By Dave Moormann
MaxPreps.com
Brusly successfully defended its championship, while New Orleans Jesuit and Holy Cross came away victorious, as well, in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournaments in Kenner.
Not only did Brusly win its sixth consecutive Division III-Classes 3A and below title, but it boasted of eight individual champions. Meanwhile, Jesuit breezed to its first Division I-Class 5A state title in three years, and Holy Cross held off Marrero Archbishop Shaw for the Division II-Class 4A crown.
In winning its seventh championship in nine years, Brusly scored 297 points with a lineup that featured seven freshmen. North Vermillion was a distant second with 144 points. River Ridge John Curtis was third with 139 points.
“This year was unique because we were so young,” Brusly coach Jimmy Bible said. “Those freshmen we had out there are not freshmen any more. We put them into the fire to get them ready for this. They performed well, and so did everybody else."
Freshman Austin Schermer began Brusly’s victory parade with the 103-pound state championship. He pinned Dakota Rothell of Shreveport Calvary Baptist in 3:11 to claim the title.
“I was a little nervous before we got started,” Schermer said. “But I knew if I won it would give us momentum.”
It appeared to do just that, as Kyle Busy won at 112 pounds with a 6-1 decision over South Plaquemines’ Jared Barbin. Tyler Rockforte pinned Reid Hebert of North Vermillion in 3:59 at 125 pounds, and Logan Romero won at 130 pounds with a 6-2 decision over Cullen Frazier of John Curtis.
Seniors Ty Welch and Beau Haydel won at 140 and 160 pounds, respectively. Welch pinned Basile’s Brandon Belisle in 2:34, and Haydel took a 9-5 decision over Justin Sonnier of North Vermillion.
Christopher Conty pinned Basile’s Nicholas Bertrand at in 5:15 at 171, and Anthony Hood stopped John Curtis’ Dariyan Riley at 189, 4-3.
As for Jesuit, it scored 266.5 points to 232.5 for runner-up Metairie Archbishop Rummel. Covington St. Paul’s was third at 221.5. Defending champion Baton Rouge Catholic was fourth with 200 points.
Shaw’s disqualification at 125 pounds allowed Holy Cross to finish first in its division with 196.5 points. Shaw placed second at 179.5.
Boys Soccer: Shreveport Loyola moves into final
Eighth-seeded Shreveport Loyola enjoyed an appropriate encore to its stunning upset of No. 1-seeded Houma Vandebilt, as it beat Monroe Neville, 2-0, to advance to the Division II state championship.
“I think we are at a point where we’ve validated ourselves,” Loyola coach Stephen Slack said. “The goal this year was to win state. We had the confidence in ourselves. We had the talent. We’ve showed it so far. It’s a goal come true to make it this far.”
Loyola will face second-seeded Lafayette Teurlings Catholic in the final after Teurlings ousted No. 3-seed Alexandria in double overtime, 1-0.
Loyola scored its first goal on junior forward Collin Bantle’s header over the Neville goalkeeper. Chad Smith set up the goal with his service into the box.
The Flyers scored their other goal on Michael Conner’s shot that followed David Adams’ cross into the box.
Loyola senior goalkeeper J.P. McPhillips recorded another shutout on the heels of the Flyers’ 1-0 victory over Vandebilt.
Loyola will be appearing in the state finals for the first time since 2001, when Slack was a junior on the team.
As for its opponent, Teurlings Catholic finally scored with a minute to play in the second overtime after Alexandria sophomore goalkeeper Thomas Dixon had stopped 17 shots. Teurlings Catholic had eliminated Alexandria last year, as well.
“It was a nail-biter all the way through,” Alexandria coach Sons Pathoumthong said. “We came up short against Teurlings again, but it was still a good season. The guys worked hard to get here, and we definitely didn’t hand the game over to them. We made them earn it.”
Alexandria finished its season 24-4. The Trojans will graduate seven seniors, including goal and assist leaders Abram Ebersohn, Les Warshaw and Evan Kee.
Despite the losses, Pathoumthong said, “I think we can get back to the same level. We certainly have the potential to do so.”
Girls Soccer: No. 1 seed rolls to victory in Division I
Top-seeded Covington St. Scholastica highlighted Division I state quarterfinal action in breezing to a 7-1 victory over District 7-1 rival Mandeville.
St. Scholastica is looking for its first Division I state title after having won the Division II crown before moving up in class last season. The Doves lost to Lake Charles Barbe in last year’s Division I semifinals, 1-0.
"We definitely had last season's semis in our mind," Doves midfielder Kelly Gautreaux said. "We know every game can be our last game."
St. Scholastica improved to 18-2 overall after having defeated Mandeville twice during the regular season. Mandeville fell to 24-6-2.
Basketball: Parish foes decide outcome in overtime
Don’t be surprised if Livingston Parish rivals Denham Springs and Walker meet again somewhere down the line in the girls state playoffs that begin later this week.
The two evenly matched teams finished the regular season with Denham Springs’ pulsating 44-41 overtime victory that gave the two a share of the District 5-5A championship.
In winning at least a share of its 25th district title, fifth-ranked Denham Springs (29-5, 9-1) avenged an earlier loss to third-ranked Walker (26-6, 9-1).
“You’ve got two teams where kids played their hearts out, gave every ounce of energy they had and just this time they got bounces, they made the free throws and we didn’t,” Walker coach John McMillan said.
Denham Springs took the lead for good on center Lacey Brasseaux’s putback that put the Lady Jackets in front, 42-40, with 56 seconds left in overtime.
The teams traded free throws before Keisha Lee scored the game’s final point, and the last of her team-high 15, on a free throw with 6.4 seconds left. Walker leading scorer Mina Romito missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Walker had led by as many as nine points in regulation at 26-17 after a third-quarter run in which Hannah Foline scored seven of her 13 points. Denham Springs rallied behind Brasseaux, who scored four points as the Yellow Jackets outscored Walker at the close of regulation, 8-2.
Ciera Sibley’s layup knotted the score at 37-37 with 30 seconds left in regulation before Walker’s Foline missed a 12-footer at the buzzer.
