The 2021-22 season: What’s changed, what hasn’t

The 2020-21 high school basketball season ended with St. Augustine recording an upset victory over seven-time champion Scotlandville for the Select schools’ Division I championship.

Well, some things have changed over the course of a year.

While Scotlandville is playing at its traditional high level, entering the week with a 17-1 record and the best power ranking among non-public schools, St. Aug is in the throes of perhaps its worst season in 15 years.

The Purple Knights’ 6-11 record as of Jan. 14 marks the first time since 2007 that the school on A.P. Tureaud Avenue has experienced a losing record. That 2006-07 team languished through an 8-15 campaign before reeling off 13 consecutive winning seasons under coaches Clifford Barthe and Mitchell Johnson.

Historically the best team in District 9-5A, St. Aug has split its first two league games, losing to 12-2 John Curtis, 57-49, then beating 15-4 Brother Martin, 57-43. But if the playoffs were about to begin, the Purple Knights would be the No. 8 seed among the 12 Division I teams.

Of course, Scotlandville is the No. 1 seed, having lost just once, but that defeat came at the hands of the No. 1 team in Division II, Liberty (formerly Lee High).

The rest of the D-I rankings, based on Geaux Preps’ rankings as of Jan. 14, are as follows: 2. St. Paul’s (13-3); 3. John Curtis (12-2); 4. Archbishop Shaw (16-4); 5. Brother Martin (15-4); 6. Jesuit (13-7); 7. Catholic (14-6); 8. St. Augustine; 9. Byrd (9-7);  10. McKinley (6-9); 11. Archbishop Rummel (6-10); and 12. Holy Cross (10-8), although the Tigers have recently defeated Rummel, 43-35.

Since Stephen Dale has become the head coach at St. Paul’s, his Wolves have been the northshore power. And this season is no different. Aside from losses to Newman (No. 1 in Division III), De La Salle (No. 4 in D-II) and Karr (the top seed in Class 4A), St. Paul’s has been impressive and leads its district with a 3-0 record. The Wolves are possibly the only D-I team that can hang with Scotlandville.

The margin that separates Shaw, Brother Martin and Jesuit is two points, by which Jesuit defeated Martin and Shaw defeated Jesuit in early district meetings.

Under second-year coach Gerald Lewis, St. Aug has a 1-1 record in 9-5A. But the Purple Knights also have a victory over 4A power Peabody in Alexandria and a loss to Archbishop Hannan, two of their many games played away from the school’s fire-damaged fieldhouse.

Anyone who has seen St. Aug’s talented players perform cannot count the Knights out of the running, but if they don’t start to click soon, they may be counting themselves out.

Holy Cross and Rummel will be hard-pressed to make an impact in the district. Although Rummel head coach Scott Thompson has added football players to his team, the Raiders might have improved their game, but not enough to keep pace with the rest of the district; nor has Holy Cross.

One sure district champion will be De La Salle, ranked No. 4 in Division II behind Liberty (15-3), Archbishop Hannan (13-6) and St. Thomas More (18-4).

The Cavaliers, sporting a 12-5 record, are shoo-ins to win their Class 3A district, which includes Patrick Taylor, Haynes Academy and Thomas Jefferson, three also-rans with a combined 10-20 record.

Most impressive has been Archbishop Hannan since former St. Thomas Aquinas coach Errol Gauff took over the Hawks’ reins in 2017. They are currently the No. 2 team in Division II by power points ranking with a 13-6 record. But five losses have come against Class 5A opponents, while Hannan competes in Class 3A.

Dominican tops Division I

A 19-3 record, which includes wins over District 9-5A rivals John Curtis and Mount Carmel, was enough to give Dominican the No. 1 ranking among the eight teams in Division I.

The most recent victories place coach Ryan Reuther’s squad ahead of No. 2 Curtis (12-5) and No. 4 Mount Carmel (12-8).

McKinley of Baton Rouge (10-4) ranks as the No. 3 team, but a Jan. 19 date with Curtis will undoubtedly juggle the top five schools.

At 12-6, a greatly improved Archbishop Chapelle is ranked No. 6, but has a chance to move up if the Chipmunks can upset any of the “Big 3” – Dominican, Curtis or Mount Carmel in the second round of district play.

St. Louis Catholic of Lake Charles is the No. 1 team in Division III, but the Doves of St. Scholastica, with a 12-4 record, have played more like birds of prey in gaining the No. 7 ranking.

This 22-team division includes seven teams from the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Though not considered championship threats to either St. Louis (15-3) or Vandebilt Catholic (13-3), look for No. 6 Ursuline (13-11) and No. 9 De La Salle (12-8) to play for the District 11-3A championship when they meet on Jan. 24 on The Avenue.

Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected].