Central Catholic’s Lady Eagles win title

Central Catholic made history Saturday as the school earned its first-ever girls’ basketball title with a 67-64 come-from-behind win against North Central Saturday in the Class 1A title game at Burton Coliseum.
“It was just a transcendent moment. It was one of those feelings that you can’t put into words. You just have to experience it for yourself,” said senior player Meo Knight.
The Lady Eagles scored six points in the final 28 seconds, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line combined by Knight and Gee Garrett.
Knight’s two free throws gave Central Catholic a 65-64 lead, while Garrett’s two attempts extended the lead to 67-64.
A game-tying 3-point attempt by North Central’s Jazlyn Robertson bounced in the rim but wouldn’t fall through the net. Central Catholic grabbed the defensive rebound, time ran out and the celebration began.
Central Catholic Principal Vic Bonnaffee said he was proud of the team and the fans who came to support the school Saturday.
“It just shows that there is Eagle pride and Eagle spirit, and I really believe that this is something that will begin to catapult into other championships now that we’ve showed people that we can win it,” Bonnaffee said. “We’ve been so close so many times. Now we have the opportunity to make people know we can do it again.”
Bonnaffee called Randi Brown and Knight “outstanding” and said Brown’s gesture of calling Knight up to join her for a picture after winning the Class 1A Most Outstanding Player award a class move.
“It shows the class of our kids, the teamwork, the spirit that they had,” he said.
Brown said, “It just felt amazing to do it with the group of girls that we did it with because we’ve been together for at least the past three years. It was good to finally do that together, especially before our four seniors leave to go to college.”
Bonnaffee also thanked senior Gee Garrett for coming out to play again this year after not playing as a junior and commended senior Anastasia Johnson, who he said had a big basket following an offensive rebound that extended the Central Catholic lead to 43-39 in the third quarter in a back and forth game.
Assistant Coach Joe Jones said it is a good feeling for the girls and the school to win a state championship.
“We played hard, we got behind and they wanted to win and (had) the will to win,” Jones said. “When you got the will to win, you’re going to win.”
Bryson Barbier, a Central Catholic senior and player on the school’s baseball team, said he’s been a big fan of the team since their sophomore year.
“Just seeing these girls grow and watching them play has been exciting. It’s been a joy. We really know all the hard work these girls have put in to get to this point, and it was exciting to go and watch and see these girls play to that potential. We knew they could do it. We were there with them all the way. We had no doubt,” Barbier said.
Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi, an alum of the school, expressed his pride in the team this morning as well.
“We’re very proud Central Catholic represented us all season with class. They went down and got the state championship. … The City of Morgan City will definitely do its part to honor them for such a big accomplishment,” Grizzaffi said.