The Gibsland-Coleman Bulldogs overcame a harrowing 19-point deficit to bring home their first Class C State Championship. This is their first title since winning the Class B title in 1999 over Epps. The task was not easy as they had to overcome the No. 1 seeded Calvin Cougars (36-3) who were in pursuit of their first state title since 1939. That title was won on a dirt court. The Bulldogs’ grit in the late second quarter brought them back within 5 points at halftime and they finally caught the Cougars in the third period and the dogfight was on.
The two teams stayed close the first five minutes only to be tied at 7-7. Calvin’s Joseph Adams who averages 28 points a game scored 5 of the first 7 for the Cougars. Calvin got a spark as they went on a 21-2 run that carried through to the second quarter. Adams hot hand scored eight of the twelve in the first quarter to finish the first quarter with 13 points. Michael Woodford was the sole basket for the Bulldogs during the massive run. When then the first quarter had ended the win was at 12-2 and the Cougars had a 19-9 lead.
The momentum of the huge run continued into the second quarter as Wayne Huckaby picked up from Adams scoring six of the second quarter 9-0 run. Calvin had stretched their lead to 28-9 with 5:33 remaining in the second quarter. The dim view of a state championship heading back to Bienville Parish spurned the Bulldogs on a comeback. They spread the offense around as Dontarious Coleman broke the run. Michael Woodford and Deavery Durham pocketed points for the Bulldogs. Terrance James capitalized the comeback with a dunk. The Bulldogs had almost the lead in half within a minute. Deavery Durham’s impact off the bench continued to help the Bulldogs come back. By halftime, Gibsland-Coleman had a 17-5 run and closed the gap to 28-23.
The referee whistle blew often to keep the game tightly called. Both teams had players with three fouls heading into the second half. Joshua Adams kicked off the Bulldogs closing to within three points. Calvin responded that this was a little too close for comfort. Joseph Adams and Wayne Huckaby scored to push the lead back to 37-30. At 6:25 in the third quarter, the lead scorer for the Cougars received his fourth foul and Coach David Huckaby pulled him to the bench. Adams scored another bucket for GCHS and Calvin called a timeout to strategize a plan without Joseph Adams. The two teams traded baskets for the next minute with Calvin keeping the 40-36 lead. The fouls caught another Cougar as Gunnar Yocum had to go to the bench with his fourth foul. A basket came for James followed by another from Delivery Durham and the Bulldogs had caught Calvin at 40-40 with 2:32 left in the third quarter. John Griffin scored the final four in the third quarter for Calvin and the Cougars took a 44-42 lead into the last quarter of the season.
The Bulldogs became the victim of the foul whistle just 9 seconds into the final quarter as Michael Woodford had fouled out. Calvin continued to draw the fouls and Huckaby and Kyle made three of four to push back to a 7-point lead. Gibsland-Coleman stormed back with a shot from Dontarious Coleman followed by Demarcus Durham. A steal by Terrance James and a follow-up basket gave the Bulldogs the first lead of the game since the first quarter. While the lead was changing, Joseph Adams had to wait at the scorer’s table for over a minute. Kyle gave the lead back to Calvin. Delivery Durham countered to take the lead back. Adams finally returned to the court with 4:16 remaining in the state championship. Joshua Adams scored to push the Bulldog lead to 52-49. Huckaby scored to get within one. Gibsland-Coleman went to stall ball. Coach Robert Jones called timeout for the Bulldogs with 1:16 left. Terrance James came out of the timeout scoring and back to a three-point lead. Dylan Kyle hit the Cougar’s first 3-pointer and we are knotted at 54 with 48 seconds remaining. Deavery Durham gives the Bulldogs back the lead with 21 seconds. With fouls to give before one and one free-throws, Calvin looks to foul. An inbound pass from Joshua Adams is stolen by Joseph Adams. The Cougars attempt the shot but are blocked by Coleman. Fouled again another inbound pass is stolen by Joseph Adams. He drives to the goal and is fouled. He misses the first attempt. He attempts to miss the second but the shot falls. Gibsland-Coleman leads 56-55 with just seconds remaining. James gets the ball and is fouled by Joseph Adams sending him to the bench with 5 fouls. James hits one and Calvin rebounds. A desperation three falls short and the Gibsland-Coleman Bulldogs are the Class C State Champions.
Terrance James scored 20 and received Most Valuable Player honors. Eighth-grader Deavery Durham finished with 14 points. Joshua Adams netted 9. Dontarious Coleman and Michael Woodford each had 6. Demarcus Durham added 2.
For Calvin, the top scorer was Joseph Adams with 20. Wayne Huckaby netted 17. Dylan Kyle bucketed 12. John Griffin added 6.
The Championship will be the Bulldog’s fourth state title in school history.
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