Catholic High boys basketball coach Josh Guilbeau, right, talks to his team during a timeout from earlier this season. CHS rallied to beat Jeanerette in a District 7-2A contest Friday.

JEANERETTE — After Jeanerette went on an 11-0 run in the first half of Friday’s home game vs. Catholic-New Iberia, the Tigers seemed to be well on their way to a blowout victory.

With guard Taylor Tallmore scoring 9 of his team-high 15 points in the second quarter, Jeanerette built a comfortable 22-6 lead over a CHS team that couldn’t buy a bucket in the early going.

The Panthers didn’t sink their first shot from the field until Shay Lee came off the bench and followed a miss with an inside bucket with 1:10 remaining in the first quarter.

In the third quarter, however, the Panthers came alive with a 13-0 run and escaped with a 42-39 win.

“We’ll take it anytime we can go on the road and get a victory,” CHS head coach Josh Guilbeau said.  “Jeanerette is always a very competitive game for us.  They’ve been a district rival for a long time.”

A six-point play for the Panthers spearheaded the comeback for CHS (12-8, 4-2).

With Jeanerette ahead 29-17, CHS guard Trace Williams drew a foul at the 3:09 mark of the third quarter.

Before Williams went to the line, a technical foul was also assessed against a Jeanerette player.

Williams converted 3 of his 4 free throws and with the Panthers awarded possession of the ball, Javian Willis then scored his first points of the game on a 3-pointer to narrow the margin to 29-23.

“I thought we had it pretty much in control,” JSH head coach Dwayne Alexander said.  “We dared them to shoot from the outside and confused them on defense a little bit, but I think the big key was that technical foul.  

“It changed the whole complexion of the game.  We were up by about 9 or 10 points.  I don’t know.  We never recovered from that.  The official said our kid didn’t go get the ball for him.  I didn’t agree with it, but I can’t officiate and coach at the same time.”

 

Willis, who entered the game as CHS’ leading scorer at 15 ppg, scored 2 more points and KK Reno followed with a 3-point play to give the Panthers a 30-29 lead with 20 seconds left in the third.

In the fourth quarter, the Panthers were 6 of 8 from the free-throw line and reserve Preston Cestia had a huge basket — his only points of the game.

“The technical was big,” Guilbeau said.  “Also, maybe switching to a zone defense and throwing a different look at them helped.”

Willis finished well below his average with 6 points, but Trey Amos carried the load with 19 points, including two emphatic slam dunks in the second half.

“Trey Amos was unbelievable tonight,” Guilbeau said.  “Whenever we can get our guys to help out Willis, we’re a better team.

“We’re a team with a decent ceiling that can play well.  We’re also a team that occasionally is inconsistent and struggles as we did in the first half tonight.”

Despite missing 7 of his first 10 free throws, Amos drilled 4 of his last 5 in crunch time.

“I think we were pretty positive in the locker room at the half,” Guilbeau said.  “We knew we had only scored 12 points.  

“We were down 12 points but knew we’re capable of doing much better offensively, so we were quite positive in the locker room.  We came out in the third quarter and were able to play much better.”

In the most recent power rankings, CHS checked in at No. 8 in Division III.

“I haven’t looked at the playoff picture a whole lot or dug into too deeply,” Guilbeau said.  “I know we’re 8th or 9th right now in the power rankings.  We’re still hoping to possibly get a home playoff game.  We’re going to have to continue to get some wins to do that. 

“We went on the road the first two district games and did not play very well.  We lost both of those, so it’s nice to get a road victory in the district.”

Jeanerette (7-17, 2-4) needs to win the bulk of their 8 remaining league games to climb into playoff contention.  The Tigers are currently 42nd in Class 2A.

“A win tonight would have been a big help,” Alexander said.   “We always play pretty well at home.  I knew it would be a close game.  We just have to string a couple of victories together, take it one game at a time, and see how it falls after that.”