LAPLACE — While, for some, the Christmas and New Year’s holidays are a time to kick back and relax, for the St. Charles Catholic basketball teams it’s been a time to go to work.

Both sets of Comets spent this week honing their skills against solid competition in a pair of tournaments. The St. Charles girls went 2-1 and advanced to the finals of the Hannan Hustle Tournament in Covington.

On Monday the Lady Comets defeated Pearl River 44-22. Lela Hill led the team with 18 points. On Tuesday St. Charles won an overtime thriller, beating Hannan, 52-48. Hill again led the team in scoring with 30 points. Pylar Zeringue and Caroline Julian finished with 7 points each. The Comets lost to French Settlement on Wednesday, 47-31. Hill finished with 12 points in that game.

St. Charles is now 14-4 heading into next week. The Comets will host East St. John on Wednesday.

The St. Charles boys team travelled a little farther to compete in the UMS-Wright Christmas Classic Tournament in Mobile, Ala. Comets head coach Kemper Todd once coached at UMS-Wright, leading the Eagles to a state championship.

On Monday, the Comets handily defeated Chickasaw High School, 60-39. Jordan Arceneaux led the scoring with 25 points. Tommy Charles and Jobe Kelly scored 10 points each.

On Tuesday the team lost a heart-breaker to St. Paul’s Episcopal of Mobile, 41-38., when Saints eighth grader Jordan Ingram hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining in the game. Kelly was the lone scorer in double figures for the Comets with 17.

St. Charles closed out its road trip with a 53-33 loss to Hancock County (Miss.) on Wednesday. Kelley and Arceneaux each scored 10 points in that game. Kelly was named to the All-Tournament team.

“I’ve really been surprised with how well we’ve done,” Todd said. “We’ve been competing very well. Though we lost (Tuesday night), it was tough, but I think if we were further along in the program, that’s a game we would have won. We made just enough mistakes down the stretch to lose. And, honestly, one of the greatest signs is how badly the kids felt after. They’re really caring.”

Todd said the homecoming trip was “an incredible joy” for him, personally.

“It’s been a real pleasure,” he said. “I can’t tell you the number of players and parents and coaches that I got to reminisce with. Two of my former assistants have teams here. I guess that’s one of the perks of coaching as long as I have.”

The Comets (6-8) return home to host Ascension Christian at 2:15 p.m. today

Riverside Academy continued its winning ways this week, taking a 70-57 victory Tuesday over East St. John to capture the Holy Cross Tony Rodi Christmas Classic Tournament for the second year in a row.  It was the Rebels’ (7-3) second tournament win in two weeks.

Riverside won the Country Day Tournament on Dec. 22.

Herb McGee led the scoring against ESJ with 26 points and was named the Tournament MVP. Jared Butler scored 18 in the championship game and Malik Crowfield scored 12. East St. John  (7-8) got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Troy Green.