Coming in Hot: Country Day faces familiar semifinal hurdle in Dunham
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Three days and 10 miles made the kind of difference that got Country Day’s attention.
The Cajuns were efficient in taking a 58-51 home victory over Karr on Jan. 10, the team’s sixth of seven wins against Class 5A competition. The return engagement on the West Bank of New Orleans, though, produced a different outcome with the homestanding Cougars emerging with a 50-40 triumph.
“It was kind of the turning point of our season,” Country Day coach Mike McGuire said. “The kids were wondering how we can beat them at our place and go over there and kind of get handled.”
Country Day, the reigning Division III select state champions, hasn’t lost since.
The Cajuns closed the regular season with 11 consecutive wins, ignited by a 63-46 win over De La Salle, and gained steam in wins over L.B. Landry (67-64), St. Thomas More (57-45), and outlasted McDonogh #35 (91-83).
They finished with convincing wins over Sarah T. Reed (62-31) and Newman (86-48) to win the District 10-2 tournament, creating the kind of momentum that’s carried to the postseason.
No. 3 Country Day (22-5) faces a familiar opponent, No. 2 Dunham (24-4), in Thursday’s semifinal at 1 p.m. at Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles.
The winner advances to face the survivor between No. 1 Calvary Baptist (24-2) and No. 4 De La Salle (21-6) in Saturday’s state championship at noon.
The Cajuns, riding a 13-game winning streak, are attempting to win back-to-back titles since the 2013-14 season and increase the school’s total of state championships to nine.
“We kind of put it all together at the time where you have to see if you can put it all together and make a run,” McGuire, who has guided the Cajuns to six of their eight state titles. “We got hot in late January.”
Country Day, the state’s No. 15 ranked team by MaxPreps, has encountered very little resistance in getting back to the state tournament. The Cajuns, which lost two seniors from last year’s team, disposed of No. 14 St. Thomas Aquinas (76-27) and No. 6 St. Louis Catholic (74-53).
“Calvary is No. 1 for a reason,” said McGuire, whose team defeated the Cavaliers, 59-56, for last season’s state crown. “They’ve beat a lot of good teams up north. We’ve been battling the teams down here, and I think Dunham’s played a great schedule in the Baton Rouge area. All three areas have high-quality teams. It should be some well-tested teams that will fight until the end. I’m anticipating a little bit like last year in terms of each game going to the wire.”
As Country Day dug into another difficult schedule, the Cajuns were 2-2 and 3-3 against five opponents that were Class 5A, and the other was a Class 4A team.
They suffered a pair of setbacks to Jesuit by one and 11 points, respectively, and a 16-point defeat against John Curtis, the No. 1-seeded team in the Division I select bracket.
There was also the home-and-home split with Karr in January that left the Cajuns with a 9-5 record.
“The importance of the early, tough games was getting the guys in from football late and getting them in shape,” McGuire said. “We went through some injuries to two of our starters. They were out four and five weeks, respectively. It gave other guys a chance to play. Because of that adversity, other kids had to step up. It’s helped our depth. We have eight to nine guys that can contribute at a high level.”
Country Day played without starting senior point guard Brennan White because of a thumb injury, and a knee injury sidelined freshman forward Ryhs Diley.
The depth that was developed during their absence came from a senior, two juniors, and a sophomore.
Junior center Allen Dietz allowed McGuire to move senior Hermon Dyson to more of a guard/forward role, and the Cajuns’ backcourt rotation was extended by the play of junior Colin Snyder and sophomore Chase Knight, while senior Trey Knight gave the team another defensive stalwart.
“Having them get extra minutes gave us our depth,” McGuire said. “When Brennan came back, he had to take on a new role because his hand was busted up and moved to shooting guard. We also moved Rhys and K.B. (Kellen Brewer) to point, and when we were in trouble, we put Dyson at the point. We played enough games to experiment and see where we could be at our best. We’ve got a nice formula going right now.”
Country Day had a recipe for success last season when Dyson was sidelined with a shoulder injury. He returned in time and was part of a collective effort to win the state championship.
“He was out seven weeks,” McGuire said. “We were hoping to get him back, and fortunately, we got him back right before the playoffs. We played him a few minutes in the district tournament, and for the playoffs, he was in rare form. He was hungry and is such a good player. He was the glue that we needed. That gave us a shot in the arm, gave us some momentum.”
Before the team embarked on its torrid stretch to finish the regular season, Country Day celebrated a milestone.
The Cajuns handed McGuire his 700th career win on Jan. 27 in their triumph over McDonogh #35. He’s spent 28 of his 38 years of his career coaching at the private school in Metairie, where he’s averaged 25.3 wins a season.
“It was a nice milestone,” said McGuire, who now has 709 wins. “One of my assistants that keeps up with my record says, ‘Coach, you realize you got 700 the other night? It was nice, and we beat a really good team in McDonogh 35. If you do it long enough, you’ll keep tallying up the wins. The kids were happy for me, and that was fun. I’m not really into all of that stuff. It was nice that people recognized that.”
The 6-foot-6 Brewer, a first-team Class 2A All-State player last season, is part of Country Day’s dynamic offense with 19 points per game. The Cajuns also have double-figure scorers in Dyson, a second-team all-state choice, at 10 points, and Diley, a 6-5 freshman, at 9 points, along with sophomore forward Curtis McAllister.
During the team’s quarterfinal victory, Country Day took advantage of St. Louis’ extra attention on Brewer, son of New Orleans Pelicans’ assistant coach Cory Brewer, and Diley exploded for a game-high 25 points. McAllister, the son former New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister, added 17, Brewer had 15 and Dyson, a 6-3 senior, had a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
“One through seven, this is clearly our best, most talented team,” McGuire said. “I think our advantage is our length and athleticism, and right now they’re really sharing the ball. When we’ve been in transition situations which we have been against average teams, and we’ve been fun to watch. This will be a step up, and both of these games, whoever wins, we’ve got to play at a higher level. Our guys are ready to go.
“Herm’s playing really well right now and Diley as well,” McGuire said. “Herm is our glue. I tell people he’s our Draymond Green (of the Golden State Warriors). K.B. and Curtis are K.B. and Curtis, and Brennan’s starting to hit shots. Brewer’s our go-to. He’s our guy. The other guys have accepted their roles and have come in and done a really nice job. If we can get everyone clicking on all cylinders, I think we’ve got a shot to be special.”
McGuire understands the assignment against Dunham. The Tigers returned intact from last season and have reached their fourth straight semifinal and are in search of their first state title since 2021.
They’re a veteran-laden team led by senior point guard A.J. Olivier (20 points), senior forward Gavin Blanton (15.0), junior forward Elijah Haven (14 points), quarterback of the school’s state football championship team, and senior forward Jarvis Washington (13), a football signee with South Alabama.
“I’ve told our assistants we’ve got to be ready for end of game, end of quarter stuff because it’s going to come down to one possession,” McGuire said. “They’re really good. A.J. has a lot of experience, Blanton’s shooting the ball much better, Elijah is Elijah, and Washington’s really good. They also have good role players that come in and help them. They’re tough. I think they’re way better and we’re better than last year.”