Morgan City High wins inaugural 'Battle of the Cats'

The Morgan City Lady Tigers staged a huge second-half scoring output to turn a halftime deficit into a 70-46 rout of the Berwick Lady Panthers in the inaugural “Battle of the Cats” in Morgan City Saturday.
While Berwick led 30-21 at halftime, Morgan City outscored the visitor 49-16 in the second half.
Morgan City had a 24-8 scoring advantage in the third period for a 45-38 lead after three quarters before extending its lead to the final margin in the fourth quarter after a 25-8 scoring margin.
Early on, Berwick led 22-9 after a quarter while Morgan City held a 12-8 second-quarter scoring advantage in the second period to cut its halftime deficit to 30-21.
Haylie Crappell led Morgan City with 26 points. Other Morgan City scorers were as follows: Nikeisha Paddio, 16; Nari Clark, nine; Iesha Huntley, seven; Ta’Lea Smith, four; and Wynesha Webb, two.
Lay Bertrand led Berwick with 28 points. Other Berwick scorers were as follows: Bronwyn Colbert, seven; Emily Lousteau, six; and Arianna Jones, five.
Prior to the contest, the teams battled in a three-point contest.
The “Battle of the Cats” series, Morgan City coach Duriel Singleton said, was developed to promote girls basketball. He said that the event will be held in Berwick next year.
Crappell and Bertrand were named the Most Valuable Players from each team.
Thursday, South Lafourche defeated Morgan City 62-23 in the Lady Tigers’ District 8-4A finale in Morgan City.
Crappell led Morgan City with eight points, while Clark scored seven to lead Morgan City.
CCHS splits games
The Central Catholic Lady Eagles split their games last week as the squad routed Covenant Christian Academy in its regular-season finale on the road Friday after being upset Tuesday by Hanson Memorial.
Friday, Central Catholic won the District 8-1A contest 59-13 at Covenant Christian.
Central Catholic took a 25-2 lead after a quarter, led 35-7 at halftime and took a 53-13 lead after three periods of play.
Laurielle Bias led three Lady Eagles in double figures with 15 points. Other Central Catholic scorers were as follows: Jade Oliney, 12; Yani Johnson, 11; Lexi Landry, nine; Kamille Lightfoot, eight; and Gweneth Dohmann and Caitlyn Picou, two each.
Tuesday, Central Catholic fell at Hanson Memorial 51-46 in District 8-1A action in Franklin.
While Hanson led after the first two quarters, taking a 26-17 lead into halftime, Central Catholic outscored the home squad 20-6 in the third period to take a 37-32 lead into the final period.
However, Hanson responded with a 19-9 fourth-quarter scoring advantage for the victory.
Johnson led three Lady Eagles in double figures with 15 points. Other Central Catholic scorers were as follows: Lightfoot and Landry, 10 each; Oliney, six; Brie Johnson, four; and Bias, one
Central Catholic now will await its postseason seed and opponent, which will be announced Monday.