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CENTERVILLE — The Centerville Bulldogs improved to 3-2 on the season after posting a 70-48 victory over the Franklin Hornets in the opening night of the Tourney of the Teche here Thursday.
Jaylon Williams fired in 23 points while Jackson Hebert bagged 20 points to help power Centerville past Franklin.
Centerville jumped out to a narrow 12-11 lead in the first quarter before going on a 17-12 second quarter run for a 29-23 halftime cushion. Centerville soared ahead by a 49-31 advantage at the end of the third quarter before gaining the 70-48 win following a 21-17 spurt in the final quarter.
Williams drained six treys for 18 of his gamehigh 23 points. Hebert connected on four treys for 12 of his 20 points. Marquis Strawder added 13 points while Tykeith Joseph tossed in 8 and Ryan Young tallied four.
Josh Parker led Franklin in scoring with 15 points while Travis Zeno tossed in 12 and ZyQuan Webber scored 7. Gharin Stansbury and Jabari Daye fired in four points each with Isreal Washington and Brayden Ward scoring three points each.

The Town of Baldwin’s Beautification Club is hosting its annual Christmas Lighting, Thursday, December 7 at 6 p.m. in front of the Baldwin Fire Station (the old Baldwin Elementary). There will be choirs singing, a D.J. and a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus. The event is free and open to the public.
Tickets are on sale for the Baldwin Beautification Club’s annual Christmas Gala. The event will be held Saturday, December 9 from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Baldwin Community Center. A meal will be served and entertainment will be provided by EJ the DJ. Ticket prices are $20. See any member of the Beautification Club for tickets or call Sherise Henry at (337) 940-2041.

Story and Photo By Casey Collier
Ty Burdett did not initially set out to be the principal of Franklin Senior High School. But, it’s not just where he ended up, either.
During his tenure, the school has gone from a graduation rate of 61 percent—to 78 percent, and went from an “F” on the Louisiana Department of Education school letter grading scale, in 2006—to a “B,” in 2017.
FSHS was also awarded a Silver ranking in 2017 by U.S. News and World Report, as one of the top schools in the nation for graduating students under challenged socioeconomic conditions.
The algorithm for such progress is simple: Burdett, and his faculty and staff, focus on the students’ potential vs. the students’ perceived potential.
“I grew up here,” said Burdett. “I know the people of this town and I know what they want for their kids. I know where they came from.
“They are entrusting us with their students, with their kids, to educate them to get a better life.
“So, that’s my template: Make you believe you can do better than what you believe you can do.”
Burdett graduated from FSHS in 1979. He tried a year of college, studying business, but says his mind was elsewhere.
“I just didn’t enjoy it,” he said. “I would go to the Intramural Center and hit the ball with the cats that were in education, and they were going into coaching. So, I came home and told my dad, ‘I think I wasted a year, but this (coaching) is what I want to do.’
“I wanted to be a coach is what I really wanted to be. The only way you could be a coach was if you learned to teach a subject. Science was my favorite subject, so I minored in science and did the coaching thing; and I taught chemistry and physics here at Franklin High.
“I just wanted to give back to my community, coaching and teaching the kids because of what the community did for me when I was growing up.”
He began working at FSHS in 1988, and he now works with an Assistant Principal Terry Duchane, who was his classmate, graduating FSHS in 1979 alongside him.
Burdett says of Duchane with a chuckle, as he braids his fingers in front of him, “Yeah, we’re together in this.”
He says of his early accomplishments in education, the one of which he is the proudest, is his co-writing the curriculum for the environmental science courses being taught in the state today.
The team worked out of Iberia Parish in 1991. “I started with Mr. Melancon as our instructor,” Burdett said. “It was me and some other teachers out of Iberia Parish, and we wrote the state curriculum for the environmental science class.
“Of course, that was back when the redfish population was dwindling, and they wanted research on that, so we did that as the curriculum, and environmental science is still a part of the (statewide) curriculum today.”
He credits Steve Gauthier for ushering him toward administration.
“I can see it like it was yesterday,” said Burdett. “Mr. Steve Gauthier was the science department head and he would come into class, and he would observe us, (teachers) and when he became superintendent, he came to me and he said, ‘You need to be in administration. We need administrators.’ That was in 1996.
