Sports Report February 6, 2024

For information on membership, sponsorships, spirit items, digital tickets, VSN subscription, and more, please click here.

Many thanks to the following Green N White Club corporate sponsors for their support this year:

Bollinger Shipyards

LaFleur & Laborde

Tulane Doctors

--------------------------------

The Chloe

CMS's Services LLC

Dawn Services

First Horizon Bank

Landry & Swarr LLC, Attorney-at-Law

Manning Passing Academy

Ashley and J.T. Nesser

Taceaux Loceaux

Walker & Dunlop

Woodward Design+Build

--------------------------------

Auto-Chlor, Bayou Hot Wings,

C. Collection, Betsy and Gary Laborde,

Marquette Transportation, Midway Pizza,

K. Miller Gem and Jewelry Brokerage,

Moses Engineering, NOLA Chill, Seatrax,

Stretch Zone, tasc Performance,

Vendisco Culinary Services, Villere & Co.

-------------------------------

Black Bay Energy Capital,

The Chicory House | The Garden District Book Shop,

Deirdre and Hal Moffett, Entablature - Design/Build,

Amy Farnsworth Designs, Lovell and Company

Boys Basketball

In the first game of the week, Newman Varsity boys hosted Liberty Magnet High School of Baton Rouge. Last year, in a tough away game, Newman suffered a one-point loss to a tough Liberty Team. From the start, this game was a very physical game and scoring was not an easy task. Liberty Magnet could not match our size, so they used their quickness to pressure the ball and create several turnovers. Liberty also shot the three ball at a high percentage throughout the game. Newman used the size advantage of senior Todd Jones and junior Chris Cenac to create defensive mismatches resulting in paint scoring opportunities. Also, credit to Newman’s defense on the perimeter for slowing down Liberty in key points of the game which helped to seal our victory in a tight game. Todd Jones Jr -  16pts 10 rebounds, Chris Cenac Jr - 16pts, 16 rebounds. Final score Newman 53, Liberty 51. 

Newman hosted Terrebonne High School in a Thursday night home game in the Palestra. We also celebrated four seniors and their families who have been dedicated to the Newman boys basketball program for several years. The Newman Boys basketball program will always be thankful for your time, effort, leadership and teamwork in helping to build our program to a championship level. THANK YOU, SENIORS!!! Todd Jones Jr, Felipe Suazo, Isaiah Grant, and Brittin Jean Jacques. The Greenies started the game slow with the excitement of the senior night and Terrebonne took advantage of the opportunity to get in an early rhythm scoring the ball against the Greenies.  Newman shooting was off in the first half with only 10 of 34 shots made but they used the halftime break to lock in. Terrebonne was in the lead at halftime, 26 - 22. Coming out of halftime, the Greenies went on a 19 to 0 point taking complete control of the game. Taden Langdon, Chris Birden Jr, and Randy Livingston Jr increased the lead with a series of three-point shots. Newman never looked back from that point until the final buzzer. It was a fun night for our team, our seniors and home crowd fans. Our seniors were able to finish the regular season home game with the win. Final score - Newman 68, Terrebonne 53.

Girls Basketball

The Newman Girls basketball team played in the district tournament this week. The semifinal game was vs Country Day. Newman girls won easily led by Anaya Yanusah. The district finals followed vs St Mary’s Academy on Friday night. The result was a heart breaking loss at the buzzer.

After the game awards were given for our district. Anaya Yanusah was crowned the district MVP. Additionally Sanaa Bean was awarded 1st team all district. Talia Parnes and Madison Williams we’re awarded 2nd team all district. Finally Maddie Hebert was voted Honorable Mention all district. Congrats to all our award winners. 

Monday February 5th was senior night at the Palaestra. Congrats to our 5 seniors:  Gaby Cousan, Talia Parnes, Camille McCann, Maddie Hebert, and Anaya Yanusah. Next was our fantastic senior ceremony. The highlight was a visit by 3 Zulu , Mardi Gras dancers . Their awesome performance brought all attendees at the Palaestra to our feet and cheering and dancing ensued. It was a great New Orleans celebration for our seniors.

After our celebration Newman vs Cabrini followed. It was televised on VSN. The first quarter was back and forth with Anaya Yanusah scoring to get the greenies going. Camille McCann followed with a great rebound and basket to add to our lead. At the end of the first quarter the score was tied 10-10. But the Greenies defense showed up in the second quarter and Yanusah and Sanaa Bean added baskets to help the greenies take a lead. Great steals by both Jessica Taranto and Maddie Hebert led the Greenies to quick transition baskets. By halftime the Greenies were up 18-11. After halftime the offense got hot with Bean and Yanusah each scoring frequently. Hebert also added a basket. The defensive intensity continued and by the end of the 3rd the greenies had taken a 36-20 lead. In the fourth quarter Maggie Richardson and Taranto each added 2 free throws and the greenies closed it out with a final score of 46-25. Yanusah led the team with 19 and Bean finished with 17. Senior Maddie Hebert finished with 4 pts but also had 4 steals, 3 assists and many rebounds. Senior Camille McCann finished with 2 pts, 3 assists and 5 rebounds. 

