Solomon Washington met Carver basketball coach Nate Roche for the primary time in the summertime earlier than Washington began highschool, and Roche advised Washington he might sometime be one of the best participant within the state.
Almost 4 years later, the 6-foot-7 Washington has been chosen by the Louisiana Sports activities Writers Affiliation as its Louisiana Farm Bureau Insurance coverage/Mr. Basketball for the 2021-22 season.
“As a freshman I knew he was going to have the ability to have an effect on the sport in so some ways,” Roche stated. “Watching him develop and mature, I knew it was greater than scoring for him. I knew he was going to be an impactful participant on each ends of the courtroom.”
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Washington, a Texas A&M signee, capped his ultimate highschool season in March by serving to lead Carver to a Class 4A LHSAA championship, defeating McMain 66-31. Within the state ultimate, Washington scored 12 factors with 20 rebounds, 9 assists, six blocked photographs and 4 steals.
Washington accomplished his senior season averaging 14.9 factors, 11.1 rebounds, three assists, 2.4 steals and a couple of.6 blocks. In 38 video games, he posted 23 double-doubles.
Recognized for his crowd-pleasing dunks and blocked photographs that generally received knocked into the bleachers, Washington was a unanimous first-team District 11-4A choice and chosen because the district participant of the 12 months.
His potential to defend on the perimeter led to a number of fast baskets in transition.
“To me, that crucial a part of the sport,” Washington stated. “Our protection creates offense.”
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Washington discovered early in highschool that his staff might carry out higher when he let different gamers rating extra factors. He might common 20 factors per sport and win video games. However when he put a deal with protection and passing, Carver turned shut video games into blowouts.
The Rams skilled loads of success with Washington. They reached the LHSAA match thrice, ending as semifinalists when he was a sophomore and as a runner-up when he was a junior.
It was that runner-up end that fueled Carver to a championship this season.
“We have been hungry from dropping the state championship within the final second,” Washington stated. “The quantity of labor we put within the offseason; I knew we have been going to win state.”
Washington and his teammates ran 5 miles a number of instances per week. They labored onerous within the weight room.
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“I knew our staff was prepared for the season,” Washington stated.
Carver posted a 29-2 report towards in-state opponents. The Rams completed the season robust by defeating their ultimate three opponents by vast margins: 29 factors in a quarterfinal towards L.B. Landry, 49 factors in a semifinal towards Huntington and 35 factors within the title sport towards McMain.
Washington was not the one Carver participant acknowledged by the LSWA this season. Senior Dorian Finister was a second-team all-state choice and senior Willie Anderson obtained honorable point out.
However Washington introduced somewhat one thing additional to his staff.
“It’s very uncommon that you simply coach a participant along with his expertise, ability stage and maturity, and he’s a sponge,” Roche stated. “Some guys along with his expertise suppose they know all of it. I don’t suppose Solomon has reached that time.”
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La. Farm Bureau Insurance coverage/LSWA Mr. Basketball winners 1996: Lester Earl, Glen Oaks 1997: Marcus Fizer, Arcadia 1998: Stromile Swift, Truthful Park 1999: Bernard King, Gibsland Coleman 2000: Chris Duhon, Salmen 2001: Donald Perry, McCall 2002: Darrel Mitchell Jr., St. Martinville 2003: Paul Millsap, Grambling 2004: Glen Davis, College 2005: Tasmin Mitchell, Denham Springs 2006: Demond Carter, Reserve Christian 2007: Greg Monroe, Helen Cox 2008: Greg Monroe, Helen Cox 2009: Joevoskie Mitchell, Zwolle 2010: Markel Brown, Peabody 2011: Ricardo Gathers, Riverside 2012: Dee Wagner, Peabody 2013: Jarell Martin, Madison Prep 2014: Reginal Johnson Jr., Richwood 2015: Brandon Sampson, Madison Prep 2016: Javonte Good, Scotlandville 2017: Javonte Good, Scotlandville 2018: Javonte Good, Scotlandville 2019: Jalen Prepare dinner, Walker 2020: Reece Beekman, Scotlandville 2021: Carlos Stewart, The Dunham College 2022: Solomon Washington, Carver
Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to a resounding victory over the Conservatives in the United Kingdom Thursday evening, shaking up British politics as discontent grows with growing poverty rates and record-high energy prices.
After 14 years of Conservative governance, the Labour Party roared back after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for the snap election to take place weeks before the obligated date.
Here are five things to know about the landslide victory and what it means for America’s closest ally.
Who is Keir Starmer, the new prime minister?
Since being elected to the British Parliament in 2015, Keir Starmer has focused his efforts on making his party more electable. While he is a socialist, the new prime minister has moved to the center on some economic issues and has frustrated some pro-Palestinian factions of his party with his position on the war in Gaza.
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Starmer promised “national renewal” as he gave a victory speech on Friday morning. He chuckled as he was congratulated by “Elmo” — or, rather, independent candidate Bobby Smith, who was dressed as the red Sesame Street character.
