For the first time in over a decade, Hahnville is moving on to the 5A boys basketball quarterfinals after earning a second round victory on the road at Ponchatoula, 57-49.
The 10th seeded Tigers survived a furious second half rally by the host Green Wave. Ponchatoula, the No. 7 seed, wiped out an 11-point Hahnville third quarter lead with a 17-2 run, taking a 44-40 lead before Hahnville found its footing once again.
“After the first round, we were one of the top 16 (5A) teams in the state. And now we’re one of the eight best,” said Hahnville head coach Yussef Jasmine. “We’ve worked hard all year, and this is what we’ve been working for.”
Hahnville last reached the state quarterfinals in 2009, when the team made a run to the 5A championship game under then head coach and current HHS principal Brian Lumar.
Takouren Grows drove for a layup and go-ahead score to push the Tigers (25-9) ahead 45-44 midway through the fourth quarter, then sank a free throw to make it a two-point game. Then Hahnville struck gold: an offensive rebound led to a kickout to an open Claudell Harris Jr., who sank an open 3-pointer to give Hahnville a 49-44 lead with 3:30 remaining.
“We felt like we never lost control of things,” Jasmine said. “We came in playing a little more zone, because we felt they struggled against that. I think it worked well, but slowed us down a little too much offensively. We flipped some things around and picked up the tempo, and we kind of got back in the groove of the game.”
Grows assisted Kaden Pierre in transition to push the lead to seven, 51-44. Ponchatoula wouldn’t go quietly: a quick 5-0 run cut the advantage to two for Hahnville with just under a minute left. But Dylan Lorio drew a foul to sink two free throws, and the Wave (25-8) never got within a basket again.
“(Lorio) stepped up down the stretch,” Jasmine said. “I think their gameplan was to say he’s a distributor more than a scorer, so let him score. He answered the challenge and did what we needed him to do.”
Hahnville will travel to face No. 2 Ouachita Parish in the quarterfinal round Saturday at 7 p.m.
Harris led Hahnville with 17 points. Pierre scored 12 and Lorio 10 for the Tigers, who snapped Ponchatoula’s 15 game winning streak.
Jasmine noted road playoff victories against good teams are difficult to come by, because the atmosphere of the postseason is magnified.
“That adds a whole different dimension than a regular season road game,” said Jasmine. “I’m so proud of my guys. At the end of the day, it’s win or go home, and they stepped up and made the plays to win.”
The Tigers have made it a round further in each of Jasmine’s three years with the program, bowing out in round one in his first season, then round two last year.
Now Hahnville’s taken another step forward, but the Tigers have no intentions of stopping now.
“For me, it’s always been about building something here at Hahnville … we want to be that strong program with a tradition of winning,” Jasmine said. “I always try to be a bit better every time out, and it’s what I want from my program … I definitely appreciate when these moments come.”
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