Butch Stockton collects 700th win of brilliant career

It has quite a ride for Chalmette boys basketball coach Butch Stockton.

In his 42nd year of serving as a high school head coach, Stockton has now reached the magical 700 win plateau.

Tuesday night at the Lakeshore Tournament, Chalmette led from start to finish in a 62-49 victory over Bogalusa.

“It means a lot to me,” Stockton said. “To be around as long as I have been around, you treat every game like your next game, like your last game. I have been very good players throughout my time and also great assistant coaches. I would never have this without them.”

The Owls led 20-9 after one quarter and 40-22 at halftime. It was 56-40 going to the final stanza.

Chandler Henburg led the way with 17 points, connecting on 8-of-15 field goal attempts. Henburg added six rebounds. Darrius Sanchez scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds while Kemalice Anderson finished with 11 points, four assists and three steals.

Stockton remembers his first-ever victory as a head coach.

“I was coaching at Berwick High School in 1976 and we beat Morgan City High School,” Stockton said. “I have never forgotten it. That was a great moment.”

In his illustrious career, Stockton has taken five teams to the Final Four from four different schools with three of those teams reaching the state championship game.

Stockton has served as a head coach at Berwick, Boothville-Venice, where he led his team to Final Four appearances both years and finished once as a state runner-up. Stockton then coached at Jena before coaching at Lafayette High beginning in 1980 and serving through 1988 which included a Final Four appearance, falling to De La Salle and coach Jimmy Tillette and star guard Dwayne Bryant in 1986.

Stockton took a leave of absence from the high school ranks to serve as an assistant coach at South Alabama (1988-89). Stockton remained in Mobile until 1996, when he returned to Louisiana to become the head coach at St. Bernard High School in 1996. He remained there until Hurricane Katrina. At St. Bernard, Stockton had a Final Four team and state runner-up as well.

Then, Chalmette High came calling in 2005. Hurricane Katrina struck, devastating St. Bernard Parish and Chalmette. After lifting itself up from the rubble, Chalmette named Stockton as its head coach in 2006, where he has been ever since.

In 2017, Stockton took the Owls to the Final Four, led by Mitchell Robinson, now of the New York Knicks.

Stockton remembers his first win at Chalmette as well.

“It was right after Hurricane Katrina and we played at Northlake Christian and beat Ben Franklin,” Stockton said.

To achieve the 700th win at Chalmette makes the accomplishment even more special.

“To see where we have come from after 2005 when everything was devastated makes this so special,” Stockton said. “We all came back, including many coaches in different sports. Just to see all the devastation that took place and how this school rose back up is amazing. It is remarkable what this school has accomplished academically and athletically since then. After the storm, who would have ever thought we would come so far? It just means so much. This is a great place.”

Chalmette (3-1) continues play in the Lakeshore Tournament against Franklinton today at 1 p.m.

Area Prep Basketball Results from Tuesday, Nov. 26

Boys

Archbishop Shaw 62, Vandebilt Catholic 41

Assumption 87, Varnado 52

Brother Martin 75, Abramson Sci Academy 40

Carver 85, East Ascension 62

Catholic (BR) 87, Mandeville 41

Central Lafourche 50, Destrehan 38

Chalmette 62, Bogalusa 49

Donaldsonville 58, White Castle 46

Hahnville 75, Slidell 63

Helen Cox 54, East St. John 50

Doyle 62, Live Oak 53

Ben Franklin 45, Cohen 33

Holy Cross 70, Douglass 29

M.L. King Charter 61, Livingston Collegiate 39

Loranger 59 Fontainebleau 45

Plaquemine 66, St. Thomas Aquinas 31

Ponchatoula 67, St. Thomas More 54

St. Paul’s 53, Jesuit 48

West Jefferson 68, St. James 37

E.D. White Catholic 58, Thomas Jefferson 42

Girls

Albany 65 Hanson Memorial 14

Amite 69, Arcadia 34

Central Lafourche 54, Salmen 38

John Curtis Christian 58, Archbishop Chapelle 19

Karr 51, West Jefferson 49

Mandeville 49, Dominican 29

Springfield 56, Fontainebleau 31

St. Thomas Aquinas 57, Slidell 28

West St. John 62, Covington 45

Area Prep Basketball Schedule for Wednesday, Nov. 27

Boys

Archbishop Rummel at Patterson, 5:30 p.m.

Helen Cox vs. West Jefferson, 4 p.m. at Hahnville

Fontainebleau at John Ehret, 4:15 p.m.

Karr at Landry-Walker, 7 p.m.

Kentwood at Lakeshore, 1 p.m.

Loranger at Hammond, 12:10 p.m.

Ponchatoula vs. Scotlandville, 8:15 p.m. at Catholic (BR)

Springfield at Jesuit, 6 p.m.

Girls

Albany vs. Lafayette, 10 a.m. at St. Thomas More

Archbishop Chapelle vs. Destrehan, 10:15 a.m. at Ursuline Academy

Chalmette vs. Mandeville, 10:15 a.m. at Fontainebleau

Cohen at Abramson Sci Academy, 4 p.m.

John Curtis vs. Terrebonne, 1 p.m. at Ursuline Academy

Hahnville at Landry-Walker, 4 p.m.

Northshore vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, 8:30 a.m. at Fontainebleau