Central Catholic to host Christian Life in first round

Central Catholic and Christian Life may be 13 spots apart in seeding in the Class 1A postseason bracket, but Central Catholic coach Ree Case sees similarities between the teams.
Those similarities range from the youth on their team to the new starters and the offensive and defensive philosophies, said Case, whose No. 10 ranked Eagles will host the No. 23 ranked Crusaders Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Morgan City.
“They’re a young team with some new starters but traditionally, a team that’s won state championships and they’re just really in a tough district,” he said. “Having Madison Prep and Southern Lab in your district is going to make you better just by playing them. (They are) Not a normal team you’d think would be in the 20s as a seed.”
Christian Life enters the postseason with a 13-16 mark. They finished fourth in District 6-1A behind district champion and No. 1 seed Madison Prep, No. 8 seed Southern Lab and No. 25 seed Varnardo, who all defeated the Crusaders in district. The Crusaders finished 2-6 in district play.
Case said Christian Life plays seven to eight guys and has good guards, in addition to a few guys who are in the 6-feet-3 to 6-foot-4 range.
On defense, the Crusaders play zone and man-to-man defense.
Meanwhile, Central Catholic has had a young team this year, starting three sophomores and two juniors.
He said the team’s season has been up and down early but have done better since district play, improving from 3-8 to 14-13 now.
“We played some tough teams early,” Case said. “I think as the season progressed, we’ve gotten better and better.”
Central Catholic’s 1A portion of its schedule has included district contests with Lafayette Christian and a nondistrict contest with Metairie Park Country Day.
The Eagles finished the District 7-1A season as district runner-up to No. 3 seed Lafayette Christian with a 9-3 mark.
As for Friday’s opponent, Case said he thought Christian Life is prepared for this contest with their tough district as well.
“I think we’ve both played really good teams,” Case said. “I think this is going to be a really good game. It’s going to come down to who makes shots and who executes.”