CYO to go with 12-team field

As long as there’s a CYO (basketball) tournament, I will have a team in it.”

Those were the promising words of Archbishop Rummel’s head basketball coach Scott Thompson as he made his way into the Joe Yenni Stadium stands to watch his school’s football team face his own alma mater, Jesuit, last Saturday.

When the tournament tips off on Nov. 27, two longtime mainstays will be playing elsewhere.

As we know, Brother Martin opted out after volunteering its own gymnasium as one of four tournament sites in past years. Instead, the Crusaders will be at West Jefferson on that date.

Where St. Augustine, which abandoned the CYO tournament two years ago, will be is anybody’s guess. The LHSAA has not yet posted its full schedule.

Coaches at other Catholic schools, however, share Thompson’s sentiment. They are not willing to give up on the 68-year-old tournament even though participating  may mean an extra game against one another in the Select division playoffs.

The fault of losing Martin and St. Aug is admittedly the CYO’s itself, said its director,  Timmy McCaffery.

“We dropped the ball a few years ago when we hit a bump in the road. But coaches want to continue it, and we plan to get it back to what it was,” McCaffery.

He expects to see the head coaches from 12 schools to attend a meeting he arranged at the CYO Office on Oct. 30.

At its most recent height, the tournament drew a 16-team field. McCaffery said he plans to eventually return the format to accommodate 16 teams, which is welcome news to the Allstate Sugar Bowl, which contributes $5,000 annually to be the tournament’s title sponsor.

The Nov. 27-Dec. 1 tournament field will consist of defending champion St. Paul’s, Jesuit, Holy Cross, Archbishop Rummel, Archbishop Shaw, De La Salle, St. Stanislaus, St. Thomas Aquinas, Newman, John Curtis, Fontainebleau and Slidell.

“There will be four pools of three teams each playing in a round-robin format, using the gyms at Jesuit, Holy Cross and Shaw. The finals will be played at Jesuit.

Wolfpack warning

What a turnaround in Covington!

After losing their first three games to some darned good competition (Edna Karr, Jesuit and Christian Brothers of Memphis), the St. Paul’s Wolves have been on a tear in district play.

They’ve won four straight, including an unmerciful 72-7 pummeling of Ponchatoula last week. The Wolves have outscored their district mates, 165-38, and have a date at Slidell (5-2, 4-0) for what shapes up to be the district title game on  Oct. 19.

Ron Brocato can be reached at rbrocato@clarionherald.org.