The Brother Martin bowling team, which won its fourth consecutive state championship, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Greater New Orleans Boys’ Prep Team of the Year for 2021-22. The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Amateur Athletes of the Month and each year’s Hall of Fame class.
Brother Martin extended its record for bowling state championships to six when it captured a fourth consecutive state title on March 31 with a thrilling 17-10 victory over Catholic High in Baton Rouge to complete a perfect 17-0 season. The Crusaders trailed by 150 pins in the final game of the championship match before a furious rally produced a pair of individual wins by one pin and a two-pin edge for the match (3,806-3,804).
“I got up in the seventh or eighth frame and told the guys I don’t know how we are going to do it but we need four points,” coach Bruce Himbert said. “You guys are good enough to do it. Jacob Vangilder was special today. I talked to him before the match and for some reason I thought he was going to be there and he was. He had to strike out.”
Vangilder was the match MVP after eight strikes to close his match. Dylan McDonald led the Crusaders with a 225.5 average for the season. He was one of five bowlers to average better than 200.
The other finalists for Greater New Orleans Boys’ Team of the Year were Archbishop Hannan Basketball, George Washington Carver Basketball and St. Charles Catholic Football. Hannan (27-8) earned its first boys’ state championship with a memorable performance in the LHSAA Division II Championship game as the third-seeded Hawks connected on 81.8 percent of their shots (27-of-33) as in an 81-60 dismantling of top-seeded Liberty, 81-60. After suffering a one-point loss in the LHSAA Class 4A championship game in 2021, Carver left no doubt this year – the top-seeded Rams posted playoff wins by scores of 74-56, 71-42 and 84-35 to reach the state title game where they dominated No. 3 McMain, 66-31. After Hurricane Ida devastated its community in late August, the St. Charles Catholic football program and school family regrouped, galvanized their resolve and rallied around each other – the Comets were perfect through the regular season, then advanced to the Division III state championship game where they upset four-time defending state champion Lafayette Christian, 32-27.
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month - the honors enter their 66th year in 2022. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 100 Hall of Fame players, 51 Hall of Fame coaches and 20 Heisman Trophy winners in its 88-year history. The 89th annual Sugar Bowl Classic is scheduled to be played on Saturday, December 31, 2022. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.2 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.
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