By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

NEW ORLEANS — A disappointed St. Charles Catholic team walked off the floor of the New Orleans Arena Wednesday, after falling 43-38 to Plaquemine despite taking a lead into the fourth quarter.

But despite the loss, the Comets showed their fans — and perhaps later, after the loss’ sting wore off, themselves — reasons for optimism. That same Green Devils team walking off of the floor as victors after fighting for four quarters defeated SCC with ease, 56-36, in a season-opening tournament at Ascension Catholic.

“It was there for us to take,” said St. Charles coach Paul Waguespack. “We had our chances, and some of those missed opportunities are why our kids are upset with themselves.

“But I couldn’t be more proud of these guys … We’ve already come a long way. We still have a ways to go, but they’ve really responded.”

Trey Sutherland returned from a two-week layoff due to injury to score 11 points, leading SCC (1-6). Jeff Keys scored nine and Seth Noah added seven.

Davante Marshall scored 13 to lead Plaquemine (6-2). Davon Godcheaux added nine.

The afternoon game was part of a recent trend where the Arena has opened itself for high school teams to play leading into a New Orleans Hornets game. The teams were also offered a discounted rate to attend the Hornets/Los Angeles Lakers game later that evening.

But first came a back-and-forth battle between a pair of former district foes.

The difference in the game came down to Plaquemine’s full-court pressure defense. St. Charles led 36-33 entering the fourth quarter, but the Green Devils held SCC to just two points in the final frame to cement the victory.

After a handful of Comet turnovers to begin the period, Kirkland Jones scored on a layup in transition to give Plaquemine a 37-36 lead. He made a free throw to make it 38-36, but Keys made a steal and layup to tie the game.

With 2:55 remaining, Jones scored on a putback to make it 40-38. SCC appeared to tie the game with 1:54 remaining, but a Keller bucket was negated by a charging call.

Plaquemine slowed the game from there, drawing SCC out and forcing them to foul.

“We’ve got to find a way to handle the kind of (defensive) pressure they were applying,” said Waguespack.

Said Sutherland, “We were tired, and it showed. We still had a chance, but we missed too many layups and made some mistakes.”

After a slow offensive start for both sides in the new surroundings, St. Charles began to get comfortable. Sutherland nailed a 3-pointer from the wing to tie the game at 6, then Keys scored on consecutive layups to fill out a 7-0 Comet run that put SCC ahead 10-6.

Plaquemine called a timeout and regrouped. Marshall scored five of his team’s next eight points as the Green Devils went ahead 14-10. Sutherland closed out the first quarter with a layup as the first quarter wound down to cut the Plaquemine lead to two.

Godcheaux scored to begin the second quarter, but Kameron Keller answered with a layup. Noah canned a tough jumper, then Jarrid Johnson scored on an inbounds play to push SCC ahead 19-16.

Plaquemine retook the lead at 20-19, but Keller nailed a 3 to push SCC ahead again.

Mitchell scored on a putback to give Plaquemine a 25-22 lead before Sutherland tied things up on a 3-pointer from the corner. The game was tied at 25 at halftime.

“I felt like we had a good plan,” said Sutherland. “We wanted to keep them out of the lane and make them shoot the outside jumper. That worked in our favor.”

St. Charles led by as many as five at one point in the third quarter after Sutherland made a layup in transition and drew a foul. He converted a 3-point play to make it 36-31 late in the third.

Despite the loss, the game doesn’t figure to be one the Comets will soon forget, playing on the same floor that so many great pro and college players have stepped onto over the past decade.

“It was a great experience to be able to come out here and play basketball,” said Sutherland.

“We just had too many turnovers today, but we’re just gonna get better from this.”

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