‘A bittersweet win’
For Bloom’s Collier, beating his former school Marist for regional title isn’t an end-all, be-all
There were a bunch of mixed feelings swirling around inside Leirre Collier’s head.
In order to keep his high school career going at Bloom, the senior guard had to end his former team’s season. Collier transferred from Marist before the school year began.
“I just wanted to control my emotions the whole time,” Collier said. “It’s a bittersweet win. Marist had a good season and I love all the coaching staff there. But we got it done, and it’s on to the next game.
“There were just a lot of emotions, but I wouldn’t want to play anyone else. It was fun. We put it all on the line and we got the win.”
Collier came off the bench to score a team-best 11 points, including eight in a huge second quarter, to lift the fifth-seeded Blazing Trojans to a 66-54 win over fourth-seeded Marist in the Class 4A Bloom Regional championship game.
Michael Garner had 10 points and eight rebounds and Jaden Clark scored 10 points as Bloom
(20-9) won its fourth straight regional title. The Blazing Trojans will take on top-seeded Kenwood (26-6) — a 79-56 winner over Oak Lawn — at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a St. Rita Sectional semifinal.
Kaden White scored 14 points while freshmen TJ Tate and Adoni Vassilakis added 12 and nine, respectively, for Marist (24-8), which played without key guards Mason Ross and Keshaun Vaval.
Collier scored eight points in less than five minutes in the second quarter as Bloom turned a 21-16 lead into a 37-24 advantage.
“I definitely felt like I gave the team a spark,” Collier said. “I could have done more, but at the end of the day, we won. It was the best team game we’ve played all year. We stayed together and we got the ‘W.’ ”
Bloom certainly had balance as seven players scored between eight and 11 points. Jordan Brown, Elijah Lovemore and Raeshom Harris contributed nine points apiece, while Santana Flowers had eight points and eight rebounds.
Collier, who started last season for Marist, has adjusted to being a reserve for the Blazing Trojans.
“Leirre started the year off hurt, so he was not able to even compete to start,” Bloom coach Dante Maddox said. “He played with a hip injury for the first six or seven games.
“To his credit, he gathered himself and worked into a great role. He’s been a great kid, a great addition, and he’s finishing strong just like you want to do your senior year.”
Garner missed a few weekend games while taking official visits for football. He committed in January to Grambling State. He then got injured and missed more time.
He’s back in full force now. “I wanted to give that energy to my team,” Garner said. “When I was missing those games, I felt like those were the dog days of our season.
“We had to toughen it up, and
wanted to make sure everyone was mentally prepared for this.”
After finishing 13-14 last season, Marist had one of the Southland’s biggest turnarounds.
“Credit to these kids,” Marist coach Brian Hynes said. “We had an unbelievable season. We wanted to get Marist basketball back on the map, and the 202223 team did it.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the kids doing this not only for Marist but for me. I’ll never be able to repay them for the character they had.”
Bloom, meanwhile, is moving on with a comfortable Collier contributing.
“It’s been up and down,” Collier said. “I really just accepted a role of sticking guys on defense, hitting big shots when I need to.
“We’ve got a lot of great players. I’m excited we get to keep playing.”