Central Lafourche comeback falls short as H.L. Bourgeois survives in LHSAA playoff opener

When the regular season ended in LHSAA boys basketball earlier this month, Central Lafourche punched its ticket to the Division I non-select playoffs thanks in part to a shocking road win over Class 5A District 7 champion H.L. Bourgeois. As fate would have it, the Trojans and Braves met on HLB's home court again Friday night to kick off the postseason.

For the first half, H.L. Bourgeois (22-10) looked unbeatable, opening the game on a 9-0 run and leading by 14 at the break. The Braves increased the advantage to 16 points late in the third quarter and appeared to be cruising to a first-round victory.

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But then, something changed in CL (18-10). Evan Griffin and Colin Falgout started hitting shots from deep. HLB couldn't control the ball on its end of the floor. The Trojans took their first lead of the game with a few minutes remaining in regulation, and it looked like a signature win for CL was not only possible, but likely.

HLB went on one final run in the closing minutes, and clutch free throws from Markwan George gave his team a three-point advantage in the final seconds. Ultimately, the Trojans' last look to tie fell flat, and the Braves survived and advanced, 67-64.

Comeback comes up short for Central Lafourche

Completing a comeback to remember was tantalizingly close for CL.

With less than seven seconds remaining, the Trojans inbounded the ball on the offensive end of the court. But the Braves' defense held, as Jaycee Woolridge was forced to settle for a layup and hope for a foul to tie. Instead, his shot was no good, no whistle blew, and the clock expired.

Strategy call saves season for H.L. Bourgeois

After George made his second free throw, HLB head coach Andrew Caillouet elected to gamble on fouling the Trojans. With three fouls to give and less than 16 seconds remaining, the Braves used each one of their remaining fouls to put CL on the brink of the bonus and get the right defensive lineup in for the final shot.

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They said it

"We wanted to actually take a couple more seconds off the clock before we fouled," Caillouet said. "But I think we did a tremendous job. We didn't give up a three. We gave them a shot (for two), but it didn't matter at that point."

H.L. Bourgeois travels to Ruston on Tuesday.