Lady Warriors suffer their second loss of the season

Lady Warriors suffer their second loss of the season
The Oakdale Lady Warriors on December 13, 2016, suffered their second loss of the season as they lost a two point game against the Kinder Lady Yellow Jackets 58-56.
"The (game) came down to the last basket, and on this night Kinder made the last one," head coach Ted Fontenot said. "I think we came out and started the game with some good intensity and carried that all the way through the first half. Kinder made a run at the end of the third quarter to tie the game going into the fourth. In the fourth quarter, we played hard but came up short at the end. We made some mistakes during the fourth quarter that cost us the game and Kinder shot the ball well from the outside."
The team collectively shot 40 percent from the field as compared to 36 percent shooting in its first loss of the season against Pineville. Shooting percentage from three point range increased from 14 percent against Pineville to 22 percent against Kinder. One key stat that went down in the loss against Kinder was free throw percentage. Against Pineville the team shot four for six from the charity stripe at a 66 percent clip as compared to going 12 for 29 at a 41 percent clip against Kinder.
Individual scoring leaders against Kinder were Sanaa St. Andre with 22 points and KeMaesha St. Andre with 19 points. Setorie St. Andre led her team in rebounding with seven, and the next highest was Brianna Hargrave with six. Sanaa St. Andre and Setorie St. Andre were each credited with five assists, and on defense Treshunda Joseph and Sanaa St. Andre each recorded three steals.
The two teams met up again three nights later in the Allen Parish Tournament, and this time Oakdale got the win by a score of 59-33. The Lady Warriors then lost 98-44 to the host team Fairview. More information from the tournament will be in next week's paper.

Warriors improve to a 7-4 record on the season

Warriors improve to a 7-4 record on the season
After beating the Montgomery Tigers 71-64 at home on December 8, the Oakdale Warriors dropped back-to-back games on the road in Baton Rouge against Family Christian and in Lake Charles against Lake Charles College Prep before rebounding for a 92-89 overtime win against Kinder at home.
"It's always good when you can beat your rival and especially since they were selected the number one seed in the parish tournament coming up soon," said head coach Dustin Howard. "Kinder is a senior laden well coached basketball team that can really shoot the ball. They came out and handled us in the first half, but our guys never quit believing in each other and responded in a big way."
Sophomore Raymond Guillory scored 36 of his team's points on the night. He shot 11 for 30 from the field at a 37 percent clip including two of eight from behind the arc. He added 12 points from the charity stripe in 17 attempts. "(He) is currently averaging 28.9 points per game, and that ranks him 79th in the nation according to MaxPreps, "Howard said.
Malcolm Pugh was the second highest scorer against Kinder with 25 points at a 45 shooting percentage from the field. He went four for 11 from the three point line and batted three for five on free throws.
"This was a team effort, everyone played their role tonight," said Howard. "Some people got points, some people played great defense, and some rebounded the basketball like they were on a mission. I hope our young team takes away from this game that it takes a great team effort like this to win a game like that, no matter what."
Oakdale then went on to Grant to compete in the Allen Parish Tournament December 15-17. The Warriors defeated Reeves 71-52 in their first game on Thursday. The next night they met Kinder in a rematch and lost 75-52. They then defeated host team Fairview in overtime 62-53 for third place Saturday. "First time Oakdale has beaten Fairview since they won the parish tournament in 2008," Howard said.
More information about the tournament will be in next week's paper.

Warriors unwrap All District Honors

Warriors unwrap All District honors
Christmas came early for Oakdale football as several Warriors unwrapped All District honors in District 3-2A including seniors James Evins and Terrance Holmes who took home first team honors on both sides of the ball.
"All district meetings are tough for coaches because we want all our guys on first team because we know how hard they work," said coach Randall Gordon of Oakdale. "If you don't win district it's harder to get votes. All district is voted on by head coaches in your district, but you can't vote on your own players. So you have to catch the eye of the other head coaches by superior play, attitude, and leadership."
Evins made first team All District at running back and line backer. He "impressed the coaches of the district by how hard he ran the ball and how he made it a chore to tackle him for four quarters and displaying the speed to score from anywhere," said Gordon. "(He) was normally found around the football when the opponent was on offense. He led our football team in tackles and was third in district in tackles."
Taking home first team honors at wide receiver and defensive back was Terrance Holmes, whom his coach described as "able to take over a game by being able to out jump the defense to catch a big pass or the quickness to catch a quick pass." Gordon went on talk about Holmes' defensive play. "(He) was the 'ball hawk' of the defense. When the offense threw a pass they had to contend with Holmes. He was second in district in interceptions."
Joining them on first team defense was junior defensive lineman Jonathan Johnson. "(He) played with energy which made him hard to block for four quarters," Gordon said. "His energy made 'hustle plays' which is tackles for loss, sacks, forced fumbles, fumbled recoveries, and interceptions."
Miliak Hayward and John Ross Williams both garnered second team honors at defensive back and offensive lineman respectively. "Hayward was the versatile guy on defense playing linebacker but also guarded receivers which caught the other coaches eyes," Gordon said. "Williams was the brains behind the operation on the offensive line. He understood what the defense was trying to do and knew what everyone on the offensive line was suppose to be doing."
Coming in at honorable mention were quarterback Slate Jordan, offensive lineman Zach Ross, and linebacker Jalin Russell.

A potential relic returns home to Ville Platte

A potential relic returns home to Ville Platte
 A novena was published in 2006 with ecclesiastical approbation from Bishop of Lafayette Michael Jarrell that begins with the following: "O, God of Goodness, You never tire of sending us examples of Your love. You called Your servant Father Verbis Lafleur to the Priesthood from an early age and kept him in Your sight. In the fulfillment of time, he willingly offered up his life for his God and his country."
 Seventy-two years after his death aboard a prisoner of war ship, Lafleur's chalice that he used daily to consecrate the water and wine into the Blood of Christ has come home to Ville Platte and now rests at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church. The church plans to use it on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and other solemnities.
 Father Tom Voorhies is the pastor at Sacred Heart and explained what is so special about any chalice. "A priest's chalice is kind of like a wedding ring is to a married person," he said. "It's a sign of their commitment. So every priest has his own personal chalice, and as a sign of his ordination which is his marriage to the Church, the Bride of Christ because we stand in for Jesus our Lord."
 Lafleur received his chalice when he was ordained April 2, 1938, at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Lafayette. He was the fourth of eight children born to Valentine Lafleur and Agatha Dupre and received the three Sacraments of Initiation as well as First Confession at Sacred Heart. His family moved to Opelousas when he was 14 years old and became parishoners of St. Landry Church where he celebrated his first solemn mass three days after his ordination. 
 He served as a priest at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville before he felt the call to join the army roughly six months before the United States entered World War II. His first assignment was in Albuquerque, N.M, before being reassigned to Clark Field in the Philippines. The Japanese attacked the field on December 8, 1941, a day after they had bombed Pearl Harbor. Lafleur was eventually captured and became a prisoner of war with stays at Davao and Lasang. 
 More than two years passed by before he along with 700 other prisoners were being transported by ship from an airfield in the jungle to another Japanese occupied island. This ship was struck by an American torpedo and began to sink. Lafleur began pushing his fellow prisoners through the hatch to safety risking his own life as the ship began to sink and perished with the ship September 7, 1944.
 "So apparently he didn't bring his chalice with him when he went to war," said Voorhies while displaying Lafleur's chalice and telling the story on a Friday afternoon inside his office. "So he probably left it with a family member, and then his nephew Wilfred Sylvester became a priest (on May 10, 1952), so he had the chalice."
 Sylvester kept the chalice and then gave it to a seminarian from Illinois named Carl Beekman who came to Eunice after serving in the Marines. Beekman then returned to his home Diocese of Rockford where he was ordained May 20, 2000, and took Lafleur's chalice with him. Voorhies said, "Carl
had stayed with me when he was a seminarian one summer when I was the pastor in Delcambre, and so that's how I knew him." 
 Upon hearing the story of the chalice from Lafleur's nephew Richard Lafleur, Voorhies called Beekman. "I called Carl and talked with him just to reestablish communication with him because we hadn't talked in a long time," Voorhies said. "I think towards the end of that conversation he said like 'What you want me to give that chalice back?' and I said 'No, I'm just calling to say hi and get reacquainted.'"
 Beekman decided to go ahead and send the chalice back to Sacred Heart. "He really felt like he should give it back to the diocese for a possible canonization process," Voorhies said. "It would be a valued piece of memorabilia of Father Verbis' priestly life and a relic if he becomes canonized."
 Voorhies said, "Bishop (Douglas) Deshotel is open to continuing the process, and so things are looking good for his canonization process." 
 He then explained the two processes for Lafleur to become a saint: "The bishop has to open up his own investigation in the Diocese of Lafayette, and once that is completed, then he can present it to Rome. The pope would then have to declare him a person of virtue, then venerable, then beatified. Then you would need a miralce for beatification and then another miracle for canonization. Or if the pope should say that he was a martyr for charity and for the faith, then the pope could dispense with the need for any miracles and just say he's a saint."
 Bishop Jarrell that same year gave his ecclesiastical approbation to publishing a Prayer of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament in honor of Father J. Verbis Lafleur which in part goes, "We ask that the whole Church can know him and be inspired by his priesthood and victim-hood to follow You more intensely in a loving example. May Father Lafleur be declared a 'Servant of God'. May he be Beatified and raised to the Alter of Sainthood."

Vinton and Montgomery boys at Oakdale

Vinton and Montgomery boys at Oakdale
Six games into the season the Oakdale Warriors are poised to eclipse their win total from last season. The team won seven games last season and now have a record of 4-2. "It would be great to have more than seven wins before Christmas break," said head coach Dustin Howard. "We have a shot, but we have work to do."
After winning the first game of the season against Basile, the team suffered a 72-45 loss at Avoyelles Charter in Mansura on December 1. They rebounded the next night in their home opener and garnered a 61-58 win against Lake Charles College Prep. "Crazy home game tonight," said Howard. "Huge win!"
Howard continued, "A game like that shows the progress our young team is already making. Being able to finish a game like that which went down to the wire means we grew up a little, very valuable experience."
A week later the Warriors went 2-1 at home and started the week with a 65-55 win against Vinton in front of a packed house. "The crowd at the Vinton game was amazing," Howard said. "Our student section was great. It really was a great basketball environment."


Brandon Berry provided all the Lions' offense scoring 9 points to begin the game. James Evins scored cutting into the Lion lead, and Guillory then tied it up at 10 and stole the ball away to score for the 12-10 lead. Berry sank another three to quiet the Warrior crowd, but the crowd roared back as Guillory hit a three ball from long range as the clock expired on the opening quarter.
Guillory in the second quarter scored an acrobatic layup giving his team 25 points, then he pushed the lead to nine at 31-22. Vinton went on a 6-2 scoring run coming out the gate of the second half and went on a 6-4 scoring run that has the score 39-34. Oakdale lead 43-39 heading into the last eight minutes of regulation and held on for the win.
"We started the game a little slow defensively, but a good run in the second quarter gave us a little cushion going into half," Howard said. "We came out the second half and took control of the game. We took enough of a lead into the 4th that we were able to withstand a couple of Vinton runs to finish the game."
Two nights later Howard's team picked up a win against the Montgomery Tigers 71-64. "Montgomery was a team that beat us last year at their place, so just like the Vinton game, this was one the players wanted to win," Howard said.
Guillory started the game with an effortless floating three ball from the top of the key, and Malcolm Pugh added back-to-back threes to go up 9-2. Oakdale added six quick points in the waning moments of the first quarter. Pugh scored a three pointer on a fake move to go up 23-15, and Guillory added another three giving his team more separation between them and. Montgomery. At the half the Warriors lead 29-20.
Montgomery matched Oakdale score for score in the early moments of the second half. A voice cries out in the stands "Kyris with the move" as he found his way to the basket for the score. Both teams scored 20 points in the third quarter, and it ended with Oakdale up by nine points at 49-40. Montgomery began the final eight minutes with a basket from beyond the arc, but Oakdale banked three baskets from beyond the arc including two from Josh McDaniel. Montgomery scored a layup as time expired, but Oakdale held on to earn the W by the final score 71-64.

