Lafayette High Lady Lions Basketball Team Wins State Championship

The Lafayette High Lady Lions have done the impossible - they took down the reigning Division I Select champions and won their first state title since 2012.

The No. 1-seeded John Curtis Christian girls squad has been the defending champions for the past several years, making this year's quest for a state title a tall order for Lafayette High. However, they accepted the challenge.

“It is so special,” Lions coach Tarunye Kanonu said after the game. “Every year we have gotten better and better. This is amazing.”

Clearly, Kanonu and her team had the defending champions well-scouted. They were able to shut down one of the top guards in the state, John Curtis' Heaven Jordan.

“We wanted to control the tempo of the game,” Kanonu said. “We felt if we could take her (Jordan) out of the game, it would make things difficult for them possibly. We felt it was possible they would struggle, and we were right.”

[...]

“We knew coming into this game it was going to be a battle,” Kanonu said. “Hats off to John Curtis, but we knew it was time. This was our moment, and we knew it was our game.”

Prior to Saturday's game, John Curtis Christian had won every Division I state championship since the select/non-select split began in basketball in 2017.

Lion guard Chrysta Narcisse led the team with 26 points overall (18 from the floor and 8 free throws). Kira Johnson also put up 11 points in the game, and Dalayla Blackwell put up 8.

Narcisse ended the game with a double-double, scoring a game-high 26 points and getting 15 rebounds. She also rounded out her game with three assists and three steals and was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player.