Sophomore Jaiden Mitchell scored 11 points in the Panthers' playoff contest against Thomas Jefferson. 

Catholic High is one step closer to a third consecutive Division III select boys basketball quarterfinal appearance.

Tristan Lewis scored 19 points for the 10th-seeded Panthers in a 51-40 win over 23rd-seeded Thomas Jefferson on Thursday. He was joined in double figures by Jaiden Mitchell with 11 points.

CHS (18-9) will travel to LaPlace on Tuesday to face seventh-seeded St. Charles Catholic (20-7), which had a first round bye.

This isn’t anything new for Lewis and Mitchell. In last year’s first round playoff game, the duo combined for five 3-pointers as the Panthers raced to a 15-0 lead over Ascension Episcopal.

On Thursday, Lewis scored 13 points in the second half, which saw the Panthers pull away and lead by as many as 21 points when Lewis’ fourth 3-pointer made it 45-24 midway through the fourth quarter.

“Coach (Casey McGrew) told me how big it was for me as a sophomore to step up in a playoff game,” Lewis said. “It feels great to advance. I’m just ready to get back to work. We’ll come back Friday, watch film and put up some shots.”

The Panthers extended a 20-17 halftime lead to 35-21 at the end of the third quarter. After shooting 2 for 9 from the floor in the second quarter, the Panthers warmed up and made 6 of 10 field goals in the third quarter.

“Coach told us at halftime to lock up defensively,” Lewis said. “We came out and made more shots in the second half. We played better defensively. We trapped, and it worked well. We played good on-ball defense.”

Mitchell was efficient, connecting on 4 of 7 field goals, as was Kaiden Faulk. The senior made 3 of 5 field goals with a trio of 3-pointers.

Freshman Joab Trosclair was a factor in the paint with seven blocked shots.

The Jaguars (11-13) made 4 of 7 shots from the field in the first quarter and held an early 5-3 lead. Although the visitors cooled off in the second quarter (2 of 9 FG), they used a 7-0 run to even the score at 17-17 with 1:45 left in the half.

Faulk’s 3-pointer from the top of the key put the Panthers back on top. Trosclair swatted a 3-point attempt from Affremai Geary at the buzzer.

“I scouted five of Thomas Jefferson’s games,” McGrew said. “They play a style we don’t like playing. They play at a slow pace. Their coach stuck with it, and we struggled for the first 16 minutes.”

St. Charles Catholic and CHS have a common opponent in Thomas Jefferson, which the Comets beat 50-30 in Gretna on Feb. 1. McGrew said the Panthers will need to play at a higher level on Tuesday.

“After the game tonight, I told them that it’s a W,” he said. “I don’t want to discount the win, but being that we’re in the playoffs, this honestly wasn’t the kind of win we wanted.”

“We could’ve played a better game.”