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M C Bank acknowledges Tabatha Duhon, second from left, on her five-year banking anniversary. Duhon joined M C Bank as a full-time teller in 2013 and is now providing customer service at the Amelia banking location. She's shown with President and CEO Larry Callais, left, Amelia Branch Manager Pam Patureau and Senior Vice President Travis Richard.

Will Wade and his LSU men’s basketball team are eyeing an NCAA tournament berth for the 2018-19 season one year after a promising turnaround for the program.
Wade spoke July 31 in Morgan City at a St. Mary Outreach fundraiser at the Petroleum Club of Morgan City.
The 2017-18 season was Wade’s first season as head coach at LSU and an “adjustment period just getting to know our players, getting to know how basketball is in the SEC,” he said. The team finished the season with an 18-15 record overall, 8-10 in the SEC and a berth in the NIT.
Prior to Wade’s arrival, LSU was 10-21 during the 2016-17 season and just 2-16 in conference play.
Wade hopes the 2018-19 LSU team is headed to play in the NCAA tournament.
“We don’t want to play in the NIT anymore. It was a great experience last year,” he said. “It was better than where we’ve been. It was a good stepping stone for us.”
The team’s goal this coming season is “to compete at the top of the SEC” and “work our way in the NCAA tournament,” he said. “Once you get to the NCAA tournament, anything can happen.”
LSU has “a great mix” of experienced returning players “who have been through those battles in the SEC” and talented newcomers who want to “help LSU basketball get back to the top,” he said.
The Tigers’ 2018-19 recruiting class was ranked No. 3 in the nation. The class includes two five-star freshmen recruits in 6-foot-10 forward Naz Reid of Roselle, New Jersey, and 6-7 Emmitt Williams of Lehigh Acres, Florida.
“They’re both big guys who will help us on the front line ... get us some rebounds down there, bring some toughness to us,” Wade said.
Other new players straight out of high school are guard Ja’Vonte Smart of Scotlandville Magnet, 2018 Mr. Basketball in Louisiana, and forward Darius Days of Gainesville, Florida.
Adding a homegrown player, such as Smart, helps the team as a whole.
“He helped recruit those other guys. Ja’Vonte just has unbelievable leadership capabilities. He’s somebody that a lot of guys love to follow,” Wade said.
LSU also has three junior college transfers in guard Danya Kinsby, forward Courtese Cooper and guard Marlon Taylor.
“We’ve been able to work those guys out this summer for the last eight weeks,” Wade said of all the newcomers. “As good as we felt about them on paper and recruiting them, we feel even better about them after working them out and being able to spend time with them.”
The newcomers have great character and have come together well to “really form as a team” with the returning players, he said.
Sophomore point guard Tremont Waters, who led LSU in scoring as a freshman with 15.9 points per game, has “made a huge jump this summer” in terms of improving his game, Wade said.
Junior guard Skylar Mays, senior guard Daryl Edwards, junior forward Wayde Sims and junior guard Marshall Graves have all made substantial improvements as well.
Wade expects the Tigers to be more competitive this year with the upgrades to the team’s roster. Also, Wade and his staff will be able to use their experience from last year to get better.
“I think we’ve got a much better feel as a program for how the league functions, how things are in the SEC, what other coaches do, what some of their tendencies are,” Wade said.
Prior to arriving at LSU, Wade had served as head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University from 2015-17 and head coach at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga from 2013-15. He led VCU to two NCAA tournament berths, advancing to the second round in 2016.
—Information from lsusports.net contributed to this article.

