MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / December 11, 1999

LAPLACE – A 12-0 third quarter run helped St. Charles Catholic to a 68-56 victory over Catholic of New Iberia in the first round of the Southeast Louisiana All-Catholic Tournament Wednesday night in the Comet gym.

Wednesday’s win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Comets and improved them to 5-7 on the season. The Comets advanced to playVandebilt in the semifinals Thursday night. E.D. White played St. ThomasAquinas in the other semifinal.

Catholic had tied the game at 32 with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Zack Indest from the left corner. After St.Charles Catholic coach Philip Cavell called a 20-second timeout, Adam Gros grabbed a steal in the frontcourt and found Abner Sanders on the break to regain the lead for the Comets.

Following a turnover by the Panthers, Nick Monica drove in and was fouled, hitting the free throw to complete the three-point play and giving the Comets a 37-32 lead. Two possessions later, Monica took a behind-the-head pass from Mike Mustian and buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Sanders followed with a steal with Monica grabbing a rebound anddriving in, forcing Catholic to use a timeout with 4:47 left and the Comets ahead 42-32. John Mitchell concluded the run with a put back a possessionlater.

Catholic closed to within nine as Steven Durnad and Joe Landry hit shots from the left baseline. Alton Alexander answered by taking a pass fromMonica and hitting a jumper from the left baseline while being fouled, completing the three-point lead to extend the lead back to 12. Indestfollowed by hitting three of four free throws on the next possession to make it 50-42 heading into the fourth quarter.

Monica made it a 11-point game early in the fourth quarter with a three- point play. After Daress Nicholas hit two free throws, Monica grabbed asteal and bounced a pass to Gros underneath the goal, giving the Comets a 57-44 lead with 4:53 remaining. Mustian put the game away by hitting a3-pointer from the top of the key while being fouled, finishing the four- point play to make it 61-47 with 2:06 left.

Monica led both teams with 16 points. Alexander tossed in another 14points while Mustian added 13 points behind four 3-pointers.

Bart Babineaux led Catholic with 14 points. Durnad had 13 points whileIndest contributed 12.

“We’ll take anything we can get after losing four in a row,” Cavell said.

“We let them come back in the second quarter and we looked to come out in the third quarter and take command of the game. When teams started torun we haven’t been able to stop them but we were able to do that in the third quarter. We were able to keep our lead at or a little above what wehad.”St. Charles Catholic scored the first seven points of the game and jumpedout to a 14-4 lead midway through the first quarter on two 3-pointers by Mustian and a jumper by Sanders. Catholic came back with a 10-0 run,tying the game at 14 on a jumper by Landry with 1:33 remaining. Alexandergave the Comets a 19-16 lead but Babineaux answered with a 3-pointer from the left side at the buzzer to tie the score.

Another three-point play by Alexander regained the lead for the Comets early in the second quarter before Babineaux again tied the score with a 3-pointer. The Panthers took their first lead of the game at the 2:05 markas Babineaux took a deep pass from Indest. Mitchell tied the game with afree throw and Alexander gave the Comets a 29-27 lead at the half with a put back at the buzzer. Alexander finished the half with 10 points.A 3-pointer by Mustian from the left corner extended that lead to 32-27 early in the third quarter.

In earlier action Wednesday, Vandebilt edged Bishop Sullivan, 49-48; St.

Thomas Aquinas defeated Redemptorist, 60-51; and E.D. White rallied todefeat Archbishop Hannan, 45-42.

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