Building Something Special: No. 1 Ferriday eyes first state title in 37 years
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Ferriday basketball coach Shawn Davis remembered the dejection, the red eyes of teenagers crying uncontrollably.
The Trojans were on the cusp of advancing to their first state championship game in 17 years when top-seeded Vinton converted a 3-pointer in the final five seconds – a play that made ESPN’s SportsCenter’s ‘Top 10’ plays that same evening.
Ferriday had to pick up the pieces from that 52-50 semifinal defeat and move forward with a roster that would return intact, a year older and motivated to atone for that setback.
The Trojans (28-2) have accomplished just that, putting together winning streaks of 13 and 10 games, and went undefeated through a challenging District 2-2A to earn the No. 1 seed in the Division IV non-select bracket.
Ferriday opens playoff action at home Tuesday against No. 16 Franklin, which defeated Montgomery, 70-49, in first-round play.
“It was a very dejected locker room,” Davis said after last year’s season-ending defeat. “There was lots of crying, lots of sad faces. They expected to win the game. They came back more focused.”
After three years of building under Davis, the son of former Ferriday two-time state championship coach Robert Cade, Ferriday recorded a pair of double-digit playoff wins at home in last year’s run and held a one-point lead over Vinton in the final 10 seconds of play.
The Trojans, which had lost to eventual state champions Lakeview and North Central in their previous two seasons, defended the Lions’ final possession well with the clock winding down.
Vinton’s guard had gotten past halfcourt, and his attempted pass went off the bottom of the backboard. The loose ball bounded directly to a wide-open Keithan Rigmaiden, who took one step back and drained his 3-point shot.
“We knew last year that we would be pretty good this year,” said Davis, whose team was 26-10 a year ago. “For the most part, we have everybody coming back. We’re not surprised by the position we’re in right now. We lost one senior that didn’t play a lot, and we added a couple of long, athletic athletes from the football team. That helped solidify us from an athleticism standpoint.”
Davis was part of Ferriday’s rise to prominence under his father when the Trojans won back-to-back Class 3A state championships in 1988-89.
A year after standout Shawn Griggs graduated and signed with LSU, Davis averaged a double-double – 26.2 points, 11.8 rebounds – for the Trojans (30-3) that repeated as state champions. He signed with Oklahoma State before transferring to Louisiana Tech, where he played from 1990-93.
Davis, an AAU basketball coach, was an Air Traffic Controller in Alabama for 25 years when he retired and returned to his native roots in northeast Louisiana to lead Ferriday’s program like his dad had from 1984-2000.
“I came here with a plan,” Davis said.
Davis has been voted Concordia Parish’s Coach of the Year in three of his first four seasons, guiding the Trojans to the playoffs in each season with consecutive appearances in the regional round against North Central and Lakeview.
Ferriday steadily improved from 10 wins to 16 in its first two seasons under Davis before posting a 14-win campaign in Year 3, again winning an opening-round playoff game before exiting at the hands of the top-seed and eventual state champion.
“The first year we didn’t have the overall skill level to compete,” Davis said. “Then we were able to get the interest level up in basketball and increased the skill level. I decided to go with freshmen and sophomores in my third year – develop a nucleus, and we built from that.”
Ferriday was 6-3 through nine games last season. The Trojans showed growth by winning 11 of their next 12 and finished the regular season by winning 17 of 20.
They were the fourth-seeded team that earned a first-round bye before hosting Lake Arthur and Delhi for regional and quarterfinal victories. That resulted in the program’s first trip to the state tournament since 2008, when the Trojans lost to St. Thomas Aquinas, 61-52, in the ’08 Class 2A final.
“You learn through trial and error,” Davis said. “You start playing against bigger guys and see where you fit in. This year, we had a team that could compete with the bigger guys (wins over Neville, Wossman, and Franklin Parish).
“We thought we had a good chance against Peabody (78-53 loss) and were down by five going into the fourth quarter,” Davis said. “We ran out of gas, and I used some bad strategy in the fourth quarter, and we had no legs.”
