By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. Charles Catholic’s boys basketball team has already exceeded its win total of a year ago after notching wins in two out of three games at last weekend’s Grand Isle tournament.
St. Charles defeated Crescent City 62-49 and Grand Isle 43-29 on Saturday. Friday saw the Comets drop a close decision to Ascension Catholic, which avenged an earlier loss to the Comets, 49-47, on a shot at the buzzer.
SCC (4-3) won just two games last season under first-year coach Paul Waguespack, who moved over from his longtime head baseball coaching perch to undertake the Comets’ on-court rebuilding efforts.
“The kids have bought in,” said Waguespack. “We’ve gained some experience. Having the football guys helps. They’re bringing that winning attitude from the football team and trying to help turn it around.”
Against Crescent City, Kameron Keller scored 15 points and dished out 10 assists to lead the Comets. Jarrid Johnson scored 14, Austin Weber 9 and Eian Mitchell 8 for SCC.
Trevon Smith led Crescent City with 12 points.
The Comets led 26-23 at halftime and 42-35 after three quarters before breaking things open.
St. Charles led throughout against host Grand Isle after allowing just six first quarter points.
Johnson led the way with 18 points in that game. Mitchell scored 8 and Keller 6.
Keller’s 17 points and seven assists led the way against Ascension Catholic. Weber scored 12 and Johnson 10.
Kaleb Winchester scored 15 to lead the Bulldogs.
Waguespack said that the team’s top priority comes at the defensive end, which was the case as he began his work with the team last season.
“If you play good defense, you’ve got a chance,” said Waguespack. “We’ve got a long way to go, still, at that end. But we’re doing some things well. We’re getting better.”
The Comets have changed up their tempo, however, now looking to push the ball considerably more than they did a season ago.
“We’re deeper than we were,” said Waguespack. “We’ve got 8 or 9 guys we can put out there, including two senior starters and two senior backups.”
Part of making that shift happen has been a move of Kameron Keller to the point. Keller, the team’s leading scorer last season, had been a shooting guard.
“We did it late last season. He can create for others as well as he can for himself,” said Waguespack. “He shoots the 3 well.’
“He’s an unselfish player. The one thing about him is, unlike I was when I played, you’ve gotta tell him to shoot.”
Waguespack also had praise for Johnson, who’s off to a strong start at forward.
“He’s stepped it up big time,” said Johnson. “With he and Kameron together … their play has elevated the whole team. Jarrid also had six assists the other night. He can score and dish from the middle and it opens things up for everyone.”