Senior guards lead spoiler Newman on Ponchatoula’s senior night

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ponchatoula celebrated its four senior basketball players Monday night prior to its final home game of the regular season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But visiting Newman's senior guards [player_tooltip player_id='970120' first='Chris' last='Lockett'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1130920' first='Canin' last='Jefferson'], using that timing as additional motivation, began taking over shortly after tip-off and making the final regular-season game on their own schedule memorable with a 73-49 road defeat of their Class 5A hosts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Just playing together," Lockett said. "We didn't want to let the crowd get to us. They were talking the whole time, players were talking and we felt like it was disrespectful to schedule us on their senior night ... Just not starting and letting them get a run on us, a 10-0 run, and letting them build confidence (early in halves). We just wanted to slowly kill 'em, execute the plays, feed our big men, make the right plays and make the open shots."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/MvVipAaJzkI","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"embed-handler","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/embed/MvVipAaJzkI </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='970120' first='Chris' last='Lockett'] (2023) | 6-5 G | Newman</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Boise State signee finished with game-highs of 29 points and six assists, as well as four rebounds and a steal. Lockett shot 5-for-8 from deep, including a pair of makes in the first quarter and another in the third as he worked to try to set the tone early in halves. The tall, thickly built guard played with patience and pace to find high-percentage opportunities in the lane and around the rim for many of his other baskets, using his body and strength well against defenders, and also hit a tightly contested jumper just past the elbow to punctuate the first half and turned his steal into an emphatic transition dunk.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1130920' first='Canin' last='Jefferson'] (2023) | 6-0 G | Newman</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lockett's veteran running-mate in the Greenies' backcourt added 16 points with his own versatile scoring performance, as well as four assists, two rebounds and two steals. Jefferson finished 2-for-4 from 3-point range, made a couple of transition baskets through fouls and another couple on well-timed drives and cuts in the half-court game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1105540' first='Todd' last='Jones'] (2024) | 6-8 F | Newman </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Monday wasn't a big scoring night for Newman's junior standout, but he made his presence felt on the boards and, increasingly, on defense. Jones scored two points, but grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and covered a lot of ground quickly on the back-end of the defense to be able to contest shots both inside and on the perimeter. He blocked one shot in the lane in the first half and another three in the second half as he seemed to gain confidence and timing that nearly also go him to a pair of deep jumpers with his close-out and reach.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/OwKiEou5h54","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"embed-handler","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/embed/OwKiEou5h54 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1434766' first='Jeremiah' last='Lewis'] (2023) | 6-0 G | Ponchatoula </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ponchatoula clearly felt the absence of skilled, versatile junior big man [player_tooltip player_id='1480391' first='Allen' last='Graves'], who was allowing a sprained ankle to heal before the playoffs begin next week. And the Green Wave's smaller lineup struggled to help itself much the perimeter with 6-for-29 (20.7%) shooting from beyond the arc. But one of the seniors, Lewis, was a brighter spot in that area with a 2-for-5 night, including one make from several feet past the line, to lead the team with 10 points. Lewis also finished with a pair of assists and a steal.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1560454' first='Taj' last='Jackson'] (2024) | 6-2 G | Ponchatoula</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The junior provided an aggressive spark off the bench on both ends of the court, including nine points, six rebounds, two steals and an assist. Jackson jumped right into the flow and didn't shy away from contact or the taller, longer Greenies in the lane and on the boards. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->