Staff Report

Central Catholic bounced back from an opening round loss to win the consolation title at St. Thomas More’s Sunkist Shootout last weekend.

The Eagles knocked off Chalmette, 59-57, in the consolation finals Saturday.

In the Chalmette game, both teams had one big quarter in the second half.

Already holding a slim 31-30 lead at the half, Central Catholic outscored Chalmette, 18-10, in the third quarter to take a 49-40 lead after three.

However, Chalmette turned the tables and Central Catholic had to hold on for the narrow victory as they were outscored 17-10 in the fourth period.

Dontrell Brown, Lamar Grogan and Josh Singleton all reached double figures for Central Catholic with 18, 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Central Catholic reached the finals with a 63-60 overtime victory against Teurlings Catholic Friday.

While Teurlings Catholic narrowly outscored Central Catholic in the first three quarters, taking a 39-36 lead into the fourth, the Eagles forced overtime after outscoring Teurlings, 9-6, in the fourth.

In overtime, both teams put up plenty points, but Central Catholic outscored Teurlings, 18-15.

Brown led Central Catholic with 28 points, while Singleton added 13 and David Brown, eight.

Central Catholic will return to action today when it hosts Ascension Catholic. Junior varsity will begin at 5 p.m., and following the girls’ 6 p.m. varsity contest, the boys will play at 7 p.m.

Patterson wins district opener

A big second half helped Patterson pull away from North Vermilion for a 59-37 victory in the ’Jacks District 9-3A opener on the road Friday.

Ahead by a slim 25-23 margin at the half, Patterson outscored North Vermilion 34-14 in the second half for the final.

Patterson coach Ryan Taylor said the win was a big one for his squad.

“We did an excellent job in the second half of not allowing any penetration,” Taylor said. “They were forced into taking outside shots, and we were able to get out into the break and get easy buckets.”

The ’Jacks were playing without Deondre Skinner, a University of Arkansas commit for football, who was participating in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl in Texas.

“I was very proud of how the guys stepped up in his absence,” Taylor said. “I thought Malik (Garrett) played his best game of the season. He made a couple of big shots in the first half that kept us with the momentum.”

Garrett narrowly missed leading the team in scoring with 11 points.

Daylon Charlot had 12 points to lead Patterson, while Dontrell Benjamin also reached double figures with 10 points.

Other top Patterson scorers included Denzel Johnson, eight; Mykel Jones, six; Nehemiah Augustus, five; and Larry Turner, four.

Patterson (5-3 overall, 1-0 in District 9-3A play) will return to action Thursday when it hosts Berwick (5-9 overall, 0-1 district) in a District 9-3A contest. Boys’ junior varsity action will begin at 5 p.m. and, following the 6 p.m. girls’ varsity contest, the boys’ varsity squads will take the floor at 7 p.m.