The first-ever Catholic High Panther Alumni Basketball Night couldn’t have been much more fulfilling for the program. 

Former players gathered to meet and mingle with the current team, which donned special purple “throwback” jerseys in honor of St. Peter’s College, the all-boys school that preceded Catholic High.

Senior guard Jaiden Mitchell was honored for scoring his 1,000th career point. Coach Josh Guilbeau’s No. 42 jersey was retired although the door is open for his son to wear it.

“No, I don’t think he is going to wear it,” Guilbeau laughed, speaking of his son, Evan, a freshman who wears jersey No. 23. “I don’t think we have a No. 42. 

“This was a surprise to me. It’s really nice. It meant a lot to see my old teammates. It’s great to see guys I coached – Dylan (Vincent), Tremel (Castex) and Nick (Brown) – succeed and watch this great team we have.”

The game was just as exciting. The Class 2A Panthers gave Class 5A Liberty Magnet, the defending Division I select state champions, a stern test before the Patriots escaped with a 60-57 win (after leading by 23 points in the third quarter).

“I knew it would be like this,” said Vincent, the CHS head coach. “I’m not going to lie to you: our kids are gritty. You see that in football. You see that in basketball. They have a lot of heart. The main thing was Liberty shot 60% from 3-point range in the first half. 

“I challenged Liberty. I sagged off (on defense). I wanted to see if they could shoot. They can shoot.”

Liberty (11-1) made 10 3-pointers in the first half. The Patriots led 23-13 after one quarter and 44-26 at halftime. Star point guard Malek Robinson scored one point in the first half and only attempted one shot – demonstrating the balanced firepower of Liberty’s offense.

“We switched defenses, first to another zone and then we started playing man-to-man,” Vincent said. “Our guys never gave up. The game started getting tighter and tighter. We stopped worrying about the score and just started playing.”

Mitchell, who finished with 19 points, hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 44-29, but the Patriots pushed the margin to 52-29 on a 3 by Chivas Lee, 

Liberty opened the fourth quarter with a bucket for a 56-40 lead ahead of the CHS rally, which began with a basket by Joab Troscair. The Panthers went on a 10-0 run over a span of four minutes. Chris Green had two field goals, followed by a steal and lay-up from Tristan Lewis. Both seniors finished with 12 points.

“On one possession, Chris Green tried to take four charges,” Vincent said. “He got the call on the fifth one. He’s just a dog.”

Karon Eugene’s steal and lay-up preceded a slam-dunk by the sophomore that got the score within 56-52 – and brought the crowd to a fever pitch with three minutes left. 

“I called an alley-oop,” Vincent said. “With players like Joab and Karon, sometimes I have to get the crowd into it with certain plays we run.”

CHS (7-5), which travels to Class 4A Northside (15-3) on Friday, had three chances to cut Liberty’s lead to two points. The near-misses were frustrating for the Panthers, but it also reinforced that they had chances to claim a win over one of the state’s elite programs.

“We missed nine free throws and lost by three points,” Vincent said. “And we were without our best defender, Layton Mitchell (concussion protocol). We missed two put-back dunks and 4-5 lay-ups. 

“When we were down by 16, I told them not to worry about the score.  I love the fight we showed. My men Joab and Jacob (Minvielle) didn’t have a good game. I’m honest with them. You see we still lost by three. When my bigs come to the party, it’s going to be over (for opponents).”

Outside of Jaiden Mitchell (3 of 4) and Trosclair (2 for 2), the Panthers made 3 of 12 free throws. Trosclair scored six points. Eugene added five. Minvielle had three points. Mitchell led all scorers (19).

“Jaiden, he’s going to find a way,” Vincent said. “He’s so quick. He’s a hard guy to stop. 

“You have to remember that this is my first year. I’m learning them, and they’re learning me. I didn’t know they had this much fight. They surprised me tonight. I love the grit and the passion.”

Liberty, which made 7 of 12 field goals in the second quarter, made 4 of 11 in the third quarter and had one bucket in the fourth. Lee, the Outstanding Player in last season’s title game win over St. Thomas More, scored 10 points. Kareem Washington also had 10. Five Patriots had between 6-and-9 points. 

“These guys – Catholic New Iberia – were ready to play tonight,” Liberty coach Brandon White said. “Man, they did a great job, especially in the second half. Their coach made some adjustments. 

“As it relates to my guys, we took a loss the last time we played. I challenged them early. We came out with a lot of energy. I thought we did a great job competing in the first half. We missed some second half adjustments. Credit goes to Catholic New Iberia. They played us tough. We were calling around, trying to find games. We couldn’t find games. I reached out to coach Vincent. He said, ‘We’d love to play you.'”

CHS has a game at Southside High on Saturday, Jan. 12, against Washington-Marion (7-6). Tip is at 3:20 P.M. The game is part of a seven-game schedule called the Lafayette Classic. 

Later this month, the Panthers will travel to New Orleans to take on Class 5A Holy Cross (16-1). They’re also scheduled to take on Class 5A Catholic-Baton Rouge (18-1), the No. 1 team in the Division I select power ratings, in an event at Madison Prep in Baton Rouge.