Vinton and Montgomery girls at Oakdale

Vinton and Montgomery girls at Oakdale
Coming off a road trip to begin the season where they won eight of nine games, the Oakale Lady Warriors began there first homestand with wins against Vinton and Montgomery.
Ted Fontenot's team concluded the road trip on December 1 and improved to 8-1 with a 45-23 over Avoyelles Charter. "It was a low scoring game like we expected, but we were able to play together and finish the game for the win," said the Oakdale coach. "Treshunda Joseph had a great defensive game, and KeMaesha St Andre and Sanaa St Andre were the two leading scorers."
The homestand started the following Tuesday night with an overwhelming 64-21 win against Vinton. "Our team played well in our first full home game of the season," said Fontenot. "I think the girls were a little nervous with the big crowd that came out to see us play their support of our girls team, and I hope they continue to come out and give our players a great support."
Two nights later the Lady Warriors took on the Lady Tigers of Montgomery. "Well we knew that they would play well on defense, and it would be tough for us to score," Fontenot said. "I think we came out to a slow start, but once we got some transition baskets from our defense, we got things going in a positive direction. Our defense is really good, and we do a good job of playing together."
Sanaa St. Andre got a steal and converted it for points for the 2-0 lead then drove coast-to-coast for the basket. KeMaesha St. Andre would later get the offensive rebound and put the ball through the hoop as a timeout was called at the 3:14 mark of the first quarter with Oakdale leading 9-0.
Montgomery got on the board with two and half minutes remaining in the quarter before Sanaa St. Andre scored a three pointer to reach double digits on the scoreboard. The first quarter ended with Oakdale leading 12-3. Montgomery then scored on a three-point play after Oakdale missed both free throws for a five point swing. The score at the 5:47 mark of the second quarter was 15-6 in favor of Oakdale as Montgomery was controlling the game on defense.
Oakdale went on a 9-0, and the Lady Warriors controlled the scoreboard at the half leading 25-6. Montgomery scored a three ball from the side of the key making the score 29-9. Sanaa St. Andre nailed back-to-back threes from the top of the key, and Oakdale was up 45-9 after three quarters of play as it held Montgomery to three points every quarter. The visiting team scored six points in the final stanza, but the clock struck midnight on Montgomery as the Oakdale Lady Warriors won 54-16

Oakdale boys at Basile

Oakdale boys at Basile
In his first game coaching boys basketball, Oakdale coach Dustin Howard led his team on the road to Basile and picked up a 73-45 win. "We have plenty things to work on but it's always good to win the season opener," he said. "It's something to build on for sure."
Raymond Guillory in the first quarter banked three three pointers in a row all from the far end of the left key. Basile then got a three pointer of its own at the 3:24 mark of the 1st quarter with the score 13-9 and then tied it up with a ball that plinkoed through the net then before taking the 17-15 lead. The first quarter ended with the score 18-15 in favor of the Bearcats.
It was a defensive beginning to the second quarter before Nick Davis tied it at the 5:20 mark. "We got some help on the boards off the bench with Nick Davis," said his coach. "He is our spark plug right now with his rebounding"

Malcolm Pugh retied the game at 20 as he sank both free throws. The rest of the quarter went back-and-forth, and at the half Oakdale trailed 31-26. "I liked the way we overcame a little adversity in the first half," said Howard. "We came out the second half and executed the game plan defensively and got a few easy buckets and we really got going."
Guillory scored the first points of the second half then Pugh nailed a three to tie the game at 31 at the 5:49 mark of the third quarter. Then on the next possession Oakdale took the two point advantage, and the rout was on. The Warriors held their opponents to four point in quarter number three while scoring 21 points. Howard said of the quarter, "They had some foul trouble early in the third, and we put them away."

Oakdale girls at Basile

Oakdale girls at Basile
Coach Ted Fontenot's basketball team continued its hot start to the season with a commanding 31-point win at Basile as the Lady Warriors won 68-37 and improved to 7-1 closing out the month of November.
"I think (the) game was a challenge for us playing on the road and Basile coming out shooting the ball as well as they did," said a humble Fontenot about his team's performance. "We were down early, and we responded by staying together and we kept fighting through the deficient. That is the sign of a team learning to play together. Alexis Davis gave us some good minutes and scored 18-points by playing hard. Sanaa and KaMesha St Andre had good scoring nights also."
The road team tied the game at 17 at the end of the first quarter on a buzzer beater from Treshunda Joseph. Sanaa St Andre then lead off the second quarter with a three pointer. A scoring run followed on the part of the Lady Warriors before a timeout was called by the Basile coach at the 4:44 mark of the second quarter with his team down 28-17.
Coming out of the timeout, Basile hit a three making it an eight point game then got a layup. Sanaa St Andre then scored on back-to-back baskets to get her team back on track as it ended the first half leading 34-25.
At the end of three quarters of play in Bearcat country, Oakdale led 48-31. Sanaa St Andre got a basket ending about a two minute scoring drought beginning a 6-0 scoring run. Basile called a full timeout at the 4:50 mark down 56-32 and then scored a basket from beyond the arc in a last ditch effort of a losing battle.
Fontenot said after his team got the win, "I think the best is yet to come for our team."