Seniors lead Panthers to victory in home opener against Jeanerette

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, November 30, 2022

If there’s one thing Catholic High boys basketball coach Casey McGrew won’t have to worry about this season, it’s depth.

In Monday’s home opener against Jeanerette, McGrew started his five most experienced players, which didn’t include his two leading scorers from last year.

Email newsletter signup

McGrew used two groups of five players throughout the game, which ended in a 66-50 win for the Panthers.

“I wanted to start the seniors tonight in front of the home crowd, and they did what they were supposed to do,” he said.

In the first quarter, seniors Kaiden Faulk and Franklyn Hockless combined for three 3-pointers for a 10-2 lead. The second group of five, led by sophomores Chris Green, Jaiden Mitchell and Tristan Lewis, helped make it 37-14 at the half.

“Look, I put a lot of pressure on those guys,” McGrew said of his starting five. “Those three sophomores have been playing together for eight years. They’re great basketball players so I put a lot of pressure on the seniors. I told them that their opportunity was here, and that they had to go out there and get me a lead.”

Jeanerette (1-3) was on fire in the third quarter. The Tigers shot 11-of-11 from the floor in the third to pull within 46-38. Richard Lumpkin, who finished with 26 points, hit 6-of-6 field goals. Kelby Guillory was 4-for-4, and Zyon Colar added a basket.

The Tigers climbed within 47-40 in the fourth quarter, but Mitchell converted two 3-point plays to put the game out of reach.

“They ran the floor, we got beat down the floor, and they crashed the boards” McGrew said of JSH’s third quarter run. “I told our guys that at halftime. I watched two of Jeanerette’s games. They don’t give up. They don’t stop. I knew it was going to be this type of game.”

Mitchell finished with 18 points, followed by Faulk with 14 points as 10 Panthers got into the scoring column. Mitchell and Lewis, last season’s leading scorers, are once again pacing the Panthers’ offense.

“Jaiden is very hard to guard one-on-one,” McGrew said. “When I see teams try to do that, I’m completely relaxed because I don’t think there is a player in this district that can guard him one-on-one.”

With their depth, the Panthers are getting balanced scoring from several players.

“We have a lot of guys scoring eight to nine points per game,” McGrew said. We have numbers this year. I found two groups of five players that play well together. I’m trying to keep those five players together.”

Guillory added 14 points for Jeanerette, which played most of the game without 6-foot-3, 235-pound post Traville Frederick after the junior appeared to sprain his ankle in the first quarter.