Labour was able to win 412 out of a possible 650 seats — almost 64% (despite only garnering 35% of the vote share), thanks to Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system. The seat total was the party’s best showing since 1997, when former Prime Minister Tony Blair swept to power with 418 seats, and matched its 2001 total.
Keir Starmer (left) shakes hands with other candidates after he was elected for the Holborn and St. Pancras constituency on July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Sunak apologizes for brutal result
After Sunak’s party lost 251 seats in Parliament, he apologized for the brutal loss.
“This is a difficult day at the end of a number of difficult days,” the outgoing prime minister said Friday morning. “I am sorry. I take responsibility for the loss.”
Labour took 412 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. The Conservatives retained 121 seats as the country waits for the election results in two more districts.
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Sunak said he would step down as the leader of the Conservative Party but “not immediately,” as he will try to firm up the succession plans before moving aside.
Liz Truss and other prominent Tories lose their seats
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was Britain’s shortest-serving leader as she spent just 49 days in the role, was among the Conservatives who lost their seats. She became the first former prime minister to lose her seat in 100 years.
In 2022, Britain elected her to lead the country by more than 26,000 votes. On Friday morning, Truss lost her race by 630 votes, a damning indictment on the country’s disenchantment with the Conservative Party.
“I think the issue we faced as Conservatives is we haven’t delivered sufficiently on the policies people want,” Truss told the BBC after her loss. The former prime minister faced widespread criticism for sparking financial turmoil during her chaotic 49-day rule.
Penny Mordaunt, a onetime Conservative leader of the House of Commons, also lost her seat by under 2 percentage points. Mordaunt, who served in Sunak’s Cabinet, suffered a narrow defeat to Labour’s Amanda Martin.
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Nigel Farage finally becomes an MP
Reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage gives a victory speech after winning his seat at the Clacton Leisure Centre in Clacton, England, on July 5, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party is headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll suggested, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval. (Joe Giddens/PA Wire/PA via AP)
While Labour took home landslide wins, the Reform U.K. party snagged significant wins, claiming a historic four parliamentary seats. Nigel Farage became a member of Parliament for the first time, celebrating as his party tracks to become the third-largest party in Britain. Farage says Reform U.K. will “now be targeting Labour votes.”
Former President Donald Trump congratulated Farage, a longtime ally who shares similar views on immigration.
“Congratulations to Nigel Farage on his big WIN of a Parliament Seat Amid Reform UK Election Success,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country! DJT.”
Farage was a central player in the Brexit fight, and his participation in the election this year was a last-minute surprise. After formerly leading the U.K. Independence Party and the Brexit Party, Farage announced last month he was going to run for leader of the Reform U.K. party.
His Reform U.K. party as a whole, however, fell victim to Britain’s electoral system, winning 14% of the vote share but only four seats. The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, traditionally the country’s third-biggest party, won 71 seats with just 12% of the vote.
Scottish National Party suffers bloody nose
The Tories weren’t the only ones who faced a string of defeats on Thursday.
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The Scottish National Party, which has dominated politics north of the border for more than two decades, was reduced to just nine seats, losing 37 and garnering just more than 700,000 votes. The shellacking was the party’s worst performance since 2010 and came after more than two years of chaos.
The Scottish independence movement’s leader, Nicola Sturgeon, unexpectedly resigned last year. Her successor, Humza Yousaf, was also plagued with difficulties, resigning in May after serving for only 13 months.
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The party only competed for the 57 seats up for grabs in Scotland. A resounding victory there would have given teeth to the renewed independence referendum, but leadership problems along with fractured feelings about the referendum slowed momentum for the movement.
“We are experiencing something that we have not experienced in quite some time,” the Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, said. “We are going to be beat in Scotland, and we are going to be beat well.”
The editorial board of The Washington Post published a mock speech in which President Joe Biden announced the abandonment of his 2024 reelection campaign.
The faux address — under the headline of “What if Biden spoke these words?” — imagined Biden delivering the news to Americans on Thursday, Independence Day, a week after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump sparked calls for him to end his run.
The key part in the Post’s essay read:
My season of service is nearing its close. This was a hard truth to face. But it is the natural course of things — as evident as the progression from spring to summer, from fall to winter. This is why I have decided to withdraw from the campaign for president of the United States.
It envisioned Biden announcing new debates between potential nominees, including Vice President Kamala Harris, and concluded with the president urging Americans to “search your soul as I have” when they go to the polls in November.
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Some people on social media suggested it was the Post’s call for Biden to quit the race. Others were simply confused by the editorial.
The annual “A Capitol Fourth” show returned to the District this Fourth of July on PBS. The show took place on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
Alfonso Ribeiro hosted the event. It featured music performances from famous singers such as Smokey Robinson, Fantasia and Darren Criss followed the traditional fireworks.
Watch an archive of the event below.
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