Davis felt his team controlled the game with Vinton. The Trojans relied on their signature 1-3-1 zone but also mixed in different zone looks for a 20-14 halftime lead before they were plagued by a slow start to the third quarter.
“For some reason, we didn’t come out with the same intensity as we did during the season and got behind,” Davis said.
A full-court press rekindled the Trojans’ momentum, where they led by a point on C.J. Washington’s floater in the final 30 seconds.
“The ball bounced right into his hands,” Davis said of Rigmaiden. “A 3-pointer shooter gets a loose ball. You hate to lose that way. It could have been on a charge or free throw. That was kind of crazy.”
One of the team’s five seniors this season – Marques ‘BeBe’ Terrell – set an example for the team during the offseason, where the 6-foot-5 forward added 15-16 pounds to his frame.
“He set the tempo and other guys lived in the gym all the time,” Davis said. “He’s really something special now.”
Ferriday knocked off a trio of higher classification schools – Neville (57-55), Franklin Parish (50-49), and Wossman (72-67) – before the Christmas break and reached 14-0 after Rayville’s tournament.
State power Peabody ended Ferriday’s perfect season during a stretch where the Trojans had welcomed their football players back a month before.
“We were still a work in progress,” Davis said. “The football players had no basketball activity and were behind on a whole lot of stuff. We had been efficient on offense and defense without them.”
Ferriday had pulled out of a tournament in Monroe and filled an open date with a road trip to highly regarded Ruston for a power ratings bonanza, facing one of the nation’s top players in 6-foot-8 junior Ahmad Hudson.
“The kids wanted to play Ruston this summer,” Davis said. “They wanted to play us also. We went up there, and they beat us by 35 points. I’ve told people they’re not 35 points better than us. We knew from the beginning it wasn’t going to be our night. It was a good lesson. It was a good chance to measure where you’re at with them and Peabody. We’re good, but we’re not 5A good. We’re getting there.”
Another area Ferriday needed to shore up to compete for a district championship has been its annual meetings with Madison and Rayville which had both defeated the Trojans during the first three seasons under Davis.
Madison swept a pair of games a year ago, including a narrow 72-66 triumph, and Rayville took a 69-64 victory.
Ferriday reversed its fortunes against both teams this season. The Trojans were victorious over the Jaguars 69-54 in the district opener for both teams and followed with a 61-60 win on Feb. 17.
They also edged Rayville, 54-53, on Feb. 3 and were a perfect 8-0 in league play.
“The first three years we were nowhere near Madison or Rayville,” Davis said. “We’ve kind of gained ground on them. We were up on them by 18 in the third quarter, and they came back and won last year. We were ready this year.”
Terrell, a first-team All-District 2-2A choice and Class 2A All-State honorable mention performer last season, leads the team in scoring at 18.8 points.
The beauty of this team, though, is its scoring balance, where four players average between 10.6 to 9.8 points.
“We also have a lot of other good role players,” Davis said.
Six-five junior Michael Kelly, who went over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career, averages 10.4 points and a team-best 8.8 rebounds.
The team also has a pair of guards that help control the flow of the team with Washington, a senior point guard and second team all-district selection, averaging 10.6 points and a team-high 6.7 assists.
“He’s the smartest basketball player in the area,” Davis said. “He defers and defers but has that special gift when it’s time to take over. He’s a coach on the floor and is much better off of the ball.”
Junior guard Shavaris Watson is the team’s “engine,” according to Davis, and supplies the team with one of their top ball handlers and defenders.
“He’s the heart and soul of the team,” he said.
Fellow junior Demarcus Mitchell, who averages 10.2 points, is one of the team’s top perimeter shooters and was an all-district performer as a freshman before an injury slowed him down last season.
The Trojans have additional size off the bench in 6-6 junior Robert Traylor, a football player, who gives his team 9.8 points and an interior presence on defense.
“We’re built the right way,” said Davis, whose team would face the North Central-Vinton winner in the quarterfinals. “We’ve got length. We’ve got athleticism and depth. We can play a lot of different styles. We’re looking forward to the playoff run. As good as this team is this year, next year’s team is going to be even better.”