St. Mary's Collins named All-Cenla girls basketball Coach of the Year
LaMar Gafford
Alexandria Town Talk
For St. Mary's girls basketball team, its 2020 Division IV championship run began four years ago.
Back then, the program turned to a championship-winning coach who was recovering from a heart attack and had retired, but still had plenty of fire left in him.
And as they say, the rest was history.
For guiding the Lady Tigers to their first title in program history, Tom Collins is your 2020 All-Cenla Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.
In a deep pool of candidates that included coaches guiding the way for championship seasons, breakthrough turnarounds and swan songs, Collins' body of work this season won out over fellow champions and former All-Cenla girls Coach of the Year recipients Kyle Jinks, Mike Charrier and Craig Whittington.
"Every coach's team is unique and their year is unique," Collins said. "Some have great teams and then you have an injury or two and it cuts your season short. To do what we were able to do with a lot of people helping and having to win at the other team's home gym, it was great for us. Things fell in line perfectly. Everybody was healthy, and you always want your teams to peak (at the right time) and our team did it just perfectly."
St. Mary's was the No. 2 seed in Division IV for most of the year and finished with a 22-4 mark in the regular season, but it was after their last loss — a 58-48 loss to Florien on Jan. 9 in the Negreet Tournament — when things really started to jell.
"They become a joy to watch," Collins said. "They were a real good, balanced team, so we were fortunate."
Led by the play of senior leaders Maria Bienvenu (18.6 PPG, 8.6 RPG) and Emily Maggio (12.1 PPG, 9.7 RPG), the Lady Tigers easily dispatched Calvary, Vermilion Catholic and Metairie Park Country Day for a shot at their first title against an unbeaten Ouachita Christian squad.
Following off a stat line of 30 points and 15 rebounds against the Lady Cajuns in the semifinals, Bienvenu followed it up with 22 points and 12 rebounds against the Lady Eagles as St. Mary's won 53-50 — becoming the only select school to win a title as a road team this season.
"I had some of these girls for four years and they played a lot as freshmen," Collins said. "Then they took over as sophomores. They just got better every year. It wasn't like they were great individual players, but they all fell into their roles perfectly. Those last five or six games, we played the most unselfish ball of any team that I've ever had. They moved the ball well and we had a good balance of shooters and inside people."
There were challenges along the way, such making sure his girls would get as much practice time as another team he coaches — the St. Mary's boys led by ULM signee Thomas Howell.
As one of the few coaches in Louisiana that coach both girls and boys hoops, Collins reached rarefied air after leading both St. Mary's programs to Marsh Madness this season. Last season, he led both teams to the quarterfinals.
"It's a different mindset with both teams, because girls are so different than boys," Collins said. "But the lucky thing with me is that I had good coaches that helped me. For the girls, our system has been in place for at least three years before, so it was a little bit easier. A new coach may have a hard time coming in and doing both, but we alternated with how our practices were. One day, the girls go first and the boys second and vice versa the next day, but it was a challenge to get you mind set on what each individual team needed."
A Louisiana College Hall of Famer, Collins credits former coaches Gene Rushing and the late Billy Allgood as big influences that helped him pursue a career in coaching.
That opportunity would come with Atlanta, where he won five Class C titles — most notably one coming after a perfect 48-0 season in 1995-96 in the middle of three straight titles. That team was a special as it had notable wins over numerous Class 5A schools, including Ouachita, which was also undefeated going into the regular season finale against the Bulldogs.
"We just stacked our schedule," Collins said. "We went to St. Louis (Catholic in Lake Charles) and we won that tournament. We beat Leesville at LC at the McDonald's Tournament. Ouachita challenged us to come up there and have a tune-up game for the playoffs and see who can stay undefeated. We beat them on their own gym. Looking back on that, that's just amazing. The kids we had were coachable and we had depth. Three of those boys went on to have a good college career."
As for both St. Mary's basketball programs, Collins believes that they can still compete at a high level despite the boys losing Howell and the girls losing Bienvenu.
"We have three or four starters coming back in boys, but I have a great group of eighth-graders coming in as freshmen next year that's going to be really balanced," Collins said. "Our girls may struggle a bit next year, but they also have a good group coming in. So, we're excited about our programs."
ALL-CENLA COACH OF THE YEAR
2019: Mike Charrier, Hicks
2018: Phillip George, Plainview
2017: Shane Henderson, Rapides
2016: Phillip George, Montgomery
2015: Craig Whittington, University
2014: Tiffany Edmondson, Pineville
2013: Emma Boozman, NCHS
2012: Kyle Jinks, Fairview
2011: Patrece Carter, Winnfield
2009: Kristy King, Block
2006: Debbie Johnson, Tioga
2005: Robert Flowers, Glenmora
2004: Greg Knox. Peabody
2003: Mary Finch, Calvin