The next game is Wednesday at Ben Franklin at 5 pm. Please join us as we play our last game of the regular season and soon after we will begin our playoff run. Our schedule will follow once it’s announced. Go Greenies!

Boys Lacrosse

The Greenies kicked off the first varsity lacrosse contest of their 2024 regular season with a dominating 10-5 win over the Lower Alabama Bayhawks on Saturday, February 3^rd at Lupin Field.

Newman Lacrosse struck first, struck quickly, and its balanced offensive attack throughout the game saw contributions from several of its seasoned upperclassmen, with goals from Junior William Mahfouz (2) (including the first goal of the season), Senior Heid Manning (2), Junior Eli Friend (3) and Junior Max Kukuy (3). On the other side of the ball, the Greenies showed glimpses of mid-season form, with Junior Patrick Landry and Senior McCall Engelhardt quarterbacking a surprisingly disciplined defense for only the first game on the season. Patrick was everywhere on the defensive end with 3 ground balls and 2 forced turnovers, and McCall set up a wall in the cage, saving 14 shots and allowing only 2 goals by the Bayhawks while the starting defensive unit was in the game for the Greenies. Coach Aaron Burns noted “…the coaching staff was very impressed with the decision making, patience, and ball movement for the first game of the season.”

Senior Goalie McCall Engelhardt was also named the LHSLL East District Defensive Player of the Week for Week 1.

After Mardi Gras, the Greenies travel up north to Shreveport to visit Caddo Magnet (Friday, 2/16 at 6:00pm) and C.E. Byrd (Saturday, 2/17 at 11:00 am).  These games will be a step-up in competition, including against a returning 2023 playoff team in Byrd. Wish the Greenies luck on their 2024 ‘Red River Run.’

Lacrosse Fact of the Week: Lacrosse was an Olympic sport in 1904 (St. Louis) and again in 1908 (London), was featured as a demonstration sport at three additional Olympic Games in 1928, 1932 and 1948, and will return as a full medal sport at the 2028 games in Los Angeles.

Boys Soccer

The Newman boys (12-3-2) finished the regular season as the #5 team in the power rankings and drew Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy (7-14-0), the #28 seed from Youngsville, in a first round home playoff match on Thursday (2/1).  For a lower seed, the Eagles were uncharacteristically organized and enthusiastic, successfully employing a high defensive line and an agile sweeper keeper that kept the Greenies’ attackers offside and off-balance much of the match.  In the 5th minute, however, after a long ball from Alex Dulitz, left winger Rylan Claverie intercepted an attempted clearance with his head and was able to recover and finish from the top of the area for the first goal of the night.  In the 9th minute, George Villere ran past two defenders before passing the ball over to Claverie for his second goal.  Minutes later, Luke Mobley’s through ball found Amar Walia running in from his midfield position, and his near-post finish made it 3-0.  The Eagles settled down for a bit, but right before halftime, a shot on goal from Veer Walia was blocked by the keeper and Claverie was there to bury it for the postseason hat trick.  A perfectly timed give-and-go by Villere and Claverie through the defenders’ back line gave Claverie a chance to skip around the onrushing keeper and flick in the finish for his fourth goal of the match.  

In the second half, Villere was able to score two goals of his own from nice assists by Mobley and Claverie. Finally, in the 62nd minute, after Claverie was fouled on a run in the box, junior Jackson Burns stepped to the mark and buried the penalty kick to make it 8-0.  With the maximum goal differential achieved, the match ended early and the Greenies moved on to the second round.

On Wednesday (2/7) at 7pm, the boys will play their next playoff game away in Slidell against the 21st seed, Pope John Paul II Catholic High School (7-10-4), on VSN. Although the Greenies are the higher seed, they will be the away team due to LHSAA’s travel equity rule for second round games.  Stay tuned for additional playoff game dates and times, with the online playoff brackets here.     

Girls Soccer

The Newman girls (12-4-2), entered the postseason as the #3 seed in Division IV, and played their first-round matchup at home on Thursday (2/1) against Ferriday’s Delta Charter School (5-11-1), the 30th seed.  Claire Charpentier, making a special start at striker, led off the scoring in the 4th minute.  A few minutes later, a Hannah Plaisance free kick deflected off a Storm defender for an own goal that doubled the lead.  Midfielder Catherine Lapeyre quickly added two more goals, and Maggie Mills navigated through a low pressure front of Storm defenders to make it 5-0.  Markie Batten proceeded to make it rain from the right wing and Avery Summerour shined with a right footer from 25 yards out.  After Katie Gershanik scored the eighth goal in the 29th minute, the Greenies were content to keep possession and retire at halftime per the maximum goal differential rule.

Earlier tonight (Tuesday, February 6) at 6pm, the girls got a huge second round playoff win, 5-0, at home on VSN against Calvary Baptist Academy (Shreveport) (10-6-1), the 14th seed. Look for a full update on this exciting victory in next week’s Green N White Club Sports Report, and stay tuned for more details on the matchup for the next round of the playoffs. Go Greenies!

Upcoming Schedule

See the latest Newman sports schedule here. 

Thank you for supporting Newman athletics, its teams, players, coaches, and administration!