The 10 Best: Bonnabel vs. East Jefferson (Video)
Bonnabel dropped a matchup against District 8-5A rival East Jefferson, 49-46, on January 13 and the Bruins had no intentions of seeing a similar outcome this past Tuesday. They took care of business at The Bear Trap in Kenner, La.…
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Continue ReadingBonnabel dropped a matchup against District 8-5A rival East Jefferson, 49-46, on January 13 and the Bruins had no intentions of seeing a similar outcome this past Tuesday. They took care of business at The Bear Trap in Kenner, La. to beat the Warriors 66-60 and have one more game left in the regular season and will start the playoffs this week.
South Alabama signee Joe Thompson and 2017 G David Green led the way for Bonnabel combining for 45 points and both hit some big shots down the stretch to put the game away. Most of the game was played within a 6-8-point window before Bonnabel pulled away late in the fourth quarter.
MVP: 2017 Joe Thompson (Bonnabel)
The 6-foot-5 Thompson showed off his versatility Tuesday night for the Bruins making an impact as a scorer, glass-cleaner and rebounder. The South Alabama signee was the game’s top scorer and rebounder with 25 and 11 and also had a couple of steals. I didn’t have him with any blocks but his presence around the rim forced EJ to think twice on several occasions.
Offensively, Thompson started in the paint with some easy shots and worked his way out assuming more ball handling duties as the game wore on and got close. His best stretch came at the end of the third and early fourth quarter when he scored 9 of Bonnabel’s 14 points to turn a 42-42 tie into a 57-47 advantage with 3:59 to go.
Play Of The Game: Joe Thompson, steal, shake & dunk (Bonnabel)
Thompson’s defense turned into offense late in the third quarter when he picked off a pass, whipped the ball behind his back to lose a defender and slammed it home with two hands to get the Bruin fans on their feet. The dunk put Bonnabel up 42-36 with 1:25 left in the third quarter.
Best Offensive Performance: David Green (Bonnabel)
Green got buckets in big-time spots for Bonnabel on against the Warriors on Tuesday. The 6-foot-1 2017 guard scored eight straight points for the Bruins including back-to-back 3-pointers that pushed the lead to 28-20 late in the second quarter and drilled another long range bomb for a 62-50 advantage to put the game out of reach with 3:07 to play. Green finished with 20 points including three triples and a couple of and-one’s and he was also 5-of-5 at the stripe with five steals and four rebounds.
Best Intangibles: Eion McGee (East Jefferson)/Ivory Scott (Bonnabel)
McGee wasn’t thrilled with his performance as he missed some makable shots and had a turnover or two he’d like to get back but he still finished with 13 points and was the orchestrater of E.J.’s offensive attack. The 6-foot 2017 guard dished out a game-high 7 assists and also made an impact on the glass grabbing 7 rebounds.
Defensively, McGee had the best performance of anyone on the court holding 2018 T.J. Collins to just 7 points. McGee did a good job of simply keeping himself between Collins and the rim and also got a hand up to contest most of Collins’ jumpers.
Bonnabel’s Ivory Scott also deserves a mention in this category. The stocky, 6-foot-1 2017 forward defended, assisted and rebounded and his presence allows Thompson’s versatility to shine in other areas as Scott monitors the paint.
Best Under-The-Radar Performance: Gee Milton (East Jefferson)
Milton’s game was far from under the radar against Bonnabel and he’s a name to watch going forward. The 6-foot-1 2018 guard showed off a sweet stroke from long range with 15 of his 21 points coming from behind the arc and he was also efficient with his pull-up, midrange game as well. Milton also mixed it up in the paint coming away with 9 rebounds but I would like to see him be more aggressive attacking the rim to round out his offensive game. He does have a scorer’s mentality, though, and didn’t back down in a tough environment against a district rival.
Best Underclassmen: Rashawn Gallaspy (East Jefferson)
This was a game for the big boys and Gallaspy was the only underclassmen to see significant playing time. The 2019 forward played his role for the Warriors doing the dirty work inside with 10 rebounds and also added eight points.
Best Atmosphere: “The Bear Trap”
This can be one of the rowdiest crowds in the metro area (sometimes too rowdy) and they were ready to go Tuesday night against one of their district rivals. The atmosphere at “The Bear Trap” is one of the biggest reasons the Bruins are 8-0 on their home floor this year, although, the LHSAA does list their February 7 matchup as a loss despite Bonnabel being up 70-58 with 36 seconds left before the game was called due to a fight that included players and fans. There were no incidents of the sort on Tuesday night, though, and let’s all hope it stays that way going forward.
Best Quote: Joe Thompson (Bonnabel)
Thompson touched on a handful of subjects in my quick interview with him after the game and his most interesting response was in reference to Bonnabel’s first loss against East Jeff, 49-46, on January 13:
“We felt like we messed up last time. We slept on them a lot and they got the W so we had a chip on our shoulder and we wanted to play hard at home and stay undefeated.”
Story To Watch Going Forward: T.J. Collins (Bonnabel)
Collins had a really rough outing going scoreless in the first half before chipping in with 7 points in the second half. Most of his shots were way off to start the game but you can see the skills the 6-foot-2 guard posses. He stayed aggressive even though his shots weren’t falling but the pressure he put on the defense at least made E.J. guards work on both ends of the floor. It’ll be interesting to see how Collins regroups going forward but my guess is another big game isn’t too far off. He scored 11 straight in the fourth quarter of Bonnabel’s game against Helen Cox, a 70-58 win the Bruins essentially forfeited due to a fight.
Playoff Outlooks
Both Bonnabel and East Jefferson are postseason bound in the upcoming LHSAA Class 5A playoffs. The Bruins are in line to snag a top 10 seed this year after advancing to the quarterfinals last season as the No. 19 seed. They beat No. 14 East St. John and No. 3 Landry-Walker, which boasted one of the state’s top 2016 prospects, current Mississippi State freshman Lamar Peters, who leads the Bulldogs in 3-point percentage while taking the most three’s and is second in scoring and assists. That win should give Bonnabel some confidence going into this year’s run and no one should be surprised if they end up in the semifinals.
East Jefferson should come in towards the bottom third of Class 5A’s 32 playoff teams but they’ll be in the dance for sure. The Warriors didn’t make the playoffs last year and they were only the 28 seed in 2014-15 so their roster doesn’t have a ton of playoff experience. Still, E.J. has a few strong wins this season including Bonnabel and Crescent City and they could be a tough out for whoever draws them in the first round.