Top 10 Sports Stories of 2016

No. 1 Norwood wins national and world indoor titles
Vernon Norwood did not achieve his goal of qualifying for the Olympics in 2016 and had to battle some adversity during the year, but he still had his share of success.
The former Morgan City High School and LSU quarter-miler anchored Team USA to a gold medal at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in March at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland and won the U.S. 400-meter indoor title the same month.
At the U.S. 400-meter indoor competition, Norwood won the USATF indoor title in 45.80, more than 1/10th of a second faster than silver medalist Kyle Clemons, who finished in 45.95. The win
gave Norwood his first USATF indoor title as a professional.
However, at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, Norwood was disqualified in qualifying heats because of a lane violation. Norwood, however, bounced back later at the event to anchor Team USA to a gold medal finish. Norwood ran a 44.92 split to cap the U.S. winning relay in 3:02.45. The relay time, at least at the time, is the third fastest indoors and 0.33 seconds off Team USA’s 4x400-meter relay mark it set two years ago.
This summer at the U.S. Olympic Trials at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, Norwood suffered heartache as he pulled up in the 400-meter preliminary with an injury, ending his bid for the Olympics. Norwood came into the trials with the seventh-best mark, having run a 45 flat.

No. 2 CCHS baseball team wins first Class 1A title since 2005
Central Catholic High School finally broke through in 2016.
After reaching the Class 1A state tournament the previous four seasons and falling short, twice in the finals and twice more in the semifinals, the Eagles captured their first Class 1A state championship last season in Sulphur since the Eagles won a crown in 2005, Central Catholic Coach Tyler Jensen’s senior year of high school. The Eagles clinched the 2016 title in May with an 8-7 win against Oak Grove via senior Samuel Guarisco’s run-scoring single on a base hit in the bottom of the seventh inning. Guarisco, who was named Class 1A’s Outstanding Player following the game, also earned the win on the mound in relief of starter, junior Greg Leger.
During the season, Central Catholic won the District 7-1A title and advanced to the postseason as Class 1A’s top seed. Central Catholic’s postseason journey to the Class 1A title included a 10-0 victory against Logansport in the bi-district round, a 5-3 win against Grand Lake in regional round action, an 8-4 triumph against Cedar Creek in the quarterfinals and a 1-0 victory against district foe Hanson in the semifinals.
Central Catholic finished its season with a 28-4 mark, winning its final 10 games.
Following the season, Jensen and the Eagles collected multiple individual honors. Jensen was named Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 1A All-State Coach of the Year, while Guarisco earned Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 1A Outstanding Player honors. The Eagles had three first-team selections and two honorable mention selections on the all-state list. Leger, junior Mitchell Lemoine and Guarisco were first-team selections, while junior Blake Hidalgo and senior Stefano Guarisco were honorable mention picks.
Samuel Guarisco, Stefano Guarisco, Leger and Hidalgo were named to the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association Class 1A All-State team, too, with Guarisco earning Player of the Year honors. Jensen earned Coach of the Year honors for the squad.

No. 3 Berwick football qualifies for playoffs for first time since 1996
The Berwick High School football team entered the 2016 season with a new head coach and a 19-year drought in postseason play.
With first-year head football coach Eric Holden leading the way, the Panthers nearly tripled their win total from 2015, improving on a 3-7 mark a year ago with an 8-3 record this season. The Panthers started the 2016 season with a 5-0 mark en route to the finish.
Additionally, the Panthers advanced to the Class 3A postseason as the No. 11 seed before falling to No. 22 Brusly, 52-36, in the first round. The playoff appearance was the Panthers’ first since 1996.
Among the other highlights from the season were the squad’s first win against Patterson since 1996 and reportedly its first win against E.D. White since the 1970s.
Following the season, Berwick was rewarded for its solid play as four Panthers earned Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 3A All-State honors. Junior Kenan Jones was a first-team selection, while sophomore Mitchell Sanford, junior Josh Carver and senior D.J. Robicheaux were honorable mention selections.