“Four years later I had my master’s, and as soon as I had my master’s, they put me in administration, in 2001,” he said, with another chuckle.
He started in administration at B. Edward Boudreaux Middle School from 2001 to 2003. Then, he became the principal of Franklin Junior High School from 2003 to 2006, and from there, went to his current position at FSHS.
When asked about his method for improvement at FSHS, and how one goes about instilling hope in students as an educator, he said, “Love them. I love them, and I let them know I love them. I tell them I love them, and I want the best for them… and you see that right there? (He points to a wooden paddle on a plaque) discipline… you have to have discipline. If you don’t have discipline, you can’t do anything in life.”
Burdett says he is fortunate to have taught many of the parents of his students, so the parents know that he has the best interest of their kids at heart.
His ties to his community are one of Burdett’s biggest professed assets in a successful career, and he hopes to draw from that kind of experience in the Franklin community when choosing his successor.
He is retiring next year, and he has said that he would like to do it with FSHS having earned an “A” rating from the Department of Education. But, he emphatically shares with his staff, the responsibility and probability of such a goal, as well as their success, so far. It is important to him.
He said, “We became a “B” school and it’s not Ty Burdett who got us to a “B” school. It’s Franklin High School’s faculty that bought-in to an idea that we could get these kids educated.”
However, he admits to being ready to hand the reins to his successor.
“I’ve got one year left to do it,” he said. “This year, right here. This is the year that counts.
“I’ve put 33 years in. I’m tired. I’m mentally tired. I’m not physically tired. It’s a mental thing.”
Tired, or not, Burdett has an idea of who he would like to see at the helm of FSHS after he leaves.
“I know who I would like to have here,” he said, “but I don’t know if he’s going to come.
“I feel that the person who takes over Franklin High School needs to be a Franklin person. They should know the community.
“If you don’t have that relationship, it’s hard to run a school. You’ve got to have the trust of the parents.”
Burdett says what he will miss the most, is the kids, and he intends to “come back around” for fundraisers, and the like.
To his successor, whoever they may be, Burdett says, “Know your kids. Know them. Know their names. Know who they are. Know where they are from. Just know them. Ask them how they are doing and socialize with them. Let them know you care about them. It means more when you know somebody’s name.
“There are several pitfalls, too. Complacency is a big one. Complacency from anybody—I don’t like. From teachers to students to principals—don’t get complacent. Let’s keep working.”
To his students, Burdett says, “You have to be aware in the classroom. If you are sleeping in the classroom or you are horse-playing in the classroom, then you are not going to be aware, then you’re not going to learn.
“The second thing is self-responsibility. There is an intrinsic factor that makes Ty Burdett want to be the best he can be. So, it’s my responsibility to go to class every day with my books, with my paper, with my pencil, and pay attention and be aware; and then go home and do my homework. It’s nobody else’s responsibility. I’m responsible. When you look in the mirror in the morning, you say, ‘I’m going to do the best I can do’—self-responsibility.”
Before leaving, Burdett wants it emphasized that the success of FSHS is owed to its staff and the community at large.
“It couldn’t be about me if it wasn’t about them.”

An East Baton Rouge fugitive is among a trio arrested by Morgan City Police for drugs during a traffic stop.
According to Morgan City Police Chief James Blair, Bridget Austin, 46, of Aucoin Road, Susan Hudson, 47, of Duval Street, and Lenny Steel, 34, of Railroad Avenue, all in Morgan City, were arrested at 8:50 p.m. Wednesday.
Austin was charged with possession of hydrocodone, improper equipment and possession of drug paraphernalia. Hudson was charged with possession of hydrocodone, possession of drug paraphernalia and open container in a motor vehicle. Steel was charged with open container in a motor vehicle and a fugitive warrant of East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Patrol officers initiated a traffic stop after observing a vehicle being operated in the area of Railroad Avenue without the proper required brake lighting.
Austin was identified as the operator of the vehicle. Hudson and Steel were identified as occupants.
Blair said that according to reports, Austin and Hudson were found to be in possession of suspected hydrocodone and drug paraphernalia. Additionally, Hudson and Steel were found to be in possession of open alcoholic beverages in the motor vehicle.
