SLS 18RS-812 ORIGINAL
2018 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 63
BY SENATOR ERDEY AND REPRESENTATI VE POPE
COMMENDAT IONS. Commends the Walker High School boys basketball team upon
winning the LHSAA Class 5A state championship.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To commend the 2017-2018 Walker High School Wildcats boys basketball team on winning
3 the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 5A state championship, an
4 historic accomplishment for this team, its school, and its city.
5 WHEREAS, for the first time in the history of the boys basketball program at Walker
6 High School in Walker, Louisiana, the team brought home the state championship trophy
7 with a win over defending champion Landry-Walker High School of Algiers, Louisiana, in
8 the 2017-2018 championship game for the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class
9 5A; and
10 WHEREAS, the championship game was a perfectly fitting final act for the season,
11 an awesome come-from-behind overtime win for the Walker Wildcats by a score of
12 sixty-two to fifty-seven; and
13 WHEREAS, while the entire city of Walker was cheering the basketball team on to
14 victory, a fascinating backstory was also in its final act, one that began on a basketball court
15 nine years earlier, with a team of six and seven year olds competing in the Biddy Ball
16 League; and
17 WHEREAS, that Biddy Ball team finished second in the nation, losing the final game
18 by only a single point, but the members of that team, their coaches, and their parents, never
Page 1 of 4 SCR NO. 63
SLS 18RS-812 ORIGINAL
1 gave up on the dream of a championship; and
2 WHEREAS, members of that Biddy Ball team who filled the ranks of the Walker
3 High School squad this year included: Josh and Jalen Cook, Darius Hampton, Dalton Moore,
4 Trent Montgomery, Jalen Perkins, Quaeshon Clark, Calvin Watson, and Le Davis, a group
5 who, by their own admission trust each other implicitly, know each other's tendencies, and
6 what each other likes to do, as well as how to get everyone involved in the game; none of
7 which is a small component when building a championship team at any level; and
8 WHEREAS, six Wildcat seniors suited up for the state high school class 5A
9 championship game, who were all veterans of that Biddy Ball game in which they came so
10 close, but fell short by a single point; and
11 WHEREAS, since the Biddy Ball team members all live in Walker, where most lived
12 near each other, and led by their parents and coaches, Louis Moore, father of player Dalton
13 Moore, and Eric Cook, father of current senior Josh and sophomore, Jalen, continued to
14 enjoy the tutelage of their fathers and all the benefits of playing with a core group of boys
15 who were teammates, but became, also, best friends and are often known as simply "The
16 Walker boys"; and
17 WHEREAS, Walker Wildcats basketball coach, Anthony Schiro, felt fortunate to
18 welcome these players who were not only good basketball players and athletic young men,
19 but he credits their ironclad bonds of friendship among both the children and their parents
20 with building a trust that continues to serve these players on the basketball court and beyond;
21 and
22 WHEREAS, Coach Schiro continued, saying that the reputation of the Walker boys,
23 who were dedicated cadre of both well-coached, hard working, and physically gifted
24 basketball players, preceded them as they dominated at every level and he looked forward
25 to the challenge of integrating them into his Wildcat program; and
26 WHEREAS, additionally, the city of Walker as a whole watched and waited for this
27 exceptional group of young men to emerge on the high school basketball scene and make
28 their mark in Wildcat boys basketball history; and
29 WHEREAS, with the pressure to achieve from outside the school confines which was
30 considerable, that anticipation of others was secondary to what the Walker boys expected
Page 2 of 4 SCR NO. 63
SLS 18RS-812 ORIGINAL
1 of themselves; a championship at the state level was the only acceptable outcome; and
2 WHEREAS, the guidance of Coach Schiro, his assistants Eric Cook and Connor
3 Locke, all three Walker natives and alumni of the high school, and assistant coach Donnie
4 Goodson, who has worked for Schiro his entire tenure at Walker High School, merged this
5 core of players with other talented role players to form a cohesive and, eventually, very
6 successful team; and
7 WHEREAS, Jalen Cook, though younger than some of the Biddy Ball team, was the
8 hub of that team, and this year at Walker High School he, and other Biddy Ball participants,
9 joined Jacobi Scott, Jordan Hoggatt, Graham Smith, Brian Thomas Jr., and Keondre Brown
10 rounding out this championship squad; and
11 WHEREAS, the result of so much time spent playing basketball together and
12 becoming best friends in the process, it could be said, was the creation of a team with players
13 who could regularly finish each other's sentences off the court and who possessed an innate
14 understanding of each other and a familiarity when they stepped on the basketball court; and
15 WHEREAS, in the 2016-2017 season the Wildcats won a playoff game for the first
16 time since 2000, and while they advanced no further that year, the stage was set for a
17 monumental senior push toward that ultimate goal of a state championship for Walker High
18 School; and
19 WHEREAS, in 2017-2018 Walker earned their berth in the championship game with
20 a dominant state semifinal victory over Natchitoches Central by an overwhelming score of
21 eighty-nine to sixty-three, setting the stage for what turned out to be a dramatic
22 championship performance; and
23 WHEREAS, the bittersweet aspect of playing their last game together after more than
24 nine years as teammates, was washed away with a come-from-behind overtime victory, the
25 most exciting way to win any basketball game; and
26 WHEREAS, in the season that brought all dreams to fruition, individual
27 achievements were reached: Dalton Moore was the first of four Wildcats to score more than
28 one thousand points in his high school career and Darius Hampton also reached the one
29 thousand point threshold in the semifinal game against Natchitoches Central, by scoring a
30 season high twenty-one points; and
Page 3 of 4 SCR NO. 63
SLS 18RS-812 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, additionally, underclassmen Jalen Cook led the team with an average
2 of eighteen points scored per game and Brian Thomas knocked in twenty points and grabbed
3 eight rebounds on his way to being voted the Most Valuable Player of the championship
4 game, a particularly notable an achievement for a freshman; and
5 WHEREAS, from the nucleus of the Biddy Ball team when the players were six and
6 seven years old, through many years of playing together on the basketball court and building
7 friendships that transcended basketball, with the addition of key newcomers, and dedicated
8 coaches, the Walker High School Wildcats saw their years of commitment, hard work, and
9 brotherhood result in the dream of their young lives being realized, that they are the
10 2017-2018 Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 5A state champions, a
11 distinction to last a lifetime and a proud first for their school and their city.
12 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
13 commend the 2017-2018 Walker High School Wildcats boys basketball team on winning the
14 Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 5A state championship, an historic
15 accomplishment for this team, its school, and its city.
16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
17 Coach Anthony Schiro in care of Walker High School in Walker, Louisiana.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
SCR 63 Original 2018 Regular Session Erdey
Commends the 2017-2018 Walker High School Wildcats boys basketball team on winning
the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 5A state championship.
Page 4 of 4