CCHS eases past St. John, 66-32

Central Catholic faced little resistance in Tuesday’s, 67-32, Division IV regional-round playoff beat down of St. John of Plaquemine at Central Catholic.
Central Catholic, the No. 6 seed, received a first-round bye last week, while St. John, the No. 11 seed, beat St. Edmund 70-34.
Central Catholic showed no rust, racing out to a 13-2 first-quarter lead and 30-3 halftime bulge.
“I scouted them and I thought we could defend them and use some stuff press wise against them, but I didn’t think we would hold them to three points in the first-half,” Central Catholic Coach Ree Case said.
“I thought we played very well defensively,” he said. “We played a little three-quarter court press and played some three-two zone, which I was only going to come out and tinker with, but I thought we played it very well, so we stayed in it.”
The Eagles used their taller players, Ja'len Johnson and D.J. Lewis, at top of the zone.
“We’re lucky to have Ja'len and D.J., who are very athletic, up there, and it makes a difference because teams have to throw over them,” Case said. “It really made a difference tonight. They’re both long and athletic, and they really disrupted things tonight.”
Johnson led Central Catholic with 13 first-half points, while Samarick Paul had 11.
St. John finally got into double figures with 4:30 left in the third quarter trailing 37-12.
But Paul hit two straight 3-pointers, and Central Catholic cruised to a 48-19 lead.
In the second half, St. John made back-to-back baskets for the first time in the game, but the Eagles put down the minor run to seal the victory.
Leading scorers for Central Catholic were Paul and Johnson with 22 each, while Elijah Swan had 13, Taylor Blanchard four, Brooks Thomas three and Davidyionne Bias two. Central Catholic will travel to face No. 3 seed Hamilton Christian Friday in a 6 p.m. contest in Lake Charles. Hamilton Christian advanced after routing No. 14 seed Ascension Catholic, 89-53.