Jesuit’s leading scorer credits ‘great energy’ after tournament win vs. Country Day – NOLA.com

Jesuit senior Jude LaForge scored 19 points, helping the Blue Jays defeat Country Day 63-53 and claim the Jesuit tournament championship Wednesday at Jesuit’s Benson Arena.

Jesuit (4-0) trailed 11-9 after the first quarter, moved ahead in the second quarter and never trailed after halftime. LaForge made a 3-pointer from the right side that put Jesuit ahead 44-39 and the lead widened from there.

Jesuit made 13 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter, clinching a third win in three days at the eight-team tournament. LaForge made 5 of 6 from the line in the fourth.

“I’ve been playing Jesuit basketball for a while,” said LaForge, a third-year varsity player in his second season as a starter. “Never experienced any chemistry like this. Great energy.”

Senior Gus Laibe scored 11 points with one 3-pointer and 4 of 6 shooting from the line. Ethan Lapeze, a 6-foot-6 junior, scored eight points with 4 of 5 shooting from the line. Junior Neil Odeh and sophomore Tanner Hughes also each hit a 3-pointer.

Country Day sophomore Herman Dyson scored his team’s first six points in the second half and finished with 12 for the game. Sophomore Brennan White made three 3-pointers, including one that evened the score at 33-all in the third quarter.

Jesuit scored the next four points on three separate trips to the foul line. LaForge made a basket that widened the score to 39-33.

“We just missed a lot of easy shots around the goal,” Country Day coach Mike McGuire said.

Country Day (2-1) played much of the first half without Dyson on the floor.

“Him getting two fouls in the first minute were a killer,” McGuire said. “You’re not going to beat a good Jesuit team without one of your top players. … Without him in the game, Jesuit must have had 18 offensive rebounds; it felt like 118 offensive rebounds.”

Country Day junior Andrew Nelson had 11 points, including two 3-pointers in the final minute. Senior Maddox Moss had eight points.

Jesuit coach Chris Jennings commended his players for how they held up at the end of a long day.

“Today is our Thanksgiving drive,” Jennings said. “It’s a big deal. We deliver 500 baskets throughout the city. A lot of these kids were up at 5:30 in the morning, went shopping and came back here. It’s an emotional day with what we do. That’s what I worried about coming into this game, how we would handle it.”

Jesuit defeated Sci High 75-49 and Terrebonne 67-50 in the first two rounds of the tournament Monday and Tuesday. Country Day defeated De La Salle 65-48 and Willow 64-49.