By T. Scott Boatright
CHOUDRANT — In a close, competitive basketball game, especially during prep postseason play, a game can often come down to one single shot.
Fortunately for the Choudrant High School boys basketball team, the Aggies have junior sharpshooter Carson Carrico on their side.
Carrico led the way with 28 points Thursday night as 13th-seeded Choudrant defeated 20th-seeded Episcopal School of Acadiana (ESA) 67-59 in the opening round of the Class B boys basketball playoffs inside the CHS gym.
That win sets up a Lincoln Parish showdown on Tuesday when the Aggies will play at fourth-seeded Simsboro.
Choudrant opened the game against ESA with a 7-0 run, thanks to a Parker Batterton layup, Carrico’s first of the six 3-pointers he hit on the night, and a putback by Jackson Ambrose.
ESA’s first score came at the 4:23 mark of the opening stanza as Semar Flugence hit a short jumper for the first two of his 25 points on the night.
The Falcons cut the Choudrant lead to one point at 7-6 with 2:03 left in the first quarter, but the Aggies closed out the stanza with a 6-3 run to build a 13-9 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Choudrant built a five-point lead at 17-12 on a Carrico layup 58 seconds into the second quarter, but ESA countered with an 8-0 run of its own to take a 20-17 with five minutes remaining in the first half.
The Aggies tied the game on a 3-pointer by Carrico, who followed that with two free throws to put Choudrant back on top 22-20 with 3:05 left in the second quarter.
Choudrant then turned things up and closed out the stanza with a 14-8 run to take a 36-28 — into the locker room at halftime.
“I’m fortunate to have two great assistant coaches who encouraged me to get the team to pick up the pace there late in the second quarter,” said Aggies coach Ryan Smith. “This was an exciting, competitive game with a great crowd, and that was an important few minutes of the game.
“Give (ESA) credit, they came to play from start to finish. But getting that halftime lead gave us confidence that we would need down the stretch.”
ESA battled back in the third quarter, cutting Choudrant’s lead to two points at 45-43 on a Colby Hoffman layup with 1:58 left in the period.
But the Aggies countered that with a 5-1 run to close out the stanza to take a 50-44 advantage heading into the final eight minutes of play.
The Falcons opened the fourth quarter with five straight points to tie the contest with 5:57 left on the clock.
Choudrant’s Brayden Pye then hit a short jumper but missed on the “and 1” free-throw opportunity to put the Aggies on top 52-50 at the 4:27 mark of the final stanza, but the Falcons had a sharpshooter of their own as Jesse Lejune nailed a long 3-pointer that put ESA on top 53-52 with 3:49 remaining.
Carrico then put Choudrant back on top 55-53 with a 3-pointer to set up that one single shot that determined the final outcome.
Covered tightly by an ESA defender, Carrico launched a 3-point try while falling backwards and being fouled.
That shot fell through the nets with Carrico sitting on the court watching with 3:12 remaining, and his ensuing free throw put the Aggies on top 59-53.
The Aggies then hit on eight of 11 free throw attempts from there — with Carrico, who finished with a game-high 28 points, 18 of which came in the first half, fittingly hitting the final two with 28 seconds remaining —to seal the opening round playoff win.
“That was huge,” Smith said of Carrico’s four-point play. “It came at such a critical point in the game, and to make the ‘and 1’ shot made it even more remarkable.
“The whole team gave it all they had and I’m proud of each and every one of them. But Carson showed early on during his high school career that he has a knack for making 3-pointers, especially at big moments. He spends a lot of time in the gym working on his long-range shooting and he was on again tonight.”
Carrico said he was confident about his game-sealing shot from the get-go.
“I put a lot of work into my 3-point shooting and I have trust in my ability to make them,” Carrico said. “That one felt good as soon as it left my hands. I knew it was going in.”
Pye added 11 points for the Aggies while Clarence Menyweather chipped in with 10 and Ambrose with seven.
Flugence led ESA with 25 points while Lejune added 23, sinking seven 3-pointers in the process.
The Aggies (17-14) now turn their attention to Simsboro, which defeated Choudrant 78-58 on Jan. 10 inside the SHS gym.
“That’s going to be something,” Smith said. “(SHS) Coach (Adam) Wodach has a great team and they showed us when we played them earlier this season. That’s a game that should have every basketball fan around excited. I expect most of Lincoln Parish to be there.
“I think we’re a better team now than the last time we played them, so we’ll see what happens.”
