Nothing…and I mean nothing…beats a good rivalry basketball game.

That was reaffirmed in my mind over the weekend at Destrehan, where the crowd was white-hot for 32 minutes of Wildcats vs. Wildcats action. In the final minute, one side of the gym was on their feet cheering and chanting for East St. John — the other, on the opposite side, doing the same for Destrehan. And believe me when I tell you, you couldn’t have found an empty seat.

The end result (which you can read all about in the article above …cheap plug!) saw East St. John come away with a sweep over their River Parish rivals, significant because ESJ had trouble winning the close ones for a while. Key word there is ‘had.’ Right now, in a close game the Wildcats defense gives it a major advantage over the competition — all of its wing players are active in pressuring the ball, and Kelth Cameron is a 6’8 shot blocking and rebounding monster — he sent seven DHS shots back on Friday.

The Wildcats are one win away from clinching a share of the district title, and two away from winning outright. That’s pretty key — right now, ESJ’s somewhat sluggish start has them mired low in the Class 5A power rankings — looks like they’re at No. 32 at presstime.

That’s nuts for a team that could win one of the state’s toughest districts. But if they do win it, they could move up in a hurry — wins over Hahnville (No. 14 in the power rankings) and East Ascension (no. 6) would add up quickly, and an extra point for winning district would go a long way for a team that could go a long way in the postseason. ESJ boasts size, good point guard play and excellent depth. And most importantly, they’re peaking at the right time.

On the girls side of things, congratulations to St. Charles and Reserve Christian for winning their district championships. The Comet girls split the District 9-3A title with Plaquemine, a result few saw coming in the preseason. But senior Brooke Becker’s turned in an incredible year — if she doesn’t lead the entire state in scoring, she’s got to be awfully close — and a team comprised largely of inexperienced players has come together.

As for Reserve, the Eagles won only two games a year ago, and all they’ve done to follow that up is win 12 this season, including a perfect 6-0 mark in district. Defense has been their calling card, and they’ve done a fine job of frustrating opposing offenses.

A few things to note about the NBA’s All Star Weekend: Nate Robinson is now my hero for going all out with his “Kryptonate” persona. A green jersey, green shoes, a green ball, and a leap over Superman later, and he’ll now be defending his dunk crown when LeBron and Dwight Howard square off next year.

They also desperately need to change the rules if Rudy Fernandez’s dunk was only a 43. I know it took seemingly 40 tries to make it, but it was the dunk of the night. By the same token, if he did a conventional dunk — say,  a reverse slam — he probably gets a 43 or something close. If Fernandez did that dunk in 1985, people would freak out, thinking they’d just seen an alien. If you’re going to penalize someone that badly for missing dunks, why even give them two minutes?

I got to see Chris Paul throw down the alley oop. I also got to see him in the post (?), feeding a cutting Shaq (??) the ball on a give and go…it was like the ultimate role reversal.  Paul posted a line of 14 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds — and got nary an MVP mention. Sure, Shaq and Kobe deserved it too, but at least show Paul some love, TNT!

Maybe it’s better he didn’t. The Hornets need all the pent-up MVP mojo he can provide .