So. Lafourche hitting its stride on the court

South Lafourche Lady Tarpons’ head coach Corey Callais said he remembers a time when the Tarpon’s gym was only filled with the faint yells of parents and other family members.

His counterpart, boys’ basketball coach Brian Callais, said he remembers when football was the most exciting sport.

But both agree that those times are changing.

In a football-dominated area, basketball has, at times, taken a back seat, at least until now.

For the South Lafourche Tarpons and Lady Tarpons, the change has been evident, and everything points toward the Galliano school becoming more of a basketball school.

While the Bayou Region hasn’t turned many heads on the gridiron, it has certainly established basketball prominence. South Lafourche has experienced the most dramatic change.

With the success of both the boys’ and girls’ programs, that same scantly-packed gymnasium that once greeted its teams has suddenly become filled to capacity with students, faculty, alumni and even the “Blue Notes” basketball band.

A combined record of 28-10 (21-2 boys, 17-8 girls) as of Monday may have had a bit to do with the newfound support.

“It’s very exciting,” Corey Callais said. “The accomplishment the boys and the girls are coming with. There is a giant buzz around this community and we haven’t heard this for a while. Just looking at the gym, it shows.”

“It’s a far cry from playing in a gym of just parents,” he added.

The dominance of the two programs in recent years hasn’t gone without reward. Both teams were district champions last season, and both are on pace to regain that moniker again this season.

Until the Tarpons’ 69-64 loss to the Terrebonne Tigers Friday, they had climbed to fourth in the state rankings.

“We knew playing so well would make it harder and harder as the season went on,” Brian Callais said following the loss. “We have to be up to the challenge in this district.”

This comes after competitive seasons every year for the last six seasons.

Both coaches credit the commitment of their team, and the leadership of their experienced players for the consistent success.

“We feed off of each other,” Brian Callais said. “It’s amazing. We just tell our kids to keep working hard. It’s just a bump in the road for us and we just have to move on.”

“It’s senior leadership and trying to develop the younger players,” Corey Callais said of his team’s focus. “In practice, they are always going against each other. We do a lot of transition stuff, but they are always complementing each other and it’s showing in our play.”

Ellender High was the last local school to sweep district titles. The Patriots and Lady Patriots earned trips to the 2007 state finals. The girls’ team came home victorious.

Neither coach is ready to forecast that kind of success yet, but both said they have the potential to make their respective programs successful.

“It’s a great high school environment here,” Brian Callais said. “This almost feels like a college atmosphere. Things haven’t been like this around here in a while but the kids feed off of it and it really gets them going. We’re going to continue to do what we can to make sure this trend continues.”

Both the South Lafourche Tarpons boys’ and girls’ teams have found great success in recent years. With both coming off of district championships, their coaches believe the city of Galliano is shifting from a football town to a basketball town. * Photo by KYLE CARRIER