Last week, the Catholic High Lady Panthers were sitting on top of the world.

They were tied for the District 7-2A lead with rival Delcambre and sitting ninth in the LHSAA Division III power rankings.

One week later, the defending district champions are in a decidedly weaker position with two consecutive district losses and an expected tumble when the power rankings are released Tuesday.

On the heels of a 41-32 loss to Delcambre Tuesday, the Lady Panthers were stunned by Ascension Episcopal 35-24 Friday to fall to 11-9 overall and 6-2 in district,  two full games in back of Delcambre, which is still undefeated in district play at 8-0.

“It’s slipping away, ever so slightly, but it’s slipping away,” CHS girls coach Dave Theriot said after Friday’s loss to AES (6-10, 2-4). “It’s a tough task now to make up those games.”

Quinn Billeaud had 15 points and Annie Mouton added 14 points, including four 3-pointers, as AES jumped out to a 16-4 first quarter lead and held on for the win despite a second half charge from the Lady Panthers.

“We didn’t have a very good first half,” Theriot said. “We had no energy, we turned the ball over, they probably shot about 60 percent and every 3 they took went in.

“We found some energy in the second half and probably outscored them in the second half (15-12) but we were 14 down at halftime and never could make up the difference.”

Catholic High scored 4 points in the first quarter and 5 in the second quarter.

CHS leading scorer Madison Bienvenu was held to 4 points in the first half, outside shooter Lauren Bonin was held to one 3-pointer in the first half and the team was plagued with turnovers and missed shots.

Bienvenu finished with 14 points and Bonin added 6 points.

When asked if the team could have been suffering a hangover from Tuesday’s loss to Delcambre, Theriot said that it went deeper than a single loss.

“I think we’ve been suffering a hangover from before Tuesday,” the CHS coach said. “The past couple of weeks there has been no energy, even in practice.

“We’re going through this lull and we’re trying to find our stride again.”

The lull also could affect the Lady Panthers’ power rankings.

The consecutive losses will almost assuredly drop CHS from ninth to the teens and will affect playoff seeding and pairings.

“We’re going down, down, down. We’re going to have to play a top tier team,” Theriot said. “That’s the way the game goes now.

Theriot added that it may be time for a heart-to-heart talk with the team.

“All we can do is tell them the truth,” the CHS coach said. “We keep losing and we’re going down in the power rankings and it’s going to be that much harder on us. If we drop down to 10, 11, we’re going to have to play a top team.”

CHS plays host to Franklin Tuesday, Ascension travels to West St. Mary

Catholic High 48, Ascension Episcopal 26

Trey Amos had 12 points and Kolbe Chretien added 11 as Catholic High won its third straight game and evened its district record to 2-2 (13-10 overall) with a 48-26 win over Ascension Episcopal Friday.

Kaiden Burgess added 9 points for the Panthers, who blew open the game by outscoring AES 22-7 in the third quarter.

Evan Barnett led the Gators (9-15, 1-3) with 9 points.