Lausanne sent Montgomery and DeJurnett out the right way
The entire Lausanne team stayed up all Friday night talking about Saturday’s championship game against FACS. It was the seniors thinking the hardest about their last basketball game at the high school level. It finally came to an end late…
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Continue ReadingThe entire Lausanne team stayed up all Friday night talking about Saturday’s championship game against FACS.
It was the seniors thinking the hardest about their last basketball game at the high school level.
It finally came to an end late Saturday afternoon, with Lausanne’s entire team and coaching staff running onto the court as the final buzzer sounded, as the Lynx (30-6) defeated the Crusaders, 54-44, to win the Division II-A Boys State Tournament Championship.
“We were up all night talking about this is going to be our last time playing together,” senior forward Johnathan DeJurnett said. “We thought it would be real special to go out like this. I knew from the start, we were going to be fine no matter happened throughout the game. I’m very happy with what happened.”
It’s Lausanne’s third state title overall, first since the 2016-17 season and second under head coach Marvis Davis.
This state title has a special feeling to it.
It’s Jalen Bo Montgomery and DeJurnett’s second state title together, and this time around, they were two main guys that had play well for this to happen.
DeJurnett finished with 16 points. Montgomery added 11 points, six rebounds, six assists, one block and one steal. Both were named to the Division II-A Boys State All-Tournament Team along with their teammates, junior big man Moussa Cisse (15 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks) and sophomore point guard Hayden Ledbetter, and sophomore wing Daniel Egbuniwe and senior Jayden Williams from FACS.
Montgomery and DeJurnett were freshmen during the 2016 season and played reserve roles. DeJurnett suffered a knee injury during the second half of that year and couldn’t finish the season out. Montgomery had to be implemented into a big reserve role due to a total of five season-ending injuries on the roster.
But, this state title has a special feeling to it.
The special feeling is going out on top. The special feeling is trusting the process and believing in it. The special feeling is facing adversity and tackling it head on. Montgomery and DeJurnett both witnessed this team face adversity. The Lynx lost 65-44 to Callaway in the Marshall County Hoopfest. Lausanne lost to Tucker, 77-73, in the Memphis and Alabama vs. Atlanta Showcase.
The Lynx lost 71-54 to Provine, lost by double-digits to Whitehaven and lost to FACS in the Division II-A West Region Tournament, thanks to T.J. Thomas’ half-court heave.
Heading into the Division II-A Boys State Tournament, Davis didn’t seemed worried. When I walked up to him during warm-ups of his team’s first round matchup against CPA, he said to me as I was leaning over one of the team’s chairs “We are going to get there.”
Montgomery and DeJurnett had the same mindset, never wavered into the other direction of second-guessing that it may not happen.
On Saturday, Montgomery and DeJurnett were comfortable on the floor, despite trailing 17-9 early on. In the third quarter, Lausanne started to pull away, thanks to the trio of Montgomery, DeJurnett and Cisse.
After Ledbetter’s jumper pushed his team’s lead to 25-21, Montgomery, DeJurnett and Cisse scored the team’s final 29 points. DeJurnett and Cisse were also able to sprinkle in some dunks to ignite the crowd.
Montgomery slammed it home in the waning seconds before flexing his muscles to the team’s student body. Seconds after that, the championship celebration started.
“It’s great,” Montgomery’s choice of words to describe his high school basketball career ending with a state title.
As soon as I asked about the importance of Montgomery and DeJurnett on this team, their coach couldn’t help but gloat about two players who have been very important to the program’s success.
“For those guys to start off their freshmen year and do something that we have always talked about. Anytime you hear Lausanne, we always talk about ‘Trust the process, trust the process,’” Davis said.
“For these two to trust the process and to stick with it, when others decided not to stick with it, and just keep grinding and staying with us, and for them to finish their senior season off with a state championship, I couldn’t be prouder. I couldn’t be happier for them.
“And now, both have of them several Division 1 offers, so now it’s time for them to go on and pick their college and go on to continue their education and athletic careers. I’m super excited for them.”