By LAMAR GAFFORD
LAKE CHARLES – It was not pretty by any means, but three words can describe it for Peabody.
A perfect ten.
The Warhorses outlasted Madison Prep in overtime, 43-40, in the Division II select state championship game Saturday to win their 10th state title.
For Peabody coach Charles Smith, who recently was named a finalist for the Naismith Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., this is his ninth state championship as a head coach after winning one as an assistant in 1979.
“The mark of our team is defense,” Smith said. “This basketball team was built on defense and that’s what prevailed tonight.”
The Warhorses held Madison Prep to its second-lowest point total of the season and got a timely turnover with 18.6 seconds left. That set up senior Zaydrien Sewell’s game-winning 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left in overtime to put it up for good.
Peabody (28-5) did not shoot particularly well at only 25.9% from the floor, but it made the shots when they counted most.
“What was going on through my mind was last year (in the semifinals against George Washington Carver),” Sewell said. “In the semifinals, I threw up a shot that we didn’t need. This year, I threw up a shot that we needed and that was redemption for me.”
Redemption was also on the mind for Peabody senior forward Jordan Mathews, who was named as the game’s Most Outstanding Player with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Mathews watched last season as a concussion took him out of the game and his replacement – cold off the bench – missed two free throws as the Warhorses lost to Carver in the semifinals.
Mathews missed a potential game-winner in regulation Saturday but responded to make two free throws to tie the game at 40-40 with 20 seconds left. He also got the steal on the final turnover after Isaiah Jones’ deflection that allowed Sewell to hit his game-winner.
“I just wanted to win and not experience the same thing from last year,” Mathews laughed.
Madison Prep (26-3) had multiple two-possession leads throughout the game, but never extended its lead past that as its 32-27 lead at the end of the third quarter evaporated.
In the fourth quarter and overtime, the Chargers went 3-for-10 from the floor, 2-for-6 from the free-throw line and turned over the ball six times.
Madison Prep has played in the state championship game in each of the last four seasons – winning titles in 2021 and 2022, before losing to Carver in the finals last year.
Peabody notched its first state title since 2020, sending this senior class out in style.