Could another state championship be in the cards for Catholic High?

The Panthers won the Division III select title in football in December. The basketball team, which includes several gridiron stars, is coming off a fifth place showing at the prestigious St. Thomas More Sunkist Shootout after Christmas.

CHS (6-4), which began the season 0-3 without its football players, has won six of seven games with its only loss by three points to defending state champion Newman. 

“Them just now getting on the court is nothing,” CHS coach Dylan Vincent said. “When I got the job in May, we started individual workouts. They came in every Saturday or Sunday during football season and put up shots until the playoffs. They want it.”

Vincent, a 2010 graduate of CHS, spent eight years as an assistant at New Orleans school Sophie B. Wright where he helped the program get over a quarterfinal hump and reach four straight state tournament appearances. 

He brought on a former teammate, Tremel Castex, and another CHS alum in Nicholas Brown as assistants. 

“Man, I have to pinch myself sometimes,” Vincent said. “When I wake up in the morning, I’m so happy to be at the school I graduated from.”

The Panthers beat Southern Lab and Westminster Christian-Lafayette without senior guard Jaiden Mitchell (flu). Before the football players came back, sophomore guard Jules Davis scored 30 points in one game.

Mitchell and Tristan Lewis, who dropped 30 points in one of his first games back, were named to the All-Tournament team at the Sunkist Shootout. 

“Jaiden is our melatonin,” Vincent said. “He relaxes everyone. Calms everyone down. Southern Lab was undefeated and we beat them without Jaiden. That says a lot.”

The Panthers secured wins over Barbe, Vandebilt Catholic and defending Division III nonselect champion Marksville at the Sunkist Shootout. 

The bulk of last year’s team returned, headlined by three-year starters Lewis, Mitchell and senior Chris Green, who Vincent says, “Every championship team needs a player like Chris Green, who can do everything.” 

6-foot-10 junior Joab Trosclair and 6-foot-8 senior Jacob Minvielle give the Panthers a size advantage in most games. Junior Layton Mitchell is the “Swiss Army Knife.,” said Vincent, who has two defensive stalwarts in Mitchell and 6-foot-2 sophomore Karon Eugene, a first team all-state football player.

“Karon can go to the NBA or NFL,” Vincent said. “It’s all up to him. Joab has made an incredible leap. He scored 17 points in his first game and is averaging 10 points and 8-to-10 rebounds. Andrew Trappey is one of the best freshman guards in the state.”

Minvielle has emerged as a scorer to complement his rebounding and defensive presence. He and Trosclair frequently altered and blocked shots at the tournament.

Minvielle made 4 of 5 field goals and scored eight points with six rebounds in a 52-47 win over Marksville. Layton Mitchell had a team-high 16 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jaiden Mitchell added 10 points with five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

The Panthers lost to Calvary Baptist at the state tournament two seasons ago. Last year, a sixth-seeded CHS team lost 52-46 at No. 3 University Lab in the quarterfinals.