NSU gets offense from consistent leadoff man
March 5, 2014Boundary map focus of TPCG suit
March 5, 2014
The Central Catholic girls’ basketball team represents the Tri-parish area’s only shot at taking home a girls’ basketball state championship in 2013-14.
The No. 2 Lady Eagles earned their spot in the Class 1A State Semifinals last week after blistering No. 7 Tensas 64-45 in the quarterfinals round last Thursday night.
The victory moved Central Catholic to the semifinals for the second-straight season. It also improved the Lady Eagles to 27-3 on the season.
With the win, Central Catholic will tackle No. 3 Merryville this afternoon at 2:45 in the Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles.
The Lady Eagles’ foe earned their place in the semifinals after beating No. 6 West St. John in the quarterfinals.
To get to the semifinals, Central Catholic rode dynamic one-two punch Meo Knight and Randi Brown to victory.
The Lady Eagles’ duo alone scored more than Tensas’ entire team, combined for 48 points in the win. Brown led Central Catholic in the victory with 29 points, while also adding seven rebounds and seven assists.
Knight, an Alabama commitment, scored 19 points in the win.
To get those points, the Lady Eagles’ standout players had to earn them from the foul line. Tensas played a tough, physical defensive style against Central Catholic in an effort to keep the Lady Eagles out of rhythm and off-balance.
By doing so, they put Brown and Knight on the foul line throughout the game – a strategy that failed.
Both Central Catholic standouts shot above 90 percent from the line, which kept the Lady Eagles in front throughout the game as they sealed the victory.
Against Merryville, the Lady Eagles will be asked to snap a lengthy winning streak. Merryville is 31-0 this season with most of their wins coming in decisive, blowout fashion.
But when one looks at Merryville’s schedule in greater detail, it is worth noting that a lot of the team’s wins have come against inferior and outmatched competition, while Central Catholic played some of the best teams in Louisiana throughout the season.
Whoever wins the Central Catholic game will face the winner of No. 1 North Central and No. 5 Arcadia in the finals.
Knight said earlier this season that the Lady Eagles have one goal – to win it all. They are now two wins away from making that dream a reality.
“We’ve been close before, so now it’s time that we stop getting close and actually get there,” Knight said. “We are hungry. We want to win the state championship. That is our only goal – to get there and to win it.”
Ellender’s state title hopes
fall to Salmen
While Central Catholic pushes toward the state title, Ellender’s quest ended at the hands of Class 4A’s defending champion.
After beating Eunice in the opening round and Rayne in the second round, the No. 8 Lady Patriots were given the dubious task of traveling to play No. 1 Salmen in the Class 4A quarterfinals.
Ellender played tough, but fell short, falling to the defending champions 54-30 – a loss that ends the Lady Patriots season with a 23-6 record.
“It’s always disappointing when you come up short,” Ellender coach Kenneth Dixon said. “But I’m very proud of these kids. They worked hard, did the things we told them to do and when you look at it from afar, we had a great season. We really did. We’re proud of those young ladies.”
For the Lady Patriots, a lack of offense proved to be the difference.
Ellender’s up-tempo, fast-paced offensive style didn’t net points against Salmen – a team widely regarded to be the favorite to repeat in Class 4A.
Lady Spartans’ one-two punch of Kalani and Megan Brown anchored Salmen’s efforts, combining for 32 points and 26 rebounds in the win.
On the other end, Ellender couldn’t buy a bucket, suffering a scoring drought that lasted throughout the entire game. The Lady Patriots were 4-of-33 from behind the 3-point line in the loss.
But the 2013-14 season was still successful for Ellender, as the team advanced to the Quarterfinals after losing in the first round of the postseason for five-straight seasons.
“It was good,” Dixon said. “We would have liked to go a little bit deeper, but Salmen is a really good team. We have a good group of girls leaving, but we have a really good bunch staying, too, so we’re excited about the future and seeing where we can go from here.”
