By DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

RESERVE — Reserve Christian Boys Varsity Basketball team recently competed at the Southeastern Louisiana University Team Camp the weekend of June 17-19. The Eagles competed with 52 other high school teams. The Eagles defeated East St. John, Catholic of Baton Rouge, Istrouma, Peabody, H.L. Bourgeois, Independence and Holy Cross in winning the tournament championship.

Members of the team who participated were Demond Carter, Kevin Branch, Justin Porter, Daniel Johnson, Oscar Joseph, Ronnie Ray, Chad Simmons, Justin Bernard, Franklin Francois, Derek Moler, Kane Keller, Ashton Torres, Thaddeus Victor, Aaron Brinkman, Jared Johnson, Matt Cali and Marcus Warren.

The defending state champions and perhaps the favorite to win the high school National Championship next season, Reserve will be led by the duo of Carter and Branch.

Eagles Head Coach Tim Byrd said he was happy with the way his team played.

“We accomplished what we went there to accomplish,” Byrd said. “We wanted to have a good showing, but more importantly get some of our kids who didn’t have a lot of experience some playing time. I was really pleased with Chad Simmons, Justin Bernard, Ronnie Ray and Oscar Joseph.

“Then the guys that have had a lot of playing time played really well. Tweetie was spectacular. We didn’t have Kevin Branch until Sunday, but he played really well.”

While Carter and Branch are household names, Byrd said he did have a pleasant surprise.

“Justin Porter was a big surprise for me,” Byrd said. “In the final two games of the tournament he was dominant.

“We are finished for the summer now as far as playing and we were able to get what we wanted to accomplish done. We were able to take the new kids and mesh them with the guys that are returning and I really liked what I saw. We wanted to develop some depth and we got a good feel going into the season on whether or not we can count on some of our inexperienced players and I was really pleased with that. Now the conditioning and weightlifting part of the year starts.”