LBJ athleticism wins out in district boys basketball action against LASA
The first meeting between LBJ and LASA on the basketball court was a case of contrasting styles.
LASA, which used to share a campus with LBJ and whose athletic department is only in its third year of existence, prefers a slower pace, uses mainly zone defenses and periodically runs the Princeton offense, hoping for a backdoor cut or an open midrange jump shot.
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LBJ, on the other hand, wants to push the ball as much as possible, uses a full-court press most of the game and sometimes takes the first open shot available.
In the end, LBJ’s athleticism won out handily, as the Jaguars rolled to an 80-45 win in a District 24-5A game Wednesday at LBJ High School.
“This team is unselfish, plays defense, plays hard and the most important thing is we’re going to have fun together,” said senior CJ Carter, who scored a game-high 23 points and may be one of the best players in Central Texas you haven’t heard of. “That’s the thing that we’re getting right now, is that we’re being good and having fun while doing it.”
Outside of maybe Latreveon McCutchin, the Jags (7-11, 3-1) don’t have a true post player.
But they do have plenty of guards like Jayden Smith, Jaquan McGee and Malkeyce Harris — just to name a few — who like Carter, contain cat-like quickness, are effective on drives to the basket and can play well on defense either pressing or in man-to-man.
“We always want to play fast, speed the game up and make people play at our pace and have to adjust to us,” Carter said. “When we press teams, we take teams out of what they want to do and speeding them up can lead to a lot of mistakes.”
That was certainly what led to LBJ’s success Wednesday, though, to its credit, LASA hung around in the first half.
The Raptors (8-7, 2-2) got within 28-20 late in the second quarter on baskets from Huck Light-Whipple, Andrew Teodorovich and Jonah Cihock after a stretch where they were able to briefly slow the game down and get good looks out of the Princeton offense.
But Carter had four points and Noah Baker drained a 3-pointer as the Jaguars ended the half on a 7-0 run, then LBJ quickly pushed its lead past 20 in the third quarter as it forced turnovers and easy transition baskets started to pile up.
“We keep improving, but that’s a really good LBJ team who just ran by us,” said Raptors coach Joseph Pendell, who spent 10 years leading Lanier before starting the LASA program in 2019. “They were able to pressure the ball well and it was just tough sledding tonight.”
LASA could be in the midst of a small breakout year.
Sure, no one will be picking the Raptors for a lengthy playoff run, but after winning seven and nine games its first two seasons, LASA already has eight wins on the year and looks primed to compete for a playoff spot.
“I think we can do better than that,” Pendell claimed after being asked about going for the district’s fourth postseason slot. “We already have wins over McCallum and Crockett, and I hate to put limits on what we can do … but that was our goal coming in was to make the playoffs.”
The 6-foot-7 Teodorovich provides a rim protector and strong rebounder in the paint, while freshman guards Cihock and Ben Parsegian will be very good in two years and Nathan Voorhees provides a shooting threat.
And with only three seniors, LASA will be a program to keep an eye on.
“What I like about this team is that we have guys who want to learn how to play basketball, who play together and who listen and compete,” Pendell said. “It’s a really good group of kids and we just have to keep improving and showing up every day.”
But while the Raptors’ best days may be ahead of them, LBJ will try and go for a mind-boggling 26th straight district title this winter.
The Jaguars’ overall record is a bit deceiving, as their nondistrict schedule is filled with Class 6A schools, which with a Class 4A enrollment — LBJ petitioned up to Class 5A to avoid lengthy district road trips — means they’re playing schools with three times their enrollment.
“We always play a tough nondistrict to get us used to good competition,” Carter said. “We like to play the best competition in the city because that makes us better and helps when the playoffs roll around.”
LBJ, which received 15 points from Harris and 10 points from McGee, also wants to keep winning for its coach, Freddie Roland, who at 75 years old briefly retired over the summer before deciding to come back.
“You’d never think he was going to retire — you’d think he’d be here forever,” Carter said. “So, when he came back, he really had some love in him. No matter how old he gets, it’s all love with him. He loves the Jags community and loves everyone.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: LBJ’s athleticism helped the Jaguars roll to a win over LASA
