CHICAGO— In its 35th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, today announced Reece Beekman of Scotlandville Magnet High School as its 2019-20 Gatorade Louisiana Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Beekman is the second Gatorade Louisiana Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Scotlandville Magnet High School. The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Beekman as Louisiana’s best high school boys basketball player.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award, Beekman joins an elite alumni association of past state boys basketball award winners, including Karl-Anthony Towns (2012-13 & 2013-14, St. Joseph High School, N.J.), Dwight Howard (2003-04, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, Ga.), Chris Bosh (2001-02, Lincoln High School, Texas), Paul Pierce (1994-95, Inglewood High School, Calif.), Chauncey Billups (1993-94 & 1994-95, George Washington High School, Colo.) and Jason Kidd (1991-92, St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, Calif.).

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior guard led the Hornets to a 33-3 record and a berth in the Division I state tournament semifinals at the time of his selection. Beekman averaged 19.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, 9.2 assists, 2.7 blocks and 2.3 steals through 36 games with 13 tr iple-doubles as Scotlandville pursued its fourth-straight state title. He entered the state semifinals with 2,220 points, 949 rebounds and 927 assists in his prep basketball career. Beekman has volunteered locally delivering food to families in need, and he has donated his time to elementary school literacy programs and as a youth basketball coach. “Reece has a great team, but he is the reason why they are so great,” said Dirk Ricks, head coach of Jehovah-Jireh Christian Academy. “He is a great defender, rebounder and most of all a great leader.”

Beekman has maintained a weighted 4.11 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on scholarship at the University of Virginia this fall. Beekman joins Gatorade Louisiana Boys Basketball Players of the Year Jalen Cook (2018-19, Walker High School), Ja'Vonte Smart, (2017-18, 2016-17 & 2015-16, Scotlandville Magnet High School), and Wayde Sims (2014-15, University Laboratory School) among the state’s list of former award winners.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport. The 2019-2020 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year announcement has been temporarily postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. To ensure the safety of everyone involved, The Gatorade Company will follow the guidance of experts and health officials as it determines the appropriate time to announce this year’s winner. As a part of Gatorade’s cause marketing platform “Play it Forward,” Beekman also has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of his choosing. He is also eligible to submit an essay to win one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be announced throughout the year. Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.

Scotlandville continued their dominance of Louisiana high school hoops with their 4th straight state title win beating St. Augustine 66-39.

Senior and Virginia signee Reece Beekman took home MVP honors with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists.

Despite the win, no fans were allowed inside Scotlandville's gym due to concerns over the Corona virus. Only certified personnel were allowed to view the game.

Doyle and Lee girls hoops teams both took home hardware Saturday afternoon.

In 2A, top seeded Doyle won its first state title since 1979 with a 73-66 win over Red River.

The Division II state title game saw the Lee Lady Patriots top St. Louis Catholic 75-56 for their second consecutive state title.

On a cold and chilly night in Hammond, it was the University soccer teams that were the hot ticket Wednesday night. Both the Cubs girls and boys won Division III state titles in overtime.

First it was the girls who took top seeded Loyola Prep to overtime after a scoreless regulation. After a Loyola foul, Eryn Kennedy took a free kick and went nothing but net in the 83rd minute. That was all the Cubs needed as they went on to win 1-0 for their third state title since 2015.

Immediately following the girls was the second seeded U-High boys taking on top seeded Vandebilt who the Cubs tied earlier this season.

Their match also went in to overtime after a scoreless regulation but in the extra period U-High's Liam Moran scored in the 90th minute to give the Cubs a 1-0 win for their second consecutive title.

It was a family affair for both teams. The girls head coach, Melissa Ramsey, is the sister of U-High's boys head coach Chris Mitchell.