METAIRIE – Friday night’s quarterfinal matchup against Metairie Park Country Day School will be a night that Panther basketball fans will want to soon forget.

After entering the postseason as the No. 6 seed and notching an emphatic 63-48 victory over Sarah T. Reed in the regional round of the Select Division III playoffs, the Panthers looked primed to pull off the upset on the road against Country Day. 

After senior guard Tristan Lewis made two three pointers early in the first quarter, the game seemed to be going exactly to plan. Country Day’s aggressive defense was good, but the Panthers were able to pass around the pressure and get off shots, including a crucial buzzer-beater that gave CHS a 12-8 lead going into the second quarter. 

Unfortunately for Catholic High, the lead quickly vanished in the second quarter of play as the Panthers were outscored 12-5 in the second period. County Day’s run and jump defense put Catholic High’s guards off balance and forced them to make passes that the team doesn’t normally use, throwing the offense off rhythm. That defensive pressure, combined with double and triple marking of Catholic High’s forwards, left the Panthers with few options and a quickly growing deficit to overcome. By the end of the third quarter, CHS trailed 41-32 and looked unlikely to make up the difference. 

In spite of the odds, the Panthers never stopped fighting, drawing to within three points on numerous occasions before the team was forced to foul Country Day players and give up costly free throws. In the end, the 57-50 loss was both flattering to a CHS team who looked to be on the back foot for much of the contest and also harsh in respect to the grit and determination the team showed to keep chipping away at an ever-growing lead from the Cajuns. 

“They really denied the post a lot and that kind of threw us off,” said CHS head coach Dylan Vincent. “They did a run and jump, so we really couldn’t run much offense. We’ve been running sets a lot this year, so that kind of threw us off a little bit. I tip my hat to them because they had a good game, but I really feel like we lost this one more than they won it. We didn’t make certain layups or certain shots and we had a few unforced turnovers.” 

The loss was especially tough for Catholic High’s three seniors. Tristan Lewis (17 points), Jaiden Mitchell (9 points) and (Chris Green (4 points) have been instrumental to Catholic High’s basketball success for years, leaving the team with big shoes to fill for next season. Vincent thanked the trio for accepting him wholeheartedly in his first year in charge of the team. 

“They were amazing,” Vicnent said of his senior players. “For kids to have the same coach for their first three years and have a new coach come in, that’s difficult because sometimes you’re stuck in your ways. These guys didn’t give me any of that. They were bought in when they first met me. In the grand retrospective, those three seniors did what they were supposed to do, they set the standard for New Iberia basketball. I’m going to miss those kids.”

Despite losing three key starters, the Panthers still have plenty of firepower returning next season. For Vincent, any success in his first season was just an added bonus to what he hoped to build with his alma mater in the coming years.

“I always try to put things into perspective,” the first-year head coach said after the game. “I’m one of those people who always wants to do everything perfectly, even if it’s my first time. I ran into that a lot this year. I had unrealistic goals, to be honest with you. Any coach that wins 20 games in his first season is a success. Any coach that wins district in his first season is a success. Now, I’m not saying that I had the worst of the worst team. I was blessed with riches, but I feel like the team looked better than last year. In the grand scheme of things, I was playing with ‘house money.’ If I had won state this year, that would have been great, but I really think we can go back to back the next two years.”