Featured News

As St. Louis Catholic seniors prepare to take their next steps into the world, track and field athlete Luke Benoit has signed his letter of intent with the University of Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.

Benoit said he can’t wait to continue the momentum of this season at St. Louis Catholic, though it was cut short due to COVID-19, in college in Lafayette.  For instance, the Saints’ 4×400 indoor relay team on which Benoit ran was runner-up to Northwest in the LHSAA indoor state finals by a mere 0.11 seconds.

“On the way back to our cars that day, we all said, ‘We’re gonna get ’em in outdoor, and that’s gonna motivate us,’ and then we didn’t even get to do that,” Benoit said.  “But track’s not over – there’s better competition out there that I’m gonna be facing at the next level.  I know I have to get ready and keep it going.”

Benoit said he visited ULL in November, and the school’s location and atmosphere made it appealing to the Grand Lake native.

“I wanted to get away from home, but not too far away,” he said.  “There’s always something about Lafayette; it’s bigger than Lake Charles but not too big.”

Benoit also placed 6th in the long jump (6.30m) at the indoor state finals.  Even though he and the rest of the Saints track & field team didn’t get to achieve their goals in the outdoor season, he has many fond memories of his one year at St. Louis Catholic – especially coach Johnny Giardina.

“I loved being on the 4×400 at St. Louis – I actually liked a relay for once because we had such a good team,” Benoit said.  “It was a big move for me from Grand Lake to here, especially for my senior year.  At St. Louis, people were joining track because they actually wanted to win and try, and it pushed me too.  I would have liked to have seen what we could have done.

“I wish Coach Johnny could come with me to college … There’s just something about him, how he’d chase you around the track and yell at you, it was awesome to be with him.”

St. Louis Catholic senior golfer McKenzie LeDuff had to sign her letter of intent at home this year, but she still made her commitment to Alabama State University official despite the atypical circumstances surrounding COVID-19.

LeDuff won the 2019 Division I individual girls state championship and was hoping for a chance to defend her title before the LHSAA season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.  But LeDuff said Alabama State will be “her dream school” after she got to tour the campus and meet coach Quincy Heard in February.

“One of my main goals was to find a good school that had a good golf team with a good coach,” she said.  “I wanted to go somewhere where it felt like home.  Also, Alabama State was not too far, but it’s far enough to have the experience of being on my own.  It’s not a large school, it’s a smaller school where I can still get the attention my teachers and hopefully know most of the people in my classes.”

LeDuff’s mother and grandmother were with her when she signed her letter of intent at home April 16, and they FaceTimed her grandparents from New Orleans.  So while it wasn’t the usual Saints celebration in the Commons because of the school closure, LeDuff remains grateful for all her St. Louis Catholic memories, especially under the direction of girls golf coach Sid Briscoe.

“I first met Mr. Briscoe the summer of fifth grade when I was really little,”  LeDuff said.  “He took my game from 6th-8th grade – he was my only coach, and in 8th grade I went the entire middle school season undefeated … So in between 6th-8th grade, he’s the one who really got me started and got me serious.”

Four St. Louis Catholic senior student-athletes who participate in spring sports have received recognition by the LHSAA All-Academic Program as members of the 2019-2020 Composite Team for maintaining a 4.00 unweighted GPA throughout their high school careers.

Seniors Maggie Bruchhaus (tennis), Ethan Hebert (tennis), Carson Mixon (baseball), and Sophie Stine (track & field) are receiving All-Academic Composite Team honors from the LHSAA for at least a second time this year.   To earn Composite Team honors, a student-athlete must have an unweighted 4.00 GPA and cannot even have a ‘B’ on their transcripts.  Bruchhaus (basketball), Hebert (cross country and soccer), Mixon (football) and Stine (volleyball) earned recognition for their academic and athletic achievements at prior LHSAA state events this year.

“We are very happy that these outstanding young men and women have been recognized again for their years of hard work in the classroom and in their athletic endeavors,” said St. Louis Catholic Athletic Director Pat Neck.  “We are obviously very sad that their seasons were cut short but know that they will all succeed in whatever their future plans are.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Second in a series of high school all-decade teams. 

Championships in the first and last year of the decade highlight the decade in big school girls basketball.

Jennings opened the decade by winning the Class 4A title with a 60-52 win over Bastrop. LaGrange closed the decade in style, earning the program’s first state title with a 46-31 win over two-time defending state champion Warren Easton in Burton Coliseum.

The only other championship for an area school came in 2017, when South Beauregard beat Albany 60-47 to claim the Class 3A title. That was the first year in which two area big schools reached the championship game, with Destrehan beating Barbe to claim the 5A championship. The feat was repeated this season with St. Louis advancing to a second consecutive Division II championship game.

The Most Valuable Player of the Decade is Barbe guard Brandi Williams, who led the Bucs during a three-year stretch when the Bucs won eight playoff games from 2016-18. The Bucs had not won a postseason game before that run of success, which included quarterfinal appearances in 2016 and 2018. Williams twice earned first-team all-state honors, averaging 16 points per game in each of her last two seasons. She recently completed her sophomore season at Louisiana-Lafayette, where she was named 2019 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the year after setting a school freshman scoring record with 384 points. As a sophomore, she averaged 12 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Coach of the Decade is St. Louis Catholic’s Tony Johnson, who has led the Saints to consecutive appearances in the Division II championship game. Johnson led St. Louis to a 2010-105 record in the decade, reaching the playoffs every season. The Saints won at least one playoff game in eight of 10 season with three quarterfinal finishes and two regional-round finishes. St. Louis finished the regular season at .500 or better each of the 10 seasons with five seasons of at least 23 wins.

Standout players on each of the three championship teams join Williams on the first team. From Jennings, it’s point guard Jalyn Johnson, who was named second-team all-state in 2011 and first team in 2012, when she was also MVP of the American Press All-Southwest Louisiana team. Johnson played college basketball at McNeese State, where she is the all-time career assists leader and led the team in assists for three consecutive seasons. She was a two-time team MVP, all-conference, and all-state honoree. Johnson led the team in scoring in the 2015-16 season (14.9 ppg) and is sixth on the career scoring list. She is also the career leader in games played (134).

South Beauregard is represented by Ashlynn Derouen, who was named first-team all-state in both the championship season of 2016-17 and her 2017-18 season, when she averaged 18 points per game as a senior. Forward Jeriah Warren, the lone active member of the team, represents the 2019-20 LaGrange title winners. Warren averaged 16.7 ppg, 8.3 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while leading the Gators to a 32-4 season.

DeRidder shooting guard and current LSU player Domonique Davis, a three-time first-team all-state selection, rounds out the first team. Davis averaged 25 points per game as a senior and was named the Class 4A state MVP. Davis appeared in 14 games at LSU this season, helping the Tigers to a 20-win season.

Making up the second team are South Beauregard guard Sissy Saucier, who earned first- and second-team all-state honors and played college basketball at LSU Eunice, St. Louis guard Alexandria Goodly, a first-team all-state selection and a freshman at ULL, Sulphur guard Hannah Cupit, the 2013 All-Southwest Louisiana MVP who went on to play at McNeese and is an assistant at Sulphur, Iota guard Maddison Gatte, a two-time second-team all-state selection who plays at Louisiana-Monroe and Westlake’s Jaden Towner, a second-team all-state honoree and 2016 All-Southwest Louisiana MVP who recently finished her career at Southern University, averaging 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds as a senior.