Parish boy's basketball players make all-district

After a season that was filled with widespread success throughout the parish, many Ascension boy's basketball players made the first teams of their respective districts.

In all, there were 10 first-team selections for the parish.

There were two teams that led the charge with three players on the first team. Those teams were Donaldsonville and East Ascension.

The Tigers had a terrific regular season. They went 22-10.

One of those victories came against De La Salle. This was their first district loss since Feb. 10, 2015. They went on to finish as the Division-II state runner-up.

Donaldsonville earned the No. 7 seed in the Class 3A playoffs, but they were upset by archrival St. James in the opening round.

One of the driving forces behind the Tigers' great success this season was point guard Corey Brooks. Brooks transferred to Donaldsonville from Thibodaux.

In his first season with the Tigers, he earned first-team All-District 10-3A.

Joining him on the first team was senior guard/forward Terrell Brown, who also made the first team last season. Brown recently signed with the College of Alameda.

Also, senior center Everette Wilson made the first team for a third straight season. Wilson is a Chattanooga State signee.

East Ascension had an eventful 2018-19 season.

Midway through the season, five-year head coach Barry Whittington, Jr. resigned in order to take over as the Assistant Principal at Dutchtown High.

Longtime assistant Tyler Turner stepped in as interim head coach. After dropping their first three games under Turner, the Spartans went 5-3 for the rest of the regular season.

In the Class 5A playoffs, the 10th-seeded Spartans beat Denham Springs in the opening round. However, they were ousted by parish and district rival Dutchtown in the round two.

The Spartans fielded three first-team All-District 5-5A selections.

These selections were junior guard/forward Hobert Grayson, sophomore guard Camryn Carter and junior guard Cameron Dunbar.

Dunbar was named the District 5-5A Defensive Player of the Year.

For the past three seasons, Dutchtown has been led by a talented duo, and for the third straight year, both players made all-district.

The Griffins had one of their best seasons in school history in 2018-19. They finished the regular season with a 19-9 record.

In the Class 5A playoffs, Dutchtown went on to reach the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2014. There, they came just five points short against second-seeded Ouachita Parish.

For the second straight season, both Gary Smith (guard) and Nick Caldwell (guard/forward) were first-team all-district selections.

Caldwell is a Southeastern signee. Also, he and Wilson of Donaldsonville recently played in the LHSCA East-West All-Star Game.

Finally, two players from St. Amant made first team All-District 5-5A.

The Gators had a young and inexperienced team this season, but that didn't stop them from finishing 21-10 during the regular season.

That earned them the No. 13 seeding in the Class 5A playoffs, which allowed them to play a postseason game in the Gold Dome for the first time since 2009. Unfortunately for St. Amant, they were upset by West Jefferson in the opening round.

Senior guard K.J. Franklin made the all-district team for a fourth straight season. Franklin is a Nicholls signee in football.

Joining him on the first team was junior forward Destin Barker. Barker had a terrific comeback season after being forced to miss all of the previous year with a knee injury.