HUGE wins for the Patriot basketball teams!

The John Curtis Christian Patriot girls and boys basketball teams have been on fire all season long. Here is a recap of what has happened lately.

The boys team has two of the biggest wins in Patriot basketball history. Last Thursday, Boys and Girls High School from Brooklyn, New York came down to New Orleans to play in the All State Sugar Bowl National Prep Classic at the Alario Center. The Patriots got down early when the Kangaroos jumped out to a 7-0 early lead. Seniors Dillon Gordon and Malik Morgan composed the team and brought them back to a huge victory. The Patriots wound up winning the game by 20 points to improve their record to 18-0, at the time. The Patriots did drop their next two games to Douglass, Oklahoma and Riverside Academy, however, both games the Patriots played without Morgan (injured ankle) and Gordon (official football visit to LSU by Gordon).

Coming out of that tournament, the Patriots faced the Riverside Academy Rebels again, this time in a district matchup and not tournament play and with both players in the lineup. The overlfow crowd at the home of the John Curtis Christian Patriots had a lot to cheer about throughout the game, especially early. The Patriots were able to jump out to an early first quarter lead and withstand runs by the Rebels. The Patriots led the entire game and wound up winning 85-66. The Patriots did all the little things right on this night, especially from the free throw line (going 24-27). Senior Malik Morgan led all scorers with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Perhaps the most impressive game was by junior Isaac Banks. Banks guarded top 20 recruit Ricardo Gathers most of the night and limited him to just 2 first half points and 12 for the night. In addition to that, Banks 18 points and 20 rebounds. Freshman guard Richard Durant added 18 points and controlled the Riverside man to man pressure all night long along with sophomore Raekwan James. Dillon Gordon was impressive early, dominating the boards all night and pumping in 8 tough points before fouling out with just under five minutes to play in the game. The Patriots will face the Rebels one more time in district play before entering the playoffs. The Patriots have secured the #1 seed in the Power Rating system, according to the LHSAA formula, as of now. As an aside, Malik Morgan has been named to the LHSAA All-Star team, representing the East team and has been nominated as a finalist for the McDonald's All-American team.

The Lady Patriots have been equally successful. Their only loss on the season was a few weeks ago against Northshore High School. Since then, the Lady Patriots haven't lost a game. They have impressive wins over Helen Cox (20-4 record) by 18 points, Xavier Prep (15-7) by 28 points and over Ursuline by nearly 40 points! Leading the way for the Lady Patriots have been seniors Whitney Gathright, Darreyeal Youngblood and Jessica Jason. Gathright and Youngblood has just been named to the LHSAA All-Star team's East Squad and Youngblood is a nominee for a McDonald's All-American team. Outside of district play, which the Patriots should be able to win out, they will play two non-district games against quality opponents, in John Ehret on February 13th and St. Thomas Aquinas on January 28th. The Lady Patriots are also atop the Power Point system as a #1 seed.

Good luck to both teams as they finish their regular season schedule and head into the state playoffs!