St. Aug among power leaders

By Ron Brocato, Clarion Herald Sports

The holidays are over and the traditional Christmas colors of red and green have given way to purple, green and gold. Now high school basketball draws the greatest attention before the Mardi Gras parade season gets underway.

Will this be the year St. Augustine unseats Scotlandville as  the boys’ Division I champion or will the Purple Knights even get that far?

And what has happened in the whacky world of girls’ basketball over the last two years?

The season has been underway since mid-November, and having attended a fair share of games every week, I offer this analysis of what I have observed and how it may affect the outcome of the division championships.

St. Augustine and Brother Martin are clearly the best of the seven teams in District 9-5A. And their records are indicative of the talent these two possess.

The Purple Knights (17-1), champions of three tournaments, currently occupy the No. 1 power point position in Division I. And they should after having lost just one game (against Madison Prep, 39-38) back in November.

St. Aug’s nemesis, Scotlandville, is ranked No. 2. The Hornets, who rolled over the Knights, 73-53, for the 2019 Division I championship, have lost two games. So, if the Catholic League favorites can hold their position through the regular season, they will host whomever they face through the playoffs.

But then there is Catholic High sitting in the No. 3 power spot with a 20-2 record. And although the two Baton Rouge-area giants are Catholic and Scotlandville, they will not face each other prior to the division playoffs.

Brother Martin is also in the mix at No. 4 in the power rankings with a 19-2 record.

Unlike the two Baton Rouge Parish schools, Catholic League teams will have to contend with each other (twice!) before moving on to championship thoughts.

Catholic and No. 5 McKinley (16-3 record) are District 5-5A rivals but play each other just once.

The most-improved team in District 9-5A is Archbishop Shaw, where Rummel alum Wesley Laurendine has taken the Eagles out of the league cellar and turned them into a formidable team with a 15-4 record.

The remainder of the Catholic League teams fall behind No. 7 Byrd High (11-3) and No. 8 St. Paul’s (15-4). In order, near or at the bottom of the 12-team division by ranking are: 9. Holy Cross (12-8), 10. Jesuit (9-7), 11. Archbishop Rummel (11-7), and 12. John Curtis (7-8).

The top four teams in Division II are the same quartet that made it to the 2019 “Final Four”: 1. University Lab (16-2), 2. St. Thomas More (11-4), 3. De La Salle (13-5) and 4. St. Louis (13-2).

De La Salle certainly remembers St. Thomas More as the team that defeated the Cavaliers in the division championship game last year in double overtime, 77-72.

A big downturn in one year

But what a difference a few years make in girls’ play.

In 2018, I was watching St. Katharine Drexel Prep defeat its nemesis, St. Mary’s Academy, 43-42, for the Division III girls’ championship in Alexandria, and Ursuline Academy brush aside Lee High, 70-43, for the Division II trophy.

Today, Ursuline (9-10 record) ranks 12th in the power rankings but is still the highest-ranked team among other schools in the archdiocese of comparable size. They include No. 14 St. Scholastica (5-7), No. 15 Archbshop Hannan (7-10), No. 6 Academy of Our Lady (3-10) and No. 17 Cabrini (4-17).

St. Charles Catholic (7-6) entered the week with the No. 5 ranking among the 16 Division III teams.

St. Mary’s (3-17) falls in eighth place, and Pope John  Paul II (2-11) is in the No. 14 spot.

Drexel Prep, which has played just three games, has not yet qualified for a power ranking. The two former championship contenders are scheduled to meet at St. Mary’s on Feb. 6.