Northwood High School has made Boyce into Title Town in Louisiana high school basketball.

A week after the Lady Gators won the LHSAA’s Division IV Select championship, the Gators ran away with the boys state title Saturday afternoon in Lake Charles, overwhelming Lincoln Prep 73-56.

It capped a 29-7 season for the Northwood boys, who were the top seed in the playoff bracket and lived up to billing. The Gators won their semifinal game by 15, following much the same script – taking control after halftime.

Saturday, second-seeded Lincoln Prep trailed by just 27-23 at the half. Northwood controlled the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers 17-8, capped by a massive 3-pointer from Jeigh Lee just before the buzzer.

The 44-31 advantage was never threatened afterward. The spread grew as big as 20, 62-42, on a basket by Lee, who had 12 points. His fellow senior Randarius Morris scored 15 and grabbed 12 rebounds.

The spotlight was on the third senior star for the Gators, Omarion “Diddy” Layssard, who earned the game’s Most Outstanding Player award with 34 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals. He sank 11 of 18 shots from the floor and drained 10 of 12 at the free throw line.

Northwood had dominated the fourth quarter to break open a tight semifinal contest Wednesday afternoon with St. Martin’s of Metairie in a 62-47 triumph. Saturday they outscored Lincoln Prep 46-33 after halftime.

With Northwood’s dream of a state title double complete, Gators coach Samuel Tinsley said he was confident before tipoff.

“The minute we walked out on the court and I saw their desire, and I saw the promise that was within them, (I knew),” he said.

But despite outside impressions, the pathway to the state title was no cakewalk, said Tinsley.

“This ain’t been an easy road. It seems like, ‘y’all’ve won by whatever points, and y’all did this and that,’ but no – it’s been a very difficult road. We’ve had several people on our team who’ve had to learn some hard, hard lessons this year, and we’ve had to teach those lessons. I’ve had to make some decisions that you have to make as a grown man, as a coach, that sometimes hurt peoples’ feelings. You say, ‘we might not have a chance at it, because of this right here,’ but you do it because it’s right for that young man.

“What’s so special is, I’ve got some young men even when they were down, they stayed with it, and we stayed with them, and now we have a championship together. You can’t beat that in a million years.

“Boyce is not a very big community. It’s very, very meaningful. We have 165 people in our high school. Our girls have done an incredible job going back-to-back,” said Tinsley. “These boys are very close to those young ladies and we wanted this very much.”

“All the work we put in, it wasn’t for nothing,” said Layssard. “And that feels good.”