Maiden Voyage: Veteran coach Brad Boyd has Lafayette Renaissance primed for first playoff appearance
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
First-year head coach Brad Boyd thought the building process of his Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy team would benefit from a trip to his alma mater to play in one of the state’s top post-Christmas tournaments.
The 42nd Annual St. Thomas More Sunkist Shootout in Lafayette annually brings in top-flight competition and with LRCA in its first full-fledged season of competing for district and postseason honors, Boyd brought his Tigers there for their first taste of the event.
LRCA provided the kind of feedback that Boyd found immeasurable. The Tigers won two of four games, including a rally that brought them back from a 17-point first-quarter deficit, and leading scorer Matthew “Turbo” Gordon’s layup at the buzzer resulted in a 57-55 victory over Class 5A Brother Martin.
“I think that game made the guys understand whether we’re up or down, we’ve got a chance to win games if we keep fighting,” said Boyd, a standout at both STM and UL-Lafayette. “I think that game changed the overall feeling of ourselves. We do have a pretty good team; we’ve just got to buy in and play hard.”
What Boyd was able to determine a month into the season was that his team was fierce and battled until the end. That trait’s proven vital for a team that’s won seven of 11 games by 10 points or less.
LRCA (18-8), which received a first-round bye, makes its LHSAA playoff debut when the Tigers host the winner of Friday’s St. Louis-Houma Christian game in a Division III select state regional next Tuesday.
“We wanted a first-round bye and getting to host a playoff game is big for our school, our faculty, and our students,” Boyd said. “They can come to the game and be a part of playoff basketball.”
LRCA completed its probationary period, playing two junior varsity seasons under coach DeQuincy Senegal that included a 13-16 record a year ago, before turning to Boyd to steer the program into the future.
The school made two key hires with Hunter Landry running the football program after enjoying success at Lafayette Christian and turning to Boyd on April 24, 2024, to bring a veteran presence to the novice program.
Boyd, an all-state selection at STM and All-Sun Belt Conference choice with the Ragin’ Cajuns, brought a wealth of coaching experience. He served as the head coach at Southside and Opelousas and was an associate head coach at Westgate in New Iberia.
“When (LRCA principal) Marcus Simon called and offered me the position, I was so excited about it,” Boys said. “I like being part of something new, to be able to build a program. I knew some of the kids on the team. It was going to be a good fit being closer to my home in Lafayette. Being part of the charter school system was something I had been hearing about, and I was interested in possibly getting involved with them.
“The administration is great here,” Boyd said. “We have a bunch of solid coaches across the board for all of the different sports. To run your own program and do it how you want to do it is every coach’s dream. Getting back in that saddle has been really good. I surrounded myself with some solid coaches that have been coaching for a long time, and it’s really helped me along the way.”
Putting the pieces together
Unlike some coaches who step into new situations and want to tear down what his predecessor established; Boyd embraced what Senegal began.
“I knew the last coach here,” he said. “It wasn’t like we were trying to come in as a new coach and tried to discredit the last coach and forget everything you’ve learned from that coach. He had these kids well prepared, and very disciplined kids.”
Boyd was able to assemble a staff that brought expertise to complement his coaching.
Former Hamilton Christian Academy girls coach Edwin Colbert, who also coached at Patterson, Franklin, and West St. Mary, provided a big boost on the bench along with Titus Jones, a former Biddy Basketball and AAU coach, and Aaron Comeaux who brought a background in social media that’s helped promote the program.
“Having multiple guys on our bench that could be head coaches has been an advantage for us,” Boyd said.
Boyd set up the team’s offseason program and several weeks into summer league play, he saw signs of a successful team taking place.
“I really thought we had a shot to be pretty good, he said.
The components were there with players that could thrive in Boyd’s up-and-down system, a style predicated on transition basketball, 3-point shooting, and pressure defense.
The Tigers quickly adapted to their new surroundings, challenged for the District 6-2A championship, and will now test themselves in postseason play.
“We’re up-tempo, cause turnovers to get layups,” Boyd said. “We press and half-court trap. We like to run a run-and-jump defense at times. Eventually, when you get some layups it causes the game to open up, and you can start shooting those 3s. We like to shoot 3s, but we like to pride ourselves on the defensive side, getting steals and fastbreaks to get some easy buckets.”
Gordon, a junior point guard, and junior forward Jon’Tavon “Bubba” Etienne have provided the team with a couple of sturdy building blocks.
Gordon has averaged a team-high 17.1 points with 4.8 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.8 steals, but increased those numbers in district play to 22 points per outing.
“He’s our leader,” Boyd said. “Everybody calls him the franchise. Everyone knows he’s our best player and makes us go.”
Etienne’s second-leading scorer for the entire season with 10.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game, and senior guard Tahj Domingue (6-7 points).
LRCA got a big boost month in January when a couple of transfer players gained their eligibility.
The Tigers welcomed the services of 6-foot-6 sophomore center Ansinneo Charles (6 points, 8 rebounds), senior guard Te’Shawn Wiggins (10.8 points) and sophomore forward Landon Anderson.
“Getting his presence in the middle has helped. “He’s tough, a football guy,” Boyd said of Charles. “Wiggins had 21 in a district game. He’s a shooter/slasher and Anderson’s another physical football guy that blocks out, guards people. He’s a team player that dives on the floor for loose balls.
“We never really were full strength until about the last seven games of the year,” Boyd said. “We’ve played pretty well once we got everybody back. Now having a team full strength, getting my big guy back, a couple of shooters back, I feel really good about the playoff run.”
Playing until the end
Boyd established a path for his team filled with plenty of challenges to prepare for this moment.
LRCA began with two wins over Class 5A teams – Pineville and New Iberia – with the latter giving an early glimpse into this team’s grit.
The Tigers trailed the Yellow Jackets for the majority of the game before rallying for a 60-55 victory. A week later, they hosted Class 3A St. Martinville and trailed by a point with eight seconds left when they picked up a steal for a game-winning layup in a 54-53 triumph.
LRCA won eight of 12 matchups against Class 5A-4A teams with losses to Lake Charles College Prep (59-45) and to David Thibodeaux (42-35), a pair of teams with No. 4 and No. 8 seedings, respectively, in the Division II select playoff bracket. They’ve shown an uncanny ability to pull out close victories with two-point wins over Pineville and Brother Martin, and a one-point victory against St. Martinville.
“We tell the kids it’s possession by possession, the game’s not over until it’s over,” Boyd said. “If there’s time on the clock, there’s time to come back and win. They play until the end. I credit the kids. They are a special group.
“They want to win. It’s about the team,” Boyd said. “We say (breaking a huddle), ‘1-2-3 us’. It’s all of us together. They’ve bought into that, and it’s helped us to win those games. They hold each other accountable.”
LRCA endured narrow setbacks to a pair of Class 4A teams Cecilia (58-51) and Opelousas (49-46) with the Tigers earning a first-round bye and No. 3 seed in the Division II non-select bracket.
That set the scene for the start of district play where LRCA suffered a 59-47 defeat at Lafayette Christian, a game that didn’t include the team’s transfer players. The Tigers didn’t lose again in league play, registering four double-digit victories with Gordon finishing with a school-record 16 assists in a 61-39 road win over Notre Dame.
“We play hard and regardless of who’s making shots, just being tougher than the other team, playing a little more physical than the other team, we have a great shot at winning,” Boyd said. “We have a great group of kids. It’s been one of the best groups I’ve been around as far as nobody complains about who’s playing. Nobody cares who’s scoring the ball. We’re a very unselfish team. When you can get that unselfishness, and get guys playing hard, you’ve got a shot at winning games.”