By Dave Moormann
MaxPreps.com
The Baton Rouge Catholic boys and Lafayette Northside girls were repeat winners in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships at LSU’s Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.
Catholic scored 101 points to win its third consecutive Division I-Classes 5A and 4A title. The Bears outdistanced runner-up New Orleans O.P. Walker by 69 points.
Northside produced 58 points to edge inner-city rival Lafayette by seven points in winning its second Division I crown in a row.
The Baton Rouge Episcopal boys claimed the Division II-Classes 3A and below championship with 54 points, with Hammond St. Thomas Aquinas taking the girls title in the same division with 48 points.
Catholic’s dominating victory included a Division I record in the 800-meter run. The team of Marcus Thomas, Kevin Taylor, Ben Guarisco and Andrew Rhorer covered the distance in 1 minute, 29.69 seconds. The Bears also won the 3,200 relay in 8:17.86.
Rhorer also finished second in the long jump at 27 feet 7 ¾ inches.
Philip Primeaux won the 3,200 run in 9:46.21, with Catholic taking the top two spots in the 800 run. Julian Parker was first in 1:58.43 just ahead of teammate Rance Guerin in 1:58.84.
“These guys just amaze me every day,” Catholic coach Pete Boudreaux said. “We just came out smoking and scored points in so many places. I never expect to get 101 points at an indoor meet.”
Sprinter-hurdler Kim Francis bolstered Northside’s cause with a pair of victories in a matter of minutes. She first took the 55-meter hurdles in 8.37 seconds before running to victory in the 55 dash in 7.32. Teammate Marcella LeBlanc added a victory in the shot put with a throw of 40 feet.
Franklin led the Division II boys competition for most of the meet before losing it on the final two events.
Episcopal pulled to within 47-46 on Trent Dunbar’s second-place finish in the 3,200 before winning the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 1,600 relay and Michael Dunbar’s fourth-place finish in the 3,200 run.
“I told them it could come down to one point and that we needed to get every point we could.” Episcopal coach Claney Duplechin said. “They responded.”
Episcopal’s Rickey Steele was a double winner having with victories in the 55 hurdles in 7.73 and the long jump at 22-10½.
St. Thomas Aquinas won its team title despite having only one individual winner in Mali Cali, who took the 800 in 2:21.74.
An injury prevented Cali from finishing the 3,200, which paved the way for 10-year-old Gabrielle Jennings, a fifth-grader from Slidell First Baptist, to win in 11:59.90.
Girls Basketball: Riverdale claims championship
The Coushatta Riverdale Academy girls defeated Bayou Academy of Cleveland, Miss., 48-35, for the Mississippi Private School Association Class A state championship.
Riverdale is among several Louisiana schools in the MPSA.
The victory advanced Riverdale to the MPSA overall tournament at Mississippi College in Clinton.
“The real key to this team was how they cared about each other,” Riverdale coach Nathan Collinsworth said. “The parents let me do what I needed to do this year to make them better. They really cared and loved each other. That’s why this team went as far as they’ve gone so far.”
Riverdale’s latest victory improved its record to 31-5. All five losses came to two teams. Melissa Savell leads Riverdale’s balanced attack with an average of 10.2 points per game. Morgan Trader follows at 10.1.
Boys Basketball: Peabody perfect again
Alexandria Peabody stopped Grant, 89-60, to finish undefeated in District 3-4A for the third season in a row. It also marked the Warhorses’ 16th consecutive district title overall.
The Warhorses finished their regular season 29-3 overall and 8-0 in district. Peabody took an 11-point victory over Grant earlier in the season.
Junior Markel Brown scored a game-high 25 points. Michael Ford, Peabody’s only senior, added 16 points and keyed an early 20-4 run that set the tone of the game.
"Michael has done everything I've asked of him," Peabody coach Charles Smith said. "I challenged him coming into the season to be a presence for us on defense and be a rebounder. He's been solid for us in both areas….I thought it was fitting for him that he had such a good game and got to go out undefeated in district play”
Peabody actually won a game earlier in the day, too. The LHSAA ruled that Lake Charles Washington Marion had to forfeit 12 games, one of which was a victory over Peabody.
The double victories gave Smith 702 career wins in 24 years at Peabody.
Soccer: Final matchups determined
New Orleans Jesuit’s unbeaten record will be at state when the top-seeded Blue Jays face No. 2 Captain Shreve for the Division I-Class 5A state championship.
Jesuit (30-0-2) advanced with a 5-2 victory over Lafayette, while Captain Shreve downed Covington St. Paul’s, 4-1.
The Division III-Classes 3A and below showdown will feature top-seeded New Orleans Newman against second-seeded Baton Rouge University.
Mark Reuther and Patrick Mullins paced Jesuit with two goals apiece. Reuther and Mullins each scored a first-half goal, as the Blue Jays took a 3-0 halftime lead. Daniel Moise added the other goal.
Lafayette scored twice in the first six minutes of the second half with Daniel Brossuard scoring off a rebound and Will Myers getting a goal off a header.
“After going into the half 3-0, the team thought we’d coast,” Jesuit coach Hubie Collins said. “But we quickly let Lafayette back in the game. The good thing, though, was we responded after that. We didn’t let (Lafayette’s) goals affect how we played on offense.”
Reuther upped Jesuit’s lead to 4-2 at the 52nd minute, and Mullins scored with an assist from Zach Correa at the 62nd minute.
Senior Micah Peters paced University in its 4-1 semifinal victory over defending state champion Hammond St. Thomas Aquinas. Newman stopped Baton Rouge Episcopal in the other semifinal, 3-1.
Peters scored twice and added two assists.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am,” he said. “It’s a great feeling, going to the state finals for the first time in our school’s history.”