No. 4 Patterson 10U All-Stars finish third at Babe Ruth World Series
The Patterson 10U girls’ softball team had quite the summer to remember.
After winning the Babe Ruth Louisiana and Southwest Regional titles, the squad made a run on the final day of the Babe Ruth World Series in Jensen Beach/Stuart, Florida, en route to a third-place finish in 10U softball action.
With an undefeated mark in pool play, Patterson secured the No. 3 seed in the World Series bracket and a first-round bye. Patterson suffered its first loss of the tournament when it fell to No. 5 seed Pitt County, North Carolina, 6-0.
Facing elimination and a rain delay of nearly a day, Patterson was forced to conclude play on the tournament’s final day. The local squad delivered a successful performance, knocking off three teams en route to the semifinals. Patterson defeated the Audubon All-Stars of Pennsylvania, 6-5, the Rochester Slammers Red of New Hampshire, 2-1 and got revenge against defending 10U World Series Champs Pitt County, North Carolina, with a 4-0 victory.
In the semifinals, Oviedo, Florida, rallied for two runs in its final at bat for the 3-2 victory.
Patterson finished 5-2 at the World Series in pool and bracket play.
Patterson All-Star Amaya Williams was named to the Babe Ruth All-World Series team following the conclusion of the World Series. She made the team as a first baseman based upon her stats during the tournament.

No. 5 MCHS bowling team is state runner-up
The Morgan City High School girls bowling team may have started the season with a loss and ended it with another defeat, but when the Lady Tigers’ season concluded, not only did their record stand at 15-2, but they had survived the postseason to be called the second-best high school team in Louisiana.
Not only did Morgan City advance to its first Final Four in girls’ bowling history, the squad also advanced to its first finals’ appearance before falling to Central of Baton Rouge.
Morgan City finished the regular season as the district champion from District 2 of its region.
The Lady Tigers, seeded third at the South Central High School Bowling League regional tournament, advanced to the bi-regional round with an 18-9 victory against No. 6 seed South Terrebonne at Creole Lanes in Houma in March.
At the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s western Bi-Regional later in March, the Lady Tigers entered play as the fifth seed. Following a first-round bye, Morgan City recorded consecutive upsets, rallying to defeat No. 4 Central Lafourche, 16-11, and then knocking off top-ranked Parkway, 15.5-11.5, to advance to the semifinals at All-Star Lanes in Baton Rouge in April.
Morgan City continued its upset tour in the semifinals as it knocked off St. Scholastica, the No. 2 seed from the state’s eastern Bi-Regional and defending state champion, 18.5-8.5.
Later in the day, Morgan City fell in the finals to Central of Baton Rouge, the top seed in the state’s eastern Bi-Regional, 21-6.
Following the regular season, Morgan City junior Hannah Pipes was named both to the first-team All-District 2 team as well as district most valuable player. Morgan City had four more first-team selections, juniors Meghan Amador and Ali Tregle, freshman Mackenzie Amador and senior Marissa Davis. Senior Reagan Barbier was a second-team selection.

No. 6 CCHS volleyball team returns to state semifinals
The Central Catholic High School volleyball team returned to the Pontchartrain Center after a one-year hiatus and advanced to the Division V semifinals for the first time since the 2013 season. The 2016 Lady Eagles still were a fairly young but experienced bunch, who rebounded from a tough 2015 season that despite finishing with a sub-.500 mark, advanced to the regional round of the Division V playoffs.
This year, the squad recorded a 28-12 mark, won the District 6-V title and secured a first-round bye.
In the second round, the Lady Eagles knocked off No. 13 Catholic High-Pointe Coupee 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 2517) to advance to the Allstate Sugar Bowl/Louisiana High School Athletic Association Volleyball State Tournament. There, the squad knocked off district foe and No. 5 seed Houma Christian 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-14) in the quarterfinals before falling in the semifinals to top seed and eventual state runner-up Ascension Episcopal 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-12).
It marked the third straight year the Lady Eagles had fallen to Ascension Episcopal.
Central Catholic received two of the three individual honors on the All-District 6-V squad following the season as freshman Terre’yan Johnson was named Offensive Most Valuable Player, while Latashia Wise was selected as Coach of the Year.

