Ricardo Jeanlouis battles to the rim under heavy pressure from the Catholic High defense.

Catholic High’s 69-37 victory over Loreauville wasn’t the most well-drilled performance from the Panthers, but it was good enough to pick up one final win before heading into the Select Division III playoffs.

“I’m actually very unhappy with the performance,” said head coach Casey McGrew. “I don’t want to discount (Loreauville), but I hold my team to a higher standard and I feel like we could’ve played better defensively. It’s the second to last home game, in front of a home crowd, so I told them to enjoy it because now it’s time to prepare for the playoffs.”

The defensive troubles didn’t show in the first quarter, where the Panthers (17-9, 10-2) took an early 20-point lead behind seven points from sophomore Tristan Lewis.

As Loreauville settled into the game, the Panthers’ struggles with transitions began to show. The Tigers scored 15 points in the second quarter, equaling Catholic High’s performance, giving Loreauville a bit of momentum heading into the break.

“Transitions and boxing out, that’s it,” McGrew said when asked what aspects of the game his team struggled in. “I feel like they got way too many second attempts. I feel like we’re a better rebounding team than they are but Loreauville proved me wrong and they out-rebounded us tonight.”

With a sizable lead, McGrew was able to bring in several players off the bench. While he isn’t sure what his depth will look like in the playoffs, he said he feels confident that he has enough players to get the job done if they perform like they should.

“I told the team that I don’t know who we’re going to be matched up against,” he said of his postseason opponents. “I try to give them all some playing time, especially in front of a home crowd, but all the pressure is on the starters now. It’s the starters job to get a big enough lead for us to let those guys go out and play. I have a good eight or nine guys for the playoffs that I think are ready to go in and play some basketball.”

One of those young players who can expect to get a few minutes in the playoffs is freshman Joab Trosclair. As the tallest player on the Panther roster, Trosclair offers McGrew a dominant force at the glass and will continue to get better as his career progresses.

“Joab is 14 years old and he’s a freshman, you know,” McGrew explained. “He’s got a lot of work left to do but I think that at some point in the next two or three years he’s going to be a big, big part of this program. I think he’s going to fit in well with the three sophomores.”

Also impressing against Loreauville was Lewis, whose 19 points led the team’s offense. Sophomore guard Jaiden Mitchell added 16 points, while senior Kaiden Faulk scored 10 against the Tigers.

Following their dramatic loss to Franklin earlier in the week which cost them a District 8-2A championship, the Panthers were excited to finish the regular season on a high note.

“It’s a good way to get over the Franklin loss,” McGrew said. “That game and the West St. Mary game are our two losses in district and I still feel like we’re the best team in this district. We lost both of those games on free throws and we lost both games by two points. We were 15/32 from the line against Franklin and I think 12/27 against West St. Mary. You just can’t miss free throws like that, but I think we shot better from the line tonight. We’ve probably shot 1,000 free throws in practice in the last two weeks, no joke.”

The free throw issue might be sorted out, but McGrew still has his work cut out for him as the Panthers face an unknown opponent and several distractions heading into next week.

“It’s been a long season, 26 games, and we don’t know who we’re playing in the playoffs,” he said. “We also have Mardi Gras break next week, so it’s going to be tough to keep them on task.”

One thing is for certain, the coaching staff means business. Following the loss to Franklin, several rumors of Catholic High throwing the game to get placed on an easier side of the playoff bracket began to swirl around the community.

McGrew wants to put those rumors to bed.

“That rumor is not true,” he said matter-of-factly. “These kids work too hard and anytime that I have the opportunity to beat Franklin, I’m going to beat Franklin. I’m not throwing that game.”

After the victory over Loreauville, Catholic High is the No. 10 school in Select Division III, but there is still a possibility that the team may move up or down slightly depending on how the rest of the games play out around the state.

In Select divisions, 24 teams enter the playoffs with the top-8 teams receiving a first-round BYE.

Playoff pairings are scheduled to be announced on Monday, Feb. 20 with all first-round games being played no later than Feb. 24.

This year’s Marsh Madness tournament will take place from March 6-11 at the Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles.