James Smithers rolled a perfect 300 game to highlight
Barbe (Lake Charles, La.)’s 19-8 victory over Archbishop Shaw (Marrero) for the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Boys State Bowling Championship.
Lafayette (Lafayette, La.) beat St. Michael (Baton Rouge), 16.5-10.5, in the girls final.
Smithers’ perfect game was the third of his career and the first ever bowled in the LHSAA finals. It came in the first game and helped him to the unofficial singles title with a three-game average of 242. Shaw’s Michael Niven, who rolled a 286 in the third game, placed second at 220.
"I was really comfortable with the two lanes I was on in that first game," said Smithers, who participated in the finals at Don Carter’s All-Star Lanes in Baton Rouge. "It was great, but winning the team title means so much more."
Smithers averaged 216 in Barbe’s 15-12 semifinal upset victory over Brother Martin (New Orleans). Shaw routed Parkway (Bossier City) in the other semifinal, 24-3.
"Beating Brother Martin in the semifinals was tough," said Barbe coach James Kelly, whose team won its second state title in three years. "We had to elevate our game. We just continued on from there."
In claiming its second consecutive state girls title, Lafayette extended its winning steak to 21 matches over the course of two seasons. The Lions edged St. Michael in total points, 2,683-2,646. Central’s Kay Rawls won the girls singles title with a 221 average, including a high game of 249 during which she rolled eight consecutive strikes. St. Michael (Baton Rouge, La.)’s Angela Falgoust placed second at 205, including a 242 in her final game.
"Technically, the thing that worked best for me … was my follow throw," said Rawls, the only singles place finisher who wasn’t a member of one of the top teams. "It was great to be able to compete."
Lafayette advanced to the final with a 21-6 semifinal victory over Cabrini (New Orleans). St. Michael also ousted St. Thomas More (Lafayette), 21-6.
Track and field: Hartney a versatile winner
Junior Jordan Hartney won four events to lead Chalmette (Chalmette, La.) to victory in the Bobby Nuss Invitational.
Hartley finished first in the discus (91 feet, 4 inches), javelin (103-11), high jump (4-8) and anchored the winning 100-meter relay team. Chalmette took the team title with 118 points. Belle Chasse placed second with 94.5 points. John Curtis (River Ridge) won the boys competition with 127 points. Chalmette placed second with 100.
Lyons earns MVP honors again
Sierra Lyons won Most Valuable Player honors for the seventh time this season in guiding Xavier Prep (New Orleans, La.) to victory in the Terrebonne High (Houma) Tiger Relays.
Lyons scored 30 points in winning the shot put (30-0), javelin (113-0) and discus (99-0). South Lafourche’s (Galliano) Rusty Borne also scored 30 points in the boys competition in winning the high jump (6-9), triple jump (46-2½) and long jump (22-9).
Xavier Prep routed Terrebonne for the girls title, 109-76, while Franklin edged South Lafourche for the boys crown, 120-110.
Coaching changes plentiful
Well-traveled Keith Menard is the new football coach at Catholic (New Iberia), while Ouachita Christian (Monroe) has named a permanent boys basketball coach and Holy Savior Menard (Alexandria) has added two soccer coaches. Menard spent the last three years at Many after having been head coach at Central, Sacred Heart (Ville Platte) and Rayne during his 21-year career.
"This has nothing to with Many … I want to say that Many High has been nothing but good for Keith Menard," Menard said. "What this does have to do with is getting the chance to be back home in South Louisiana.
"I spent 11 years at Sacred Heart, and looking back on it, those were some of the best years of my life. I thought the situation here could be similar, so I took a chance and applied."
Menard will replace Craig Brodie, who was relieved of coaching duties after leading the Panthers to the Class 3A semifinals last season. Menard was 25-11 in three years at Many, including 11-2 in 2009 with a quarterfinal playoff loss to eventual Class 2A state champion Evangel Christian Academy (Shreveport). Menard was the Louisiana Sports Writer Association Class 2A Coach of the Year in 2008.
Michael Armand spent two weeks as the interim boys basketball coach at Ouachita before being named to the position permanently. He replaces Casey Jones, who left April 1 to become head coach at Longview in Texas. Armand spent 11 years as Jones’ assistant.
Jones led Ouachita to the 2009 Class 5A state championship, 14 district championships, including 10 in a row, and a composite record of 443-113.
"It was a natural fit," Ouachita principal Todd Guice said. "He knows the kids, and they know him. He’s so well thought of here in our community and at the school. It was the right move."…
Holy Savior Menard added Louisiana College soccer coach Craig Harwell as its boys soccer coach and hired former Tioga girls soccer coach Dwain Sketo to coach the Menard girls. Harwell spent the last two years coaching both the LC men and women but said he will only coach the men next year which will allow him to coach the Menard boys. He takes over for David Flynn, who resigned after leading Menard to the Class 2A semifinals for the first time in school history. Sketo will replace Melanie Baker, who spent the previous 11 years as a volunteer coach.
Covington pays homage to past
Covington retired the jersey of former longtime baseball coach Johnny Dragg and named the track at Jack Salter Stadium in honor of former veteran track coach Ally Smith.
Dragg was Covington’s baseball coach from 1984-2006, while Smith coached the track team from 1964-96, when he replaced Salter as football coach. Dragg won more than 300 games and five district championships. Smith won 18 district titles.
