By Robert Wilson
MCCOMB – The Oak Forest, La., Academy boys basketball team is chasing history.
There has never been a team from Louisiana to win a MAIS Overall Tournament boys championship in its history (Central Private won in 2013 but the Overall title was vacated after some players were ruled ineligible).
Oak Forest – with two wins over MAIS Class 6A and Overall title contender Jackson Prep and two wins over 6A traditional power Madison-Ridgeland Academy – could possibly go all the way this season.
The Yellowjackets, led by 6-foot-9 senior and Southeastern Louisiana signee Garrett Shoemaker, took another step Friday night with a 61-36 victory over defending MAIS Class 5A state champion Parklane Academy in a MAIS Class 5A, District 3 game before an estimated 1,100 at Parklane’s gym.
Oak Forest – which joined the MAIS in 1988 and is located in Amite City, La., about 40 miles south of McComb – improved to 25-2 overall and 7-0 in district play. Parklane dropped to 8-7 overall and 4-3 in district play.
Oak Forest finished 28-9, was the 5A state runner-up to Parklane, and lost to eventual champion Jackson Academy 38-35 in the Overall semifinals last season.
Shoemaker is one of four returning starters (senior guard Trendan Spears, junior guard Brennen Wilkinson, and 6-4 senior forward Logan Freche) and want to go even further this season. Oak Forest’s only losses are to MAIS Class 6A Madison St. Joe in the first game of the season and MAIS Class 5A Rossville, Tenn., in the Bayou Academy tournament Dec. 20 in Cleveand. The Yellowjackets have won their last 12 games by an average of 25 points per game. Only one team, Prep, came within 10 points during the streak, a one-point decision in the Hartfield Academy shootout Jan. 4 in Flowood.
Oak Forest started out slow Friday, leading only 17-15 after first quarter and 29-21 at halftime, but caught fire in the third quarter and outscored Parklane 18-9 to take a commanding, 47-30 lead going into the fourth quarter. Shoemaker scored nine points in the final quarter to keep Parklane from making a run. He finished with 17 points.
“I thought it was good for our guys when it comes to things that we have been working on defensively,” said Oak Forest coach Curtis Matherne, who is in his 12th season at Oak Forest. “I thought Parklane did a good job in the first half extending their possessions and going to a delayed stall circle motion. I thought our guys did a great job of making adjustments on timing up the traps and when they rotate and things of that nature. I didn’t think we shot the ball well so then I thought we got the ball into the paint and scored very effectively from there. It’s always good when you can go on the road there and come out with a conference win.
“Believe it or not, we haven’t talked much about winning state this year. Just a mindset daily on finding a way to get better and run our schematics cleaner and more efficient so that second week in February we’re playing at a high level.”
Shoemaker is averaging 22 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists this season.
“Garrett’s dedication to the weight room and working on his game individually has pushed him to be an unbelievable player and one of the best players in the South,” Matherne said.
Freche had 15 points, junior Jake DePaula (who missed last season with an ACL injury) had 12 points (four 3-pointers), and Spears had eight points.
Senior JD Dumas led Parklane with 11 points.
“I feel we played well for about 20 minutes, however against a really good Oak Forest team you have to play well all 32 minutes,” said third-year Parklane coach Alex Ainsworth, who has also coached at Jackson Academy, Mississippi College, and Belhaven. “We showed last night that we can play at a high level against good competition, we just have to be able to sustain that level to have a chance to win big games. After not having a team until the last week of November, because of an extended football season, I feel we are consistently improving as the season goes on. Hopefully, we can hit stride over the next two weeks to give ourselves a chance to compete at the state level.”
Way to go OFA Basketball Team. From a old yellow jacket student from 1976. Go jackets.