STM boys basketball coach Danny Broussard discusses the Cougars' triple-overtime victory over Comeaux James Bewers/The Advertiser
Jeremy Whittington cracked a smile.
Eventually, Danny Broussard did too.
It was little before 9 p.m. Wednesday at Comeaux High’s gymnasium, about 20 minutes before St. Thomas More finally beat the Spartans 62-60.
Allegedly, this was a high school basketball game. It was more like the 12th round of a heavyweight bout. At that point in the night, both pugilist appeared punch drunk. Yet neither would throw in the proverbial white towel.
The score was 54-54. Comeaux and St. Thomas More were about to enter a third overtime period. How it got to there was as absurd as it was fascinating to watch.
“I told (my assistant coaches) I’m undefeated in three and four overtimes,” said Broussard, the Cougars’ head coach. “Now two overtimes, I’ve gotten beat, but I haven’t lost in three overtimes. You hate for somebody to lose that game because we both battled all night long.”
“You’re hoping that your kids, like ours, just give you max effort,” said Whittington, the Spartans’ head coach, of playing triple-overtime game. “You’re asking a lot of kids. You’re putting them under a microscope and hoping that everything they do is perfect, and it’s not always going to be that way.”
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Midway through third quarter, the Spartans (11-7) led 32-22, firmly in control of meeting between two local schools that don’t often play each other.
For the better part of three quarters, the Cougars (14-7) had few answers for Comeaux’s 1-3-1 zone defense. The Spartans have so much length and speed throughout its roster that, no matter who is on the floor, passing and driving lanes close quickly. Whittington feels his team can win most games if they can deflect the ball at least 25 times. The Spartans had 30 for the game.
But STM’s 1-2-2 half-court trap can be equally as suffocating at its best. It’s what Broussard relies upon when scoring is difficult, leading to transition offense. Broussard realized his team was lucky to be down only eight points at the half when it struggled to generate offense.
“I was always tell our guys,” Broussard said, “the only way you can get back into a game like that is to guard and get after it.”
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So STM buckled down and went on a 23-10 run after falling into the 10-point hole. That included a 11-2 run to open the fourth quarter, which gave the Cougars 45-42 lead. But then Spartans guard Ferontay Banks drilled a 3-pointer on the other end to even the score.
And that’s when the gamesmanship between Broussard and Whittington, close friends off the court, began. The two coaches haven’t faced off in regular season game since Whittington was coaching at Morgan City more than 10 years ago.
“I think this is a good rivalry that should start again,” Whittington said. “I think we proved that. Both teams player their guts out. I’ve been begging (Broussard) for five years to play that game.”
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STM held the ball for essentially the final two minutes of regulation – there’s no shot clock in high school basketball – before Broussard took a timeout with 9.8 seconds left on the clock.
“I let them hold it for two minutes because they were exhausted,” Broussard said. “I think it kind of played to our advantage because we had two guys with four fouls and we were exhausted. So that two minutes of just sitting and resting plus the minute timeout gave us a little break we needed.”
Broussard then called another timeout when he saw how the Spartans planned to defend the inbound play. Comeaux came out in man-to-man defend, so Broussard expected zone.
“I don’t think at any point in that game we didn’t no what was coming from each other,” Whittinton said of the “chess match” with Broussard. “It’s what our kids can stop and what our kids can carry out.”
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Broussard wanted guard Jonathan Cisse to attack the basket, which he did, before Banks went for a steal and knocked the ball out of bounds with four seconds left. Broussard then called for another timeout, but STM didn’t execute the play its coach drew up.
So they went to overtime, where Comeaux had an opportunity ice the game with 11.6 seconds left, if not for two missed free throws. It gave STM an opportunity to tie it.
STM’s Logan Rader found himself open under the basket for a layup, which he missed. He didn’t quit on the play, though, somehow corralling his miss to throw up a wild shot from the free throw at the buzzer. It managed to find the bottom of the net.
“The coaches are doing everything they can. The kids are working their tails off. The mental mistakes is what we’re making, and that’s what got us,” Whittington said. “We shot 10 of 22 from the (free throw) line, and that’s awful. When you look every stat that we set goals for as a game, we met. Every single one of them except for (free throw percentage).”
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So they went to a second overtime, and Comeaux pulled something out of the STM’s bag of tactics, holding the ball for two and a half minutes. With under 30 seconds left, the Cougars forced a traveling violation. With an opportunity to win the game, STM missed a layup.
Whittington grinned. Eventually, so too did Broussard. If this night is what rekindles a natural rivalry, it’s only right that the first game began with these kinds of theatrics.
“That’s the game of basketball,” Broussard said of the missed opportunity at the end of the second overtime period. “That’s how it works.”
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So they went to a third overtime, and neither team decided to be passive. STM’s Jude Joseph, who matched Cisse with 18 points, converted a three-point play. Thomas, who finished with 24 points, made two free throws on the other end, one of the rare occasions in which the Spartans knocked down both shots at the line. Cisse responded with a layup.
It eventually came down to STM possessing the ball with 23 seconds left after Banks hit his third triple of the night, upping his total to 19 points. Cisse drove to the basket and drew a foul with 3.7 seconds left. He swished both freebies, and the Cougars held on for the victory.
Even before the final horn sounded, Whittington called back-to-back timeouts to try to draw up a play to tie or win the game. To the very end, neither coach would blink.
“It’s frustrating because we’ve lost about four games like this already this season, and that’s tough because you have a senior team that really every kid works their tails off. Every kid does what we ask them to do,” Whittington said. “And sometimes, they just go out and mistakes. … I don’t know if we’re taking licks like this now so that our kids are just getting sharper for these situations. But as a coach, you want to see it immediately, and maybe it doesn’t work that way. Maybe I’m being humbled a little bit and understanding that this is all building to something that’s great.”
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