CCHS outlasts St. John in top 5 battle

Despite an atmosphere of love and hope before the game, Central Catholic and St. John went head-to-head in Central Catholic’s annual Pink game Tuesday in Morgan City.
In a battle of top-five teams in Division V, No. 5 Central Catholic held off No. 4 St. John in four sets (25-16, 27-29, 25-22 and 25-16).
Prior to the game, a check valued at $1,200 was presented to Beth Hamilton of Oncologics in New Iberia.
“Our Pink game is very important to so many,” Central Catholic Coach Latashia Wise said. “When I first got here five years ago, I wanted to make this game big, and it keeps growing every year, and I’m very thankful that we get the support we do from our student body, our parents and school leaders to make this a success each year. I love fighting for this cause.”
Breast cancer survivors Anita Louviere and Elizabeth Welch were honored before the game. Both ladies participated in honorary first serves.
“Every year we try to reach out to people related to our players,” Wise said. “It’s unfortunate that we can do that each year from such a small group, but it’s a reality so we accept the challenge.”
As for the match, in Game 1, the Lady Eagles jumped out to a 9-4 lead before St. John scored four points to pull to 9-8. Standout Yani Johnson put an end to St. John’s run with an emphatic kill at the net. Johnson served three aces to take Central Catholic to a 23-16 before Central Catholic closed the set with a 25-16 win.
In Game 2, however, St. John stormed out to a 6-0 lead before Central Catholic regrouped to tie the match at 9. The match remained tight throughout, with ties at 24, 26 and 27 before St. John found open court between two Lady Eagles for the 29-27 win.
Game 3 was close also before Johnson pounded a couple kills and Bailee Lipari served two aces. Johnson’s serve brought Central Catholic to a 23-21 lead, and Caroline Green went above the net on a block. The Lady Eagles won the contest, 25-22.
Johnson led the way with 21 kills, five aces, five digs, and 10 solo blocks. Other stat leaders were Ava Nicar with seven kills and two digs; Haley Fontenot, six kills, seven digs and a solo block; Green, six kills and 10 solo blocks; Taylor Picou, a kill, 11 assists, two aces and 15 digs; Katie Hoffpauir, 25 assists, an ace and 13 digs; Emma Simmons, seven digs; Quincee Wiggins, 26 digs; Brooke Lipari an assist and nine digs; and Bailee Lipari, two kills, five aces and seven digs.
“I don’t want discredit St. John at all,” Wise said. “They’re the No. 4 ranked team in Division 5 and a really good team, but I don’t think we played well at all. We didn’t serve/receive well, and we didn’t serve as well as we wanted to, but we got the win. We just came off a long weekend at the Terrebonne Classic where we got the win, playing six matches, so I think we were a little tired tonight.”
Central Catholic travels to Houma Christian Wednesday with the district championship on the line.