Noah McDaniel (12) splits the defense of H.L. Bourgeois’ D.Q. Ruffin (2) and Kadar Mitchell on his way to the goal for a layup. The Crusaders finished their pre-district campaign with a 59-44 victory over the Braves on Jan. 20. The win improved the Crusaders’ record at 14-6.
By Ron Brocato
No one who knows Wesley Laurendine would call him an “old timer.”
But the Brother Martin head basketball coach vividly remembers a time when districts played two rounds of games to determine their champion and runner-up.
That practice is no longer applicable in nine of the state’s Class 5A districts. Just one district (7-5A, comprised of large schools from the Northshore and Chalmette High) play two competitive rounds for championship honors, which has little to do with the state playoffs. Qualification for the post-season tournament is that the top 24 teams in each class qualify for the select and non-select playoffs. The eight highest ranking teams draw a first round bye, while the remaining 16 are paired by their particular power ranking. Their records are not a primary factor.
Laurendine, whose Crusaders enter district play on Jan. 23 with a 15-7 record and fresh off an impressive 59-44 victory over H.L. Bourgeois on Jan. 20, has his team healthy again after a few key early-season injuries.
As a high school athlete playing on a Catholic League team 20 years ago, and now as a coach, Laurendine said he enjoyed the competition of playing two rounds to determine the district’s champion.
“I loved playing two (rounds). I can’t see why playing two rounds is a detriment to the kids,” he said. “The argument was, well, we play each other three or four times, but we took that out (with the demise of the CYO Tournament), so now what are we doing?”
“Now the argument is, well, now we’re the only district that would be playing twice,” he continued. “But we’re also the only district that is constructed the way we are constructed, which makes us the best. So, let’s be the best.”
Brother Martin’s district, once heralded as a true Catholic League, now includes two charter schools (Edna Karr and Warren Easton), a private school (John Curtis), and five Catholic schools. All have winning records and are seeded among the top teams in their class.
When district play begins, the Crusaders will meet, in order, Rummel (13-8 record) at home on Jan. 23, then have away games at Curtis (15-2) on Jan. 27 and Holy Cross (14-6) on Jan. 30; then host Karr (17-5) on Feb. 3 before going back on the road to Warren Easton (10-8) on Feb. 6 and Jesuit (14-4) on Feb. 10. The final district game is in the Conlin Gymnasium on Feb. 13 against the reigning division champion, St. Augustine (19-2).
The Crusaders have beaten Holy Cross and lost to Jesuit in non-district games earlier in the season.
Two rounds of play for most of the district’s long history was the highlight of the season for decades. The tradition goes back to 1929 when the Louisiana High Athletic Association allowed non-public schools to become members. St. Aloysius, Holy Cross, and Jesuit of New Orleans and Catholic High of Baton Rouge were the only Catholic schools in the state large enough to be included in the highest class (A at the time).
Teams competed in two separate rounds. The team with the best district record was the champion of the round. If a different team won the second round, the two would have a playoff to determine the overall district champion. Having separate rounds enabled a team that didn’t win the first round another opportunity. The practice kept interest alive throughout the season and helped fill gymnasiums.
In 1950, the Archdiocese of New Orleans transitioned its annual CYO football game to a basketball tournament for the five local Catholic Schools as a fundraiser for the CYO. At that time, the five included St. Aloysius, De La Salle, Jesuit, Holy Cross, and Redemptorist. Through the 1950s and most of the 1960s, St. Aloysius and De La Salle dominated the tournament.
During the 1957-58 season, the two powers played each other seven times, first in the CYO Tournament, a 49-47 double overtime win for the Crusaders. The two then split their Catholic League series at a win apiece before St. Aloysius won a fourth meeting to determine their playoff positioning. But De La Salle had the final say when they defeated their Catholic rival more times, including in the state championship game.
As the CYO tournament expanded and the LHSAA placed Catholic schools in a “select” category, teams found themselves playing each other three or more times if they were paired in the state playoffs. In 2022, Brother Martin met Holy Cross and John Curtis twice in district play and again in the first round of the playoffs.
In 2024, when the LHSAA went to a 24-team playoff format, four teams from District 9-5A faced off for a third time, and last season, Holy Cross met two district opponents, and Rummel played Curtis in the second round. So, most of the district principals decided to just play a single round.
But building a case for playoff consideration is difficult when all your district opponents own among the top power ratings in the state, as is prevalent in this district.
A capacity crowd at the Conlin Gymnasium watched Crusader senior Jax Wilklow (5) slip past Jesuit’s Tyler Farley during second period action in their non-district game on Jan. 16, won by Jesuit. The two will meet again on Feb. 10 in a district encounter at Jesuit.
