Rebels shock Florien to earn spot in finals

LAKE CHARLES - The Midland Rebels are headed back to the state basketball finals.
The defending Class B champions earned their second straight finals berth Wednesday evening, withstanding a furious third-quarter rally by No. 1 seed Florien and pulling away in the final quarter for a 67-50 semifinal victory at McNeese’s Burton Coliseum.
“I’m just really proud of our guys,” said MHS coach William Stanley, whose team (24-5) will now take on Anacoco at 6 p.m. Friday in the Class B championship game. “We’ve fought all year, all summer long, to get to this point. A lot of people didn’t think we’d get back here but we did it.
“These guys have a lot of pride.”
That pride was obvious from the start, when the No. 4-seeded Rebels scored the first five points and went on from there to take a surprising nine-point halftime lead over a team which had entered the tournament ranked No. 1 for the second straight year.
Things looked even better in the opening seconds of the second half when Randy Primeaux drilled a 3-pointer from the wing just 10 seconds into the third quarter to extend the lead to 12 points.
Florien’s Anthony Kimbrough briefly cut the Rebels’ lead to 10 seconds later but Midland’s Traven Guidry answered with a layup and the Midland lead was back to 12.
And then it happened.
The Florien run Stanley feared finally arrived.
Fueled by an aggressive pressing defense, the Blackcats caused turnover after turnover by the Rebels and before anyone knew it, the score was suddenly 40-38, Midland.
Devin Gautreaux finished the frame with a driving layup to give the Rebels a slim 42-38 advantage, but the momentum was clearly with the Blackcats.
“We started panicking and we began trying to dribble through the press there in the third quarter,” Stanley explained. “We didn’t run our press offense correctly and that was the problem. We just needed to calm down.”
The Rebels finally did calm down, breaking the Blackcats’ press time and again to go on a 12-3 run to start the final frame.
In doing so, they regained the momentum and delivered the knockout blow they had hoped for.
“We really kept our composure and we just didn’t panic (in the fourth quarter),” said Stanley, whose team committed an uncharacteristic 22 turnovers on the night. “That was the key, keeping our composure there and that’s why they didn’t bother us so much down the stretch.
“We just kept fighting; we executed our offense and we were getting layups.”
Guidry played a huge role in the victory with a game-high 22 points, including just his second 3-pointer of the season,one that gave the Rebels a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“Traven really gave us a big spark tonight,” said Stanley . “They (Florien) were bothering our guards a little too much and they were really getting after us; so for him to step up and do that in the first half, that was a big help.”
Guidry, who had 11 points in the first quarter, was silent in the second quarter but he poured in 11 more points in the second half. He also finished the night with four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
“We were pretty nervous at the beginning, but once we calmed down, we just played our hearts out,” said Guidry. “Now that we have a chance to take the state championship, it’s a real good feeling."
Guidry, the sixth man on the 2014 state championship team, said he is looking forward to the title game.
“This is actually a better feeling because this year I’m a starter. It’s my senior year and I’ll never get this chance again,” he said.
Gautreaux and Primeaux, both seniors as well, also played major roles in Wednesday’s victory, scoring 18 and 13 points, respectively. Gautreaux added three rebounds and one steal while Primeaux had eight boards, four assists and two steals.
Sophomore Dagan Patin added eight points and grabbed five rebounds to also play a pivotal role.
“Dagan is just so nervous I can’t start him,” said Stanley. “But coming off the bench, he gives us some boards and he’s just always in the right spot at the right time. He helped us out a lot tonight.”
Also contributing in the victory were Dylan Boudreaux, Taatum Rubin and Griffin Hains with two points each.
Kimbrough and Bailey Walker paced the Blackcats with 13 points each while Keaton Booker had eight before fouling out early in the fourth quarter. Kimbrough was also lost for the game in the fourth after an apparent knee injury.