Finister, Washington lead Carver past Scotlandville 49-39

Written by Kyle Valdez

The Scotlandville Hornets and G.W. Carver Rams squared off at Loyola Saturday as part of the HoopFest's Big Time Classic. Carver won 49-39 to hand Scotlandville their first in-state loss since last December against Bossier.

Dorian Finister led the Rams with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. Solomon Washington looked impressive; he scored 9 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had several big-time blocks in the second half. Fredrick Price added 11 points.

The first quarter of action was slow for both teams as each team missed a lot of good looks. Washington picked up 2 early fouls: forcing him to sit until the second quarter. Deion Ware finished two shots around the rim to give Carver a 10-8 advantage after the first quarter.

The second quarter was back-and-forth with each team scoring 14 points in the frame. Both teams were in the bonus, but couldn't capitalize from the stripe. The score at halftime was 22-20.

Carver separated themselves in the second half by outscoring Scotlandville 12-7 in the third quarter and taking multiple double-digit leads throughout. Finister blocked multiple flip shots around the rim and made the right passes in transition to hurt any chance of a Scotlandville comeback.

Carver pulled away even more with the interior defense from Finister and Washington blocking shots and forcing missed layups. Carver put an exclamation mark to conclude the fourth quarter with big dunks from Washington and Finister.

Emareyon McDonald scored a team-high 12 points for Scotlandville, while Rayvon Smith added 9 points.

"We're a program that's trying to keep building," Carver head coach Nate Roche said. "It's all about establishing a healthy culture. It's a good win for the program; we want to keep moving forward and working to get better."

Carver, who recently completed 14 days of quarantining, brought their record to 7-0 on the season. Coming off a Class 4A semifinals trip last season, the Rams appear to prove themselves as one of the best teams in 4A yet again.

"It feels great because we were missing it," Finister said. "Fourteen days is a lot for a basketball player. Just to get out here feels good; we know we still got it. Scotlandville is a great team. I'm glad me and my team fought, and we knew what to do."