5 takes from the Luke Ford Jr. Bayou-River All-Star Game

I guess this is it, right? Regretfully, we have to say goodbye to the local high school basketball season after the local Bayou-River All-Star Game.

We were happy and honored to be in attendance at the local game, which was hosted this year at H.L. Bourgeois High School.

Proceeds for the events went to the Thibodaux Lions Club, which uses the funds to generate scholarships for students in the area.

The competition was fierce, so let’s break it down.

Here’s our 5 takes from the big game.

5 TAKES FROM THE BAYOU-RIVER ALL-STAR GAME

1. Easy to see why East St. John was a force – Look, I don’t see a whole lot of the River anymore because I’m the Voice of South Lafourche athletics, and they are no longer in the Tarpons’ district. But it’s not hard to see why the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats were so damned good on the hardwood in 2022-2023. On the girls’ side, Jasmine Matthews was an absolute monster, earning the MVP of the game for the Home All-Stars. Matthews dominated inside. She dominated outside. She dominated on the glass. She dominated off the dribble. She was the best player in a game of stars, and UL-Lafayette is getting a great one. Her teammate, Kyla Cage was also a force. On the boys’ side, Amir Rios was a huge factor, as was Devin Davis. The Wildcats’ contingent was strong.
2. Loupe, Peak tough as nails for the Home All-Stars – Jamia Singleton was trying furiously to take over the game for the Visitor All-Stars. She was attacking and pressing the action more on Saturday than I’d ever seen throughout her career. Her penetration was creating some problems for the Home All-Stars, but the solid defensive work and toughness of both Central Lafourche’s Caroline Loupe and Thibodaux’s Aryana Peak were impactful in the game. The cross-parish duo combined for 23 points in the game, and their ‘in your face’ defensive approach helped to slow down Singleton enough to keep the Visitor offense out or rhythm. It was an excellent showing from them, because boy, Singleton is one incredibly tough player to slow down.
3. It’s hard to shoot a basketball 25 times in 1 minute – Look, By-U Sports hosted a 3-point competition just last weekend, so I understood the struggle of the shooters who competed at this weekend’s event, being asked to get off all 25 of their shots in just one minute’s time. Kudos to the winners, Loupe and Remi Bethancourt, because that’s not easy. We saw a lot of shooters start strong then fizzle out – simply because they didn’t have the legs to get the shots up and/or they didn’t properly manage the time.
4. Kobie Jones was my MVP for the Bayou – The Bayou beat the River and Richard Hampton won MVP for his side with 19 points. What I am about to say is meant with absolutely 0 disrespect to Hampton who was incredible and is an amazing player. But, to me, Kobie Jones was the most impactful Bayou All-Stars player in the game. The Bayou trailed the River by 8 at halftime and it looked like there was a chance that it could be a River runaway in the second half because of how fast and athletic their team was. But in the 2nd half, Kobie Jones absolutely dominated, generating several second chance opportunities on the glass, while also sparking a team-wide defensive resurgence that helped power the comeback. He scored 10 points, but a box score cannot measure the impact he had on that game emotionally for his team. His energy was why that team turned things around, and I wanted to make sure he got his proper recognition for it.
5. It’s time to bring back the dunkers – There was no slam dunk competition this year at the All-Star Game, but it’s time to bring it back. We saw several high-flying slam dunks during the course of the men’s game, and it’s time to bring it back. Look, we can treat this thing on a year-by-year basis, right? If there aren’t explosive dunkers in a senior group, it’s OK to table the contest for a year. But I think we’d have all enjoyed and appreciated seeing Amir Rios, Devin Davis, Bethancourt and others get above the rim and throw it down.
6. Pride is on the line, even in an All-Star game – I understand why the girls’ game was a little bit less geographical with a ‘home vs away’ game as opposed to a true Bayou vs. River Game. There just were not many River Parish players, so the format would have been impossible to pull off. But let’s be clear: when it’s Bayou vs. River, there’s pride on the line and the stakes are just a smidge higher. The Bayou Team competed their asses off in the 2nd half of boys’ All-Star game and rallied from a nice-sized deficit to take the lead by 8 or so points. Not wanted to get shown up, the River also battled back and the game came down to the final seconds. The Bayou wins the bragging rights this time, but I’m sure they will run it back next spring.