Steel was also found to have a fugitive warrant out of the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Department. All three were jailed.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff Mark Hebert reported that the Sheriff’s Office responded to 34 complaints and re-ported the following arrests regarding east St. Mary:
—Dean Beranek, 31, of Burchfield Lane in Berwick, was arrested at 2:43 p.m. Wednesday on warrants for failure to appear on a charge of criminal neglect of family.
A deputy received in-formation that Beranek was at the St. Mary Parish Courthouse in Franklin, where he was taken into custody on the warrants. The deputy transported Beranek to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center with bail set at $11,338.92.
—Amanda Aucoin, 32, of Bayou Lane in Bayou L’Ourse, was arrested at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday on charges of possession of legend drugs levothyroxine sodium and levotab without a prescription, possession of drug paraphernalia, and a warrant for charges of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
In September, narcotics detectives conducted a traffic stop on La. 182 in Morgan City. Aucoin, who was identified as a passenger in the vehicle, was found to have a large piece of methamphetamine, a glass pipe, and other illegal drug-related paraphernalia in her purse.
Detectives obtained a warrant for Aucoin’s arrest and located her at a business on Degravelle Road in Amelia. During her arrest, narcotics detectives received consent to search Aucoin’s vehicle and located pills, a digital scale, and a glass pipe used to consume methamphetamine. Aucoin was jailed with no bail set.
—John Yates Jr., 38, of Arenz Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 4:57 p.m. Wednesday for charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, violation of a controlled dangerous substance law in a drug free zone, and a warrant for the charge of failure to appear on the charge of driving while intoxicated.
Narcotics detectives located Yates at his residence. During the arrest, detectives found methamphetamine, a bag of marijuana and a glass pipe used to consume methamphetamine on Yates’ person. The illegal drugs were located within 2,000 feet of a school.
Yates was jailed with no bail set.
—Therold James, 33, of Bayou Vista, was charged with criminal damage to property at 6:33 p.m. Wednesday.
A corrections deputy observed James, an inmate at the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center, damage a facility phone. James remains incarcerated with no bail set.
—Jerome Broussard, 45, of 11th Street in Gretna, was arrested at 10:41 p.m. Wednesday for charges of general speed law violation and operating a vehicle with a suspended driver’s license.
A narcotics detective conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for speeding on U.S. 90 in Patterson. A patrol deputy assisting with the investigation found that the driver, Broussard, had a suspended license. Broussard was released on a summons to appear in court Feb 7.
Blair reported that the Morgan City Police Department responded to 43 calls for service and reported the following arrests:
—Luiny DeLeon, 27, of Duke Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 8:06 a.m. Wednesday on charges of switched license plate, no driver’s license, registration required, expired vehicle inspection, and no insurance.
Patrol officers conducted a traffic stop when an officer noticed that the license plate being displayed on a vehicle in the area of Roderick Street was one which is commonly displayed on a truck.
DeLeon was identified as the operator of the vehicle.
Blair said that according to reports, the license plate displayed was confirmed to belong to another vehicle, the inspection sticker was expired, and the vehicle was not properly insured as required by Louisiana law.
DeLeon was also found not to possess a valid driver’s license. DeLeon was jailed.
—Kentrell Diggs, 25, of Opelousas Street in Donaldsonville, was arrested at 8:21 a.m. Wednesday on a warrant for probation violation.
Diggs was located at the Morgan City Police Department and was arrested on an active warrant held by the 6th Ward Morgan City Court. Diggs was jailed.
—Abram Granger Jr., 18, of Apple Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 11 a.m. Wednesday on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Investigators with the Morgan City Police Department Detectives Division came in contact with Granger in regard to an unrelated investigation.
Blair said that according to reports, Granger was found to be in possession of suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Granger was jailed.
—Harold Sheets, 34, of Everett Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 11:12 a.m. Wednesday on a warrant for failure to appear for trial on Nov. 16.
Sheets was located and arrested in the area of Florida Alley on an active warrant held by the 6th Ward Morgan City Court. Sheets was jailed.
—Kellie Boudreaux, 34, of Shaw Drive in Morgan City, was arrested at 9:50 p.m. Wednesday on a warrant on two counts of failure to appear to pay fine on Oct. 17.
Boudreaux was located and arrested at the Patterson Police Department on active warrants held by the 6th Ward Morgan City Court. Boudreaux was jailed.
Berwick Police Chief James Richard reported no arrests.
Patterson Police Chief Patrick LaSalle reported no arrest.