By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
LAKE CHARLES – Peabody started strong and finished tough – and smart.
The Warhorses survived a mid-game rally by the home team, Washington-Marion, which brought most of a crowd estimated near 3,000 fans into Burton Coliseum Wednesday night for a Select Division II state semifinal boys basketball game. Technically, the state tournament is a neutral site event, but the Charging Indians fans gave their team energy to take second-seeded Peabody to the final seconds.
But by blanking third-seeded Washington-Marion in the last two-plus minutes and scoring the game’s last five points, the Warhorses rallied for a 52-48 victory to reach the state finals for the 17th time in school history.
Saturday at 2, they will play 12th-seeded Northside of Lafayette – coached by two-time Peabody state champion player Troy Jones – trying to win the 10th state crown under coach Charles Smith. Northside shocked top-ranked Madison Prep 65-61 Wednesday afternoon.
Peabody prevailed on a gutsy effort by a team that has blown out most of its opponents and won its quarterfinal playoff game by 40 points last Friday.
“I’m glad we survived,” said Smith. “We were in survival mode all night and I’m just proud of these young guys, how they stepped up and met the challenge. These guys are tough. We’ve worked hard all year and they’ve gotten better. They came together tonight as a family.”
Peabody (30-1) got 19 points, 16 by halftime, from senior Devontre Sword, and 13, most after halftime including three pivotal 3-pointers, by freshman Corey Blake. The Warhorses overcame a rough shooting performance, making only 29 percent, compensating with a 41-31 rebounding advantage and a plus-5 (14 to 19) turnover margin.
They ran out to a 22-11 lead in the first quarter before Washington-Marion (20-8) recovered and took a 30-28 halftime advantage. The Charging Indians scored the first five points of the third period but Peabody got a pair of 3-pointers from Blake to rally into a 40-39 edge starting the final eight minutes.
Again, Washington-Marion came out of the break strongly, opening the quarter with an 8-2 burst into a 47-42 advantage before Blake knocked down another 3-pointer. That began a stretch when Peabody finished the game on a 10-1 run over the final four minutes.
Nursing a 49-48 lead in the last 1:49, the Warhorses repelled a couple of Washington-Marion chances, the last one on a blocked shot by senior Malachi Anderson with about 50 seconds to go. Peabody burned away most of the clock by spreading the floor and frustrating the Charging Indians’ attempts to steal the ball.
The lead was padded with 22.7 seconds left when junior Connor Rosenthal sank a pair of high-pressure free throws. He had not scored or attempted a free throw until that point, but pushed Peabody ahead 51-48.
After a defensive stop and rebound by junior Kalen Eddie with 10.2 to go, he sank the second of a two-shot free throw trip to push the lead to a two-possession margin and W-M was unable to score before the final buzzer.
It was the second straight season Peabody eliminated Washington-Marion, which had nine seniors to only Anderson and Sword graduating on the Warhorses’ 11-man roster.
Peabody lost in last year’s semifinals after winning the 2024 state title.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com