. Now they have made it three years in a row. Thank you, seniors, for all of your hard work and dedication to the program.
Congratulations to Coach Whitman and staff for another great year. With that said, next year will look very different as the Giants will return only one starter to the team. The program will be turned over to another young group that will look to make their mark on the program. We will be there to watch and cheer them on. Congratulations guys on another great year.
This week’s Giants sports page is sponsored by Ace Hardware.
