LAFAYETTE — The list of boys basketball teams in Louisiana to win four or more state titles is short.
Saline won four in a row from 1990-93, Reserve Christian from 2006-09, Scotlandville from 2017-20, and Jehova Jireh joined the list this week, winning from 2018-21. Southern Lab from 1993-97 won five straight, as did Madison Prep from 2015-19. Zwolle trumps them all with seven consecutive titles from 1988-93. It's a short list of dynastic basketball teams, one St. Thomas More can join on Saturday.
"They talk about dynasties, I'm not sure it's a dynasty, but if you win four in a row, that would be pretty special in the record books in Louisiana basketball," said STM head coach Danny Broussard. "And we want to make history."
The Cougars face top-seeded University High Saturday at 2:30 in the Division II championship. It's the fourth straight year the two teams have met in the postseason; three of the four meetings have come in the championship game.
In 2018 STM beat U-High 65-55 in the finals, in 2019 the Cougars won 57-41 in the semifinals, and last year in their home gym, St. Thomas More won the championship, beating the Kittens 57-56. Another win Saturday comes with more cache, it comes with history. It's a movement the team has been plotting for years.
"Ever since we won the first one I remember talking to Carter (Domingue). I was like, 'We can be the team that wins four straight,'" said senior guard Jayden Shelvin. "After our freshman year, we went undefeated our freshman year, so we knew we were a hard team to stop and we could really do this. So this is what we've been working on for the four years now, to win four straight."
Saturday's Division II championship game begins at 2:30 at the Burton Coliseum. STM enters the content riding a 25-game winning streak.
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