Catholic of New Iberia stuns Country Day in boys basketball playoffs

METAIRIE – One team had championship pedigree, with seven state titles and was the high seed, playing at home.

The other has not won a state title and was a lower seed, playing on the road.

The script was presumably written but No. 10 seed Catholic of New Iberia flipped the script, outhustling and outplaying No. 2 Country Day when it mattered most in the fourth quarter in a 46-40 victory in the Select Division III quarterfinals Friday night at Patrick Gymnasium.

Trailing 31-27 after three quarters, Catholic outscored Country Day 19-9 in the fourth quarter to score the upset.

Country Day came out cold, making just 2 of 11 field goal attempts in the first quarter as the Panthers built a 9-2 lead with a 7-0 run. The Cajuns scored the final three points of the quarter to cut the deficit to 9-5.

Catholic built a 17-9 lead in the second quarter before the Cajuns closed the half with a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 17-15 at halftime. Jordan Trahan scored 12 points for Country Day, including 10 in the second quarter, while Jaiden Mitchell led the Panthers with six points.

The Cajuns awakened in the third quarter behind eight points from Brennan White, including a pair of 3-pointers. Country Day took its first lead of the game with 4:30 to play in the quarter on a banked 3-pointer by Trahan.

Center Jacob Trosclair of the Panthers was ejected from the game late in the quarter for leaving the bench during a struggle on the floor for a loose ball between players from both teams. Country Day led 31-25 at that juncture and the feeling was that it would be a turning point.

It most certainly was, but not in the way most imagined. The Panthers played inspired basketball the rest of the way, outscoring the Cajuns 21-9 with its biggest player unavailable.

In the final quarter, Country Day scored the first basket to take a 33-27 lead. Then, Catholic went on a 9-0 run to take a 36-33 lead and never trailed again.

The Cajuns pulled with a point at 39-38 on a 3-pointer by Brennan White but the Panthers promptly went on a 6-0 run to put the game away.

Jaiden Mitchell led Catholic with 13 points and four steals while Tristan Lewis finished with 12 points and four steals. Kaiden Faulk added seven points.

Trahan topped Country Day (26-8) with 19 points but fouled out with 50.1 seconds to play in the game. Trahan added seven rebounds and three assists but he was just 4 of 11 from the free throw line. White finished with 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Catholic (20-9) will play No. 3 Calvary Baptist in the semifinals at Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles next week. The Cavaliers edged No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas 56-54 in Shreveport.

FINAL
CD 5 10 16 9 — 40
CNI 9 8 10 19 — 46

Scoring:
CD—Jordan Trahan 19, Brennan Whie 13, Andrew Nelson 5, Maddox Moss 2, Jake Ibieta 1
CNI—Jaiden Mitchell 12, Tristan Lewis 12, Kaiden Faulk 7, Jacob Trosclair 4, Chris Green 4, Jake Lissard 3

Rebounds:
CD 30, CNI 19

Turnovers:
CD 18, CNI 17

Assists:
CD 9, CNI 7