Patterson 12U Babe Ruth All-Stars had no mercy on the host team as it took a decisive 11-1 victory in the second day of pool play at the Babe Ruth World Series Tuesday in Jensen Beach, Florida. At Pineapple Park, the Treasure Coast Athletic Association Wildcats of Jensen Beach, Florida, couldn’t keep pace with the defending champs.
The Wildcats managed three hits and a run in five innings of error-free play. Patterson slapped seven hits scoring 11 runs and committed one error.
Patterson’s Riley Chaisson took the win in her four innings on the mound. She only allowed one run and two hits while striking out four batters. In relief, Patterson’s Emily Lipari pitched one inning allowing one hit and a walk while striking out three Wildcats.
At the plate, Patterson saw Ella Hover go 3-for-3, with three runs, two RBIs and a walk. Lipari added three runs as she went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two walks. Layla Richoux scored twice following two walks. Laila Dugar was 1-for-2 with a run, an RBI and two walks. Hannah Domingue was 1-for-1 with a double and two RBIs.
Also at the plate for Patterson, Chaisson was 0-for-1 with a run and three RBIs following two walks and a sacrifice fly. Kamille Lightfoot went 0-for-1 with a run and a walk. Charlotte Callais was 0-for-1 with an RBI after being hit by a pitch.
Pool play continues Wednesday as Patterson faces Indiana-based East Side All-Stars and North Carolina-based Super Optimist All-Stars.
The top eight seeds will play in the World Series bracket, while the remaining teams will square off in the Diamond Bracket.
Bracket play begins Thursday and concludes Saturday with champions in each bracket being crowned.
Patterson has been impressive thus far sporting a 2-0 pool play record while allowing only one run each game. In the first game, Patterson won 6-1 over Kentucky-based Jeffersontown All-Stars, the Ohio Valley Regional champion.
In fact, Patterson hasn’t lost a Babe Ruth game since July 6, 2017, when it fell to Jefferson Parish Recreation Department East, 5-1, in the Southwest Region Tournament.
Head coach of the Patterson 12U team is Harris DeHart. Prior to World Series play, he helped lead the team to a 13-0 record this summer — including 9-0 in Babe Ruth Bracket play — en route to the Louisiana and Southwest Region titles.
Other 12U participants are: a team from China; Florida state champion Winter Park Wildcats; Missouri-based Boonville All-Stars, the Midwest Plains Regional champion; Massachusetts-based Pittsfield All-Stars, the New England Regional champs; New Jersey-based Mount Olive All-Stars, the Mid Atlantic Regional champion; Washington-based Ellensburg All-Stars, the Pacific Northwest Regional champs; Virginia-based Rockville All-Stars, an invitational qualifier; and California-based Los Altos All-Stars, the Pacific Southwest Regional champs.

A 29-year-old Eunice woman was booked into Morgan City jail on drug charges after police responded to a report of possible illegal drug activity at a motel, Police Chief James Blair said in a news release.

—Samantha A. Manuel, 20, of Eunice, was arrested at 9:57 p.m. Tuesday on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of dextroamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The Morgan City Police Department Narcotics Division responded to a local motel on La. 182 in regard to possible illegal drug activity. Officers located an individual identified as Manuel, who was an occupant of one of the motel rooms.

An odor of marijuana was emitting from the room while Manuel was speaking with officers, Blair said. Police received consent to search the room, and officers located suspected marijuana, pills identified as dextroamphetamine for which Manuel did not have a prescription and drug paraphernalia, Blair said. Manuel was jailed.

Blair reported that officers responded to 43 calls and reported the following arrests:

—Paris N. Bias, 27, of Lena Street in Lafayette, was arrested at 9:01 p.m. Tuesday on a 16th Judicial District Court warrant charging her with failure to appear for issuing worthless checks. Bias was located on Allison Street and arrested on a warrant. Bias was jailed.

—Ryan LeBlanc, 35, of Lanza Lane in New Iberia, was arrested at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officers responded to a motel on La. 182 in regard to individuals smoking illegal drugs in one of the rooms. Officers arrived and made contact with the occupant of the room, LeBlanc. Officers could smell a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the room, Blair said.

LeBlanc gave officers consent to search the room, and they located suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia, Blair said. LeBlanc was jailed.

—Kentrell F. Diggs, 26, of Donaldsonville, was arrested at 12:11 a.m. Wednesday on a warrant charging him with failure to appear for trial.

Diggs was transported from the Berwick Police Department to the Morgan City Police Department on a Morgan City Court warrant. Diggs was jailed.

St. Mary Parish Sheriff Scott Anslum reported that deputies responded to 32 complaints in the parish and reported the following arrests in east St. Mary Parish:

—Nicole Watson, 48, of Jupiter Street in Bayou Vista, was arrested at 4:02 p.m. Tuesday on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A deputy patrolling Bayou Vista responded to a business for an unrelated theft complaint. Through the investigation, the deputy made contact with Watson in a vehicle that matched the description of the suspect vehicle, Anslum said.

While speaking with Watson, the deputy could smell a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the vehicle. The deputy received consent to search the vehicle and located marijuana and a grinder, the sheriff said. Watson was released on a summons to appear in court Oct. 5.

—Javier Castro, 29, of La. 70 in Morgan City, was arrested at 4:52 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant for failure to appear on a charge of speeding and operating a vehicle with a suspended license. Castro was transported from the West Baton Rouge Parish Jail and transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center for booking. Castro was released on $2,000 bail.

Berwick Police Chief James Richard reported the following arrests:

—Austin Rock, 18, of Daphne Street in Patterson, was arrested at 12:58 a.m. Wednesday on charges of turn signals required and possession of marijuana. Rock posted $2,500 bail.

—Kentrell Diggs, 26, of Donaldsonville, was arrested at 9:56 p.m. Tuesday on Morgan City Court warrant charging him with failure to appear for trial. Diggs was transported to the Morgan City Police Department.

—Leontine Samaroo, 30, of Todd Lane in Morgan City, was arrested at 8:58 p.m. Tuesday on charges of two headlights required and possession of marijuana. Samaroo posted $2,250 bail.

Patterson Police Chief Janis Merritt reported no arrests.