Basketball: St. Paul’s win streak continues, St. Aug edges Jesuit

Area Prep Basketball Report for Wednesday, Jan. 20

The winning streak continues for St. Paul’s.

The Wolves made it seven straight wins with a 61-52 home win over Mandeville in District 6-5A play.

Wolves coach Stephen Dale points to one significant factor in the win streak.

“We are playing as fast as we have every played in five seasons,” Dale said. “Our commitment to it has worn teams down in the second half. A trend we are seeing is that teams can play at our pace for a couple of quarters but it takes its toll in the second half. Playing the game at the pace we want it to be at has been the key during this winning streak.”

The Skippers took the early lead, 13-10 after one quarter and still led 28-25 at halftime.

The third quarter proved decisive as St. Paul’s outscored Mandeville 24-13 to take a 49-41 lead going to the final quarter.

The Wolves shot 52.3 percent form the field (22-of-35) and made 14-of-21 free throws. St. Paul’s overcame 22 turnovers by forcing 27 Mandeville turnovers and dominating points in the paint by a 42-16 margin.

Zachary Fenn led the Wolves with 17 points, nine rebounds, six steals and four assists in a good all-around performance, sinking 7-of-10 field goal attempts. Reece Seicshnaydre scored 14 points and Jeremy Autin finished with 10 points.

Bryce Weinmunson led Mandeville with 20 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and two blocks while Collier Waldmann had 11 for the Skippers.

“Credit Mandeville,” Dale said. “They came out strong and stifled us in our half-court offense and did a good job of forcing turnovers. We closed the gap late in the first half and we went on a run, overcoming them with our pressure in the third quarter. We ratcheted up the pressure and the pace of the game, getting out more in transition.”

St. Paul’s (17-5, 5-0) leads the way in 6-5A. The Wolves play at Ponchatoula Friday night at 7 p.m. Mandeville (11-9, 0-5) lost its fourth straight game. The Skippers host Hammond Friday at 7 p.m.

“Ponchatoula is the defending champion in our league with good players returning and that is a difficult place to play,” Dale said. “We know we will have to play well if we want to get out with a win. It will be a tough one.”

In a battle of two top teams in the Catholic League, St. Augustine gained the early upper hand in District 9-5A play with a 60-56 victory at Jesuit Tuesday night.

Nasir DeGruy calmly sank two free throws with seven seconds left to seal the deal for the Purple Knights (11-4, 4-0).

The Blue Jays were coming off a layoff of three weeks, having not played a game since Dec. 30 due to COVID-19 concerns. The Purple Knights have already had eight games postponed or canceled due to the same issues.

Jesuit took a 20-14 lead after one quarter before St. Augustine controlled the second quarter to take a 33-30 lead to halftime. Jesuit closed the gap to 45-44 going to the final quarter.

DeGruy led a balanced St. Augustine attack with 15 points, Preston Bax had 14 points, Ashton Trufant had 12 points and Chris Landers finished with 10 points.

Patrick Lavie topped the Blue Jays (12-6, 0-1) with 19 points, Josh Washington scored 13 and Matthew Knight finished with 10 points.

The two teams will meet again Friday night at St. Augustine.

Area Prep Basketball Results from Tuesday, Jan. 19

Boys

Amite 61, Kentwood 42

Archbishop Shaw 55, John Curtis Christian 42

Bogalusa 53, Albany 33

Doyle 81, Springfield 51

East St. John 73, Central Lafourche 39

E.D. White Catholic 69, Donaldsonville 58

Fontainebleau 68, Ponchatoula 59

French Settlement 90, Pope John Paul II 52

Haynes Academy 65, Kenner Discovery 63

Lutcher 62, St. James 56

Northlake Christian 53, St. Thomas Aquinas 45

St. Augustine 60, Jesuit 56

St. Charles Catholic 77, West St. John 35

St. Helena 63, Varnado 62

St. Paul’s 61, Mandeville 52

Girls

Albany 58, Bogalusa 31

Amite 71, Kentwood 24

Archbishop Hannan 46, Jewel Sumner 38

Donaldsonville 54, E.D. White Catholic 37

Doyle 74, Springfield 31

East St. John 64, Central Lafourche 38

Family Christian 42, New Orleans Science & Math 33

Kenner Discovery 50, Grace King 30

Lakeshore 67, St. Scholastica 37

Newman 50, McGehee 31

Riverside Academy 72, Country Day 28

St. Helena 63, Varnado 40

St. James 47, Lutcher 6

St. Martin’s Episcopal 45, Crescent City Christian 35

St. Thomas Aquinas 67, Northlake Christian 24

Woodlawn (BR) 43, Christ Episcopal 17