MATHEWS — H.L. Bourgeois junior basketball player Anthony Ruffin Jr. picked a perfect time to unload his frustrations during Tuesday’s District 7-5A showdown against Central Lafourche.
The Braves trailed most of the night and committed costly mistakes from missed shots and free throws and costly turnovers.
So Ruffin decided he had enough. He drove down the lane and finished with a spectacular one-handed dunk on a Central Lafourche player that re-energized his teammates, coaches and fans inside a packed Central Lafourche gym with 1:22 left in the third quarter.
The play sparked the Braves late in the second half and eventually helped them take a 66-60 comeback win over the Trojans.
After Ruffin’s dunk, Central Lafourche (10-7 overall, 0-2 in district) had a brief 51-47 lead after the third quarter, but the Braves (17-6 overall, 3-0 in district) went on a 19-9 run in the fourth quarter to get the win.
And it started with the dunk from Ruffin, who finished with 15 points.
“I was frustrated I couldn’t make any free throws at the time,” Ruffin said. “I usually make them, so I used (the dunk) to get us going. He was under there so I just dunked on him.”
Ruffin said the dunk set the tone for the rest of the game.
“Any big play we make is huge, but I guess that one just gave us all the momentum just to play defense and finally get a stop so we win a tough game,” Ruffin said. “It was a big win for us. We really needed this win to keep our confidence going. We know if we can just keep it going, we’ll be good.”
H.L. Bourgeois coach Andrew Caillouet said Ruffin’s dunk was a huge emotional lift for the Braves.
“That was huge. We’ve seen him make those plays all the time in practice. I tell him all the time to go dunk it on somebody’s head,” Caillouet said. “He does 360s in practice. He dunks it backwards. He windmills. He’s got hops. It’s not surprising to us. It might be surprising to the fans watching and didn’t know he had those kind of hops, but we knew he did.”
Central Lafourche led 13-10 after the first quarter and took a 32-22 lead after an Alex Sanders (15 points) 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the second quarter.
But the Braves closed out the period on an 9-1 run, which was highlighted by two 3-pointers from Terrell Barrow (eight points), to lead 33-31 at halftime.
“I think we played pretty bad the whole night, but that’s a credit to Central Lafourche and (Trojans coach) Mark Sanders,” Caillouet said. “I thought we played particularly bad in the first half, but we had a terrific fourth quarter.”
In the fourth quarter, Jamiree Williams (17 points) gave the Trojans a 55-49 lead on a 3-point shot, but the Braves and senior star Anthony Rainey Jr. went to work from there.
H.L. Bourgeois went on a 13-2 run, which was capped by two fastbreak layups by Rainey off Trojans turnovers to take a 62-57 lead with 2:27 to go.
Rainey, who finished with 32 points, said the Braves defense in the second half was key.
“It was a great victory against a tough team,” Rainey said. “We had to play defense in the second half. In the first half, we weren’t really locking up like we should. We stopped them a lot in the second half and got the lead again.”
Coach Sanders said turnovers, missed free throws and bad rebounding were costly at the end for the Trojans, who got 17 points from Marvin Robertson Jr., 15 points from Alex Sanders and nine points from David Robinson Jr.
“We were leading the whole game,” Coach Sanders said. “Down the stretch, we have to make free throws. We have to make layups. We have to rebound and play defense. I thought we had it, but down the stretch, we scored nine points in the quarter and they scored 19. We couldn’t catch a pass, we couldn’t make layups or make free throws. We just found a way to shoot ourselves in the foot.”
TUESDAY'S BOYS BASKETBALL CAPSULES
THIBODAUX 76, TERREBONNE 52 (at Houma, District 7-5A game)
Score by quarters: Thibodaux led 22-13 after the first quarter, 41-26 at halftime and 50-39 at the end of the third quarter
Statistical leaders: Thibodaux — Kobi Johnson (24 points), Jaquan Wagner (14 points), Kyren Lacy (13 points); Terrebonne — Keshawn James (12 points), Jahki Douglas (13 points)
Records: Thibodaux (13-5 overall; 2-1 in district); Terrebonne (6-12 overall; 0-2 in district)
SOUTH LAFOURCHE 61, COVENANT CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 58, OT (at Houma, nondistrict game)
Score by quarters: South Lafourche led 13-12 after the first quarter, CCA led 21-19 at halftime, CCA led 44-38 at the end of the third quarter and the score was tied at 54 at the end of regulation
Statistical leaders: South Lafourche — Matt Belanger (23 points), Austin Cantrelle (13 points), Luke Chaisson (11 points); CCA — Dakarai Johnson (37 points), Tre’veon Sauceberry (eight)
Records: South Lafourche (13-7 overall); CCA (11-5 overall)
SOUTH TERREBONNE 82, SOUTH PLAQUEMINES 53 (at Bourg, nondistrict game)
Statistical leaders: South Terrebonne — Connor Brunet (27 points), Ron Cox Jr. (22 points), Tyler Smith (11 points)
Records: South Terrebonne (10-9 overall); South Plaquemines (6-9 overall)
ASSUMPTION 64, ST. AMANT 60 (at Napoleonville, nondistrict game)
Score by quarters: St. Amant led 16-7 after the first quarter, 38-31 at halftime and 50-47 at the end of the third quarter
Statistical leaders: Assumption — Dongell Washington (17 points), Marlon Robinson (15 points), Jacoby Brown (14 points), Steven McBride (10 points)
Records: Assumption (10-12 overall); St. Amant (17-4 overall)
LUTCHER 51, ST. JAMES 49 (at St. James, nondistrict game)
Statistical leaders: St. James — Shamar Smith (16 points, two assists, one block), Glenn Brown III (10 points), Saivion Jones (10 points, five rebounds), Dontaz Sterling (four steals, two assists)
Records: St. James (9-8 overall); Lutcher (1-12 overall)