John Curtis put one heck of an exclamation mark Saturday on a season of redemption and excellence.
After falling short of the title game in 2025 for first time in a nearly a decade, the Lady Patriots responded with a perfect record against Louisiana competition this year all the way to the state’s most dominant title-game performance since 2017.
No. 1 John Curtis pounced on St. Joseph’s Academy for a double-digit lead in the first quarter and only continued to tighten its grasp throughout an eventual 82-38 victory for the Division-I Select championship, its eighth in 10 years and 11th all-time.
“We wanted to use this opportunity in the finals to showcase our skills,” coach Alendra Brown said. “I think it’s important that the girls showed the opponents, the other team, that they are capable of playing with poise, under control. I just wanted them to enjoy the moment and leave it all on the court.”
The 44-point margin is the largest in an LHSAA girls title game since New Living Word beat Grace Christian, 74-27, in Division V in 2017 and the most outside of a Class B- or C-level game since Arcadia beat Southern Lab, 104-56, in Class 1A in 1997.
The Lady Patriots’ 82 points matches Fairview in the 2024 Division-V Non-Select and 2022 Class B championship games as the highest-scoring title teams since Fairview’s 100 points in 2010 in Class B.
No team outside of the Class B or C levels has scored more since Iota beat Many, 95-72, in Class 2A in 2007.
As impressive as the offensive output was, much of the fireworks were sparked from a smothering defensive effort.
“Their overall team speed, their awareness and instinctful players (stood out),” St. Joseph’s coach Tim Waller said. “Before the ball left our players’ hands, they knew what was going on. So that was something that was very impressive for a high school basketball team. But we weren’t surprised by any of that. I just believe that we didn’t really expect it to be, like, ‘Wow. That fast.’
“And I’ll be honest, I caught myself a couple of times with (sophomore guard Jayla Albert), I’m just like, ‘My goodness. Does she play football? She could lock down a wide receiver and just be on an island by herself.’ So their defensive instinctiveness was very impressive.”
John Curtis snatched 20 turnovers, including eight steals by Albert, five by senior guard Ke’Sonja Nelson and two each by senior guard Bailey Timmons and junior forward Payton Jones.
And the Lady Patriots converted many of those into a 32-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
“I’m just happy the girls played good defense and kept their hands up,” Brown said. “That was a big thing going into the game was ‘Do not foul.’ They all were disciplined, working together, moving their feet, talking with each other. So I’m very proud that the defense was there.”
Nelson earned MVP honors with 20 points, five steals, three rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore guard Janiyah Williams led all scorers with 24 points on an efficient 9-for-16 shooting from the floor with a mix of 2-for-3 from deep and strong drives to the basket.
“I was just getting to my shots,” she said. “I was just working hard and trying to score and do the best for my team so we could get the win tonight.”
Timmons finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Albert had 11 points, eight rebounds, eight steals, four assists and a blocked shot.
Sophomore center Raven Bolds added nine points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
“Jayla is the ultimate all-around player,” Brown said. “Jayla very seldom has plays called for her. It doesn’t mean that she’s incapable. I think she can rebound, she can score, she can handle the ball, so her involvement in the game, she does whatever the team needs at the time.”
Freshman guard Evelyn Osborne led St. Joseph’s with 14 points, three rebounds and two steals, and fellow freshman guard Emma Wilson had seven points, a steal and a rebound.
Sophomore guard Adelaide Sanches grabbed a team-high six rebounds and scored four points.
But difficult as the final matchup may have been, the Redstickers still marked positive history in their own right with the first title appearance in program history with only one senior, wing Kendall Dailey, graduating.
“I guess that’s the silver-lining in all of this,” Waller said. “What does it mean to me? For lack of something real cool to say, I want everybody to understand that St. Joseph’s is here. St. Joseph’s Academy basketball is here. We’ve got evidence to prove that we are a really good program. We are a championship-contending program. And not to brag, but I want that to serve to a lot of teams around the state that we are a formidable, legitimate high school basketball program.
“As I stated on Thursday, that’s not the trophy that I wanted. But in the moment that we are right now, I’m a proud coach. I’ve been working on this for six years, and I am proud to be able to say, ‘Hey, OK, we’ve got a trophy in the trophy case.”