MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / July 15, 2000

EDGARD – Years from now, Jeremy Lumar can look back at the first four months of 2000 and have quite a story to tell.

In March, Lumar averaged 21 points, seven rebounds and four points per game at the Top 28 Tournament in Lafayette to help West St. John to theClass 2A state title, the school’s first in basketball. For hisaccomplishments, Lumar was named the Class 2A tournament MVP and was named to the all-tournament team.

Three weeks later Lumar was part of another first, becoming the first player from Edgard to be selected to play in the Louisiana High School Coaches Association’s All-Star basketball game.

“I was very happy knowing I was the first one out of Edgard to be selected to the all-star game for basketball,” Lumar said.

The boys’ all-star game is scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. at the PeteMaravich Assembly Center on the LSU campus, following the girls’ all-star game, which begins at 6 p.m. Lumar will be a member of the West squad.Lumar said he is leaving Sunday for LSU, the team will have practices twice a day up to Thursday, In the meantime he has been working out, running up and down the basketball court at the Edgard playground after getting off of work at the swimming pool there. He also has been playingwith his little brother, shooting around to get his shooting touch back in shape.

Lumar said he has been playing basketball for as long as he can remember, playing Little League and all-stars. His uncle told him he had the heightfor the sport so he tried it. At first, he said he didn’t like it, but aftersticking with it, he came to like the sport.

Lumar was a member of the St. John Parish Warriors Biddy Basketballsquad in the spring of 1997. That team swept through the nationaltournament, capturing the National Pre-Prep title with a record-setting win over St. Charles Parish. The title was the first by a St. John Parishteam.

“We had so much fun doing that,” Lumar recalled.

That Pre-Prep team featured many of the players that made up the West St. John squad over the next three years. The Rams captured back to backdistrict titles in 1998 and 1999 but were eliminated in the playoffs each time, the second year in the quarterfinals to Christian Life.

That previous December the Rams had captured the Class 2A title in football. After the loss to Christian Life the basketball members made apromise to duplicate the feat the next year.

“We said we won it in football; we have to do it again in basketball before we graduate,” Lumar said. “We took it to heart. Nobody wanted to go out inthe quarterfinals like last year.”West St. John started toward that goal by winning its third straightdistrict championship. The Rams then opened the playoffs with an 89-52victory over Northeast as Lumar scored a game-high 26 points. After a 90-77 victory at Ville Platte in the regionals the Rams defeated North Vermilion, 48-46, to advance to the Top 28 tournament for the first time.

In Lafayette, West St. John rallied in the fourth quarter against McCall togain a 78-68 overtime victory. Lumar had a game-high four steals andscored 14 points in the contest. Then in the championship game Lumar ledall scorers with 28 points as the Rams captured their first state title with an 84-71 victory over Coushatta.

“Together, everybody achieves more,” Lumar said on the key to the team’s success this season. “Looking at all the hard work we did this season, itall paid off.”Lumar finished the season averaging 12.4 points per game and was namedto the all-District 9-2A and all-River Parishes squads. He said he isplanning to go to a junior college now and walk on.

Looking back on the Rams’ team, he said it has a chance to compete again next year for titles with players like Dwayne Bastain, Amone Lumar, Devin Herbert and Coy Miller.

“They have some very talented players coming back,” Lumar said, “players that can produce.”

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