No. 7 Long excelling in NBA D-League
Morgan City High alum and ex-Louisiana-Lafayette standout Shawn Long has excelled at the high school and college levels.
Now, he’s working his way to the NBA.
After signing a free-agent deal with the Philadelphia 76ers shortly after the NBA Draft, Long went through Samsung NBA Summer League play in Las Vegas with the Sixers where he averaged nine points, three rebounds and one block in 12 minutes per game.
During the NBA preseason, Long played in all seven of the 76ers’ contests and averaged four points and two rebounds in 10 minutes of action.
While the 76ers waived Long in late October, he is playing this season for the squad’s NBA D-League team, the Delaware 87ers, where he has excelled thus far. In 16 games, the 6-foot, 9-inch, 248-pound center has per-game averages of 17.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. He leads the team in all three categories, while he ranks No. 25 in the league in scoring and sixth in rebounds.
The Delaware 87ers are fifth in the Eastern Conference standings and third in the Atlantic Division with an 8-8 mark.

No. 8 CCHS football makes semifinal run
Like any team, Central Catholic entered the 2016 football season forced to replace multiple starters from a year ago due to graduation.
Among those was the school’s most prolific rusher, Stefano Guarisco, who had moved on to play college football at Nicholls State after leading the Eagles’ offense the previous three seasons. Despite a 1-4 start to the season in which the Eagles lost four games by a touchdown or less, Central Catholic regrouped and won seven of its next eight games en route to a co-runner-up finish in District 7-1A play and a Division IV semifinal appearance.
The semifinal appearance was the school’s first since it advanced to the Class 1A state championship game in 1997.
Central Catholic, seeded No. 12 in the postseason, avenged a regular season loss to Lafayette Christian by knocking off the No. 5 seed Knights, 48-28, in the first round before topping No. 4 Westminster Christian, 42-27, in the quarterfinals. The Eagles’ season ended in the Division IV semifinals when it fell to district foe and top-ranked Ascension Episcopal, 31-21. Ascension Episcopal finished the season as the Division IV state runner-up.

No. 9 Area football coaching changes
The Tri-City area experienced two football coaching changes following the 2016 season as Patterson High School’s Marvin Dantzler and Morgan City’s Scott Tregle tendered their resignations. Dantzler resigned following one season on the Patterson sideline after leading the squad to a 3-8 mark and a first-round playoff berth against Marksville.
Dantzler, a Louisiana native, came to Patterson after a decorated career at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he finished with a 33-12 record, including back-to-back Class 6A semifinal appearances in 2014 and 2015.
While Patterson started the 2016 season 0-6, the squad won three of its next four games before being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by Marksville, 51-33.
At Morgan City, Tregle led the Tigers for three years, compiling a 9-21 mark, including a 3-7 record in 2016. The Morgan City High alum had his best season as the Tigers’ head coach
during his second season in 2015 when the Tigers finished 4-6. During that season, the Tigers started the year 4-0.
While Patterson has yet to announce a new football coach , Morgan City has hired Eric Howard to lead the Tigers beginning with the 2017 season. Howard spent the last four years at DeRidder High School, including the 2016 season as defensive coordinator.

No. 10 Patterson basketball advances to 3A quarters
In recent years, the Patterson High School Lumberjack basketball team has run into regional-round road blocks, falling to Parkview Baptist, St. Louis and De La Salle.
In 2016, the team and its then-seniors broke through, advancing to the Class 3A quarterfinals for the first time since back-to-back trips in 2011 and 2012.
Unfortunately, the Lumberjacks’ run ended there when the squad fell to Wossman High School, 65-58, on the road in March.
While the Patterson Lumberjacks started the 2015-16 season with a 1-2 mark, the squad won 20 of its next 22 regular-season games. Including the regular season and the first two rounds of postseason play, the Lumberjacks went on a 15-game winning streak that lasted that approximately two months.
After clinching the District 8-3A title with a perfect 12-0 mark, the Lumberjacks qualified for the postseason as the No. 5 seed. Patterson survived a first-round upset from No. 28 Lutcher when senior Nehemiah Augustus nailed a last-second shot for a 59-56 win. In the regional round, Patterson knocked off No. 12 Green Oaks, 69-62.