News Briefs
February 16, 2016
Roman Antoine Guidry
February 17, 2016
One of the coolest things about this job is following young men and women throughout their athletic careers.
It’s awesome to see Elijah McGuire leave Vandebilt and become a superstar collegiate halfback at UL-Lafayette. It’s really neat to see Lionheart Leslie thrive at Cal State-Fullerton and Gibby Talbot make waves at LSU-Alexandria.
And the list goes on and on and on. I’m so proud of Meghan Philp for her successes in college soccer and also Cassidy Barrios for becoming a freshman phenom at Nicholls. I’m proud of everyone locally who has been blessed with the courage to leave high school and continue to compete. It’s a thrill for me to follow it all throughout the year.
But it’s even more fun when I get the chance to see them grow even before their days at high school.
This past week was a chance for me to see that first hand.
It’s well known by now that I take part in youth sports around the community. I’m a Biddy Basketball Coach in the South Lafourche Biddy Basketball organization.
I love it.
I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
Through doing that, I get “first dibs”, so to speak on the talent coming up in our region. I get to see tomorrow’s stars compete long before they are well-known local names.
This week, there were two battles on the prep hardwood between kids who have been going at it for almost a decade now – dating back to their time in youth sports.
That would be the ongoing rivalry between the South Lafourche girls’ basketball team and Ellender.
Let me first tell the tale of the Lady Tarpons.
This South Lafourche team is one that folks down Bayou Lafourche have looked forward to for years, because the talent on the floor today has been blossoming for quite some time on the Biddy Basketball hardwood.
The Lady Tarpons have an interesting mix. They are led in the starting lineup by three decorated seniors and two dominant sophomores. The seniors are Brinkley Callais, Caroline Guilbeau and Breigh Cheramie. Each has a decorated resume going back to when they were 8-years old. For Callais and Guilbeau, they’ve been contributors to the Lady Tarpons team since they’ve been freshmen.
And then there’s the sophomores – Traya Bruce and Victorianna Nelson.
Bruce and Nelson are a one-two punch that’s been known for years. Together, they helped South Lafourche Biddy Basketball win the International Championship when they were 12. Before that, they helped South Lafourche generate a runner-up finish at the International Tournament.
In junior high, the duo starred again, helping win the state championship for Larose-Cut Off Middle School that was loaded with talent – the first time the local school had ever won that honor.
Like Callais and Guilbeau, Bruce and Nelson have starred since their freshman season. They are all being recruited by colleges across the area.
It’s so cool to see, because I literally remember watching every one of them play basketball when they were 8. The same can be said for their teammates Ramey Messer, Elizabeth Curole, Caroline Curole and Emily Danos.
But what makes it even cooler is that a lot of their fierce battles as young’ins came against the Ellender kids they’re now competing with on the high school hardwood.
Like South Lafourche, Ellender’s roster is made up of several players who have made a habit of winning – dating back to their youth.
Several members of the Lady Patriots roster are members of the Terrebonne Parish Recreation team that won back-to-back International Championships a few seasons ago. Coached by my buddy Derrian Williams (who is now an assistant coach at Ellender), these Lady Patriots are brutally young, but unbelievably talented.
Ellender has seven freshmen on their varsity roster and a lot of them see big-time minutes. Heck, in Monday’s game against South Lafourche, it was freshman Terris McKay who did most of the damage and led Ellender in scoring.
The Patriots, too, have senior leadership with Sky Jasper and Kiara Jones playing big minutes. But the meat and potatoes of the Ellender operation is its freshman class – a group that just might get veteran Lady Patriots coach Kenneth Dixon another ring – or maybe even two.
These young ladies on both sides have battled at every level and neither has ever gotten a decisive advantage over the other, which has resulted in numerous hard-fought battles.
In high school, it’s been no different. Ellender won the first matchup with South Lafourche this year, then the Lady Tarpons answered back with a win of their own to split the district championship. The combined margin of victory in those games was six points.
They then played a winner take-all district playoff game, and each rolled through to the playoffs.
And for me, I’m soaking it all up and enjoying every minute of it.
Because I’ve been blessed to see it all from the onset – the battles that most local fans weren’t able to see.
There’s history here – winning history.
And it’s been fun to watch it all unfold for both teams.
They’re high school varsity basketball players right now, but when they were 11 and 12 years old, South Lafourche and Ellender were also battling on the hardwood. Pictured are current Lady Tarpons Kyzha Jackson (top, fifth from left), Victorianna Nelson (top, sixth from left), Ramey Messer (bottom, first from left) and Traya Bruce (bottom, third from left). Both the Lady Tarpons and Lady Patriots will compete in the Class 4A State Playoffs this week.
