Everything came up Spartans yesterday in LHSAA playoff action on both girls and boys fronts. The defending Class 4A Salmen Lady Spartans continued their championship surge downing the No. 5 seed St. Thomas More Lady Cougars 51-33 in the LHSAA girls' state basketball semifinals in Lake Charles. The nearly unstoppable Kalani Brown delivered big time once again as she recorded a team-high 22 points pulling down an amazing 20 rebounds as she helped control the paint for Salmen. She also contributed four blocks with two assists. Hayley Pichon also sparkled in the semifinal victory collecting 13 points with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Megan Brown came through with another solid performance dropping in 11 points to go with seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. The 32-1 Salmen ball club has punched its ticket for a return trip to the state championship game scheduled for this Saturday at Burton Colesium in Lake Charles. The Lady Spartans are making their third consecutive appearance in the championship game and will take on the winner of No. 2 seed Warren Easton and No. 3 DeRidder, which are scheduled to play tonight at 8 o'clock in Lake Charles. The Class 4A championship contest is set for this Saturday tipping off at 8 so the Lady Spartans coached by Kevin Anderson are ready to defend their crown. Coach Anderson said Salmen's man-to-man defense was big in the fourth quarter holding St. Thomas More to just four points. Anderson credited Kalani Brown with controlling the boards with her 20 rebounds. Anderson also credited Haley pichon and Megan Brown with delivering when they needed them. He said the girls are definitely excited about returning to the championship game to defend their title.
In boys' Class 4A playoff action from yesterday, the Salmen Spartans continued to deliver as they rolled past No. 24 Beau Chene 58-37 in a regional round road victory spearheaded by senior Dwayne Williams, who finished with a team-high 16 points. The 23-8, No. 8 seed Spartans, advance to the quarterfinals and face a major challenge squaring off with No. 1 seed Landry/Walker, a 53-36 winner over No. 16 Edna Karr. Salmen has the home court advantage in a 7 o'clock tip off tomorrow night, hosting the Chargin' Bucs. In yesterday's victory over Beau Chene, junior Corey Vinson was clutch adding 15 points including knocking down 6-of-6 free throws late in the final three minutes. Junior Chris Vickers netted 14 points and junior Cody Rudolph chipped in with 11 points. Salmen coach Jay Carlin said Rudolph, Vickers and Williams controlled the glass for the Spartans, while Pitts, Vickers and Vinson handled the backcourt pressure. Coach Carlin went on to say his team has grown up in the last month and hopefully they can keep it up heading into Friday's quarterfinals.
In Class 5A regional round action, No. 22 seed Hammond was knocked out of the playoffs, falling to No. 6 Dutchtown 64-35 last night at home.
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