NATCHEZ &045; As if the friendly, yet sometimes volatile, rivalry between Cathedral at St. Aloysius needed another sprinkling of Tony Chachere’s.

The two parochial schools, separated by less than 70 miles, duked it all season against one another in the sports realm as district foes.

When it came time for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger to award its annual All-Sports awards for each Mississippi High School Activities Association class, the 1A crown went to the Greenies, who scored 169 points to the Flashes’ 149.

&uot;(St. Al) won it last year, and everybody knows there’s always been a big rivalry between us, so it does make it sweeter,&uot; Cathedral athletic director Roy Garcia said. &uot;They’re normally super in track and I commend them on being so good.&uot;

Cathedral’s first state baseball championship since 1995 and runner-up finishes in both tennis and golf were the high high marks for the school that logged points in nine different sports, more than any other

school.

Of the top 20 schools in 1A, four Catholic schools &045; Cathedral, St. Al, Resurrection (fifth) and Greenville-St. Joseph (17th) &045; finished in the top 20.

&uot;All the Catholic schools did well,&uot; Garcia said. &uot;You can tell we’re all driven on competition and academics, and everybody works so hard to be excellent in everything.&uot;

While Garcia had plenty of success to hang his hat on, including a revamped Green Wave football attack that made it back to the playoffs since 1999, his greatest joy was the progress of the boys basketball team.

Bobby Holder’s bunch played admirably during the regular season but kicked it up a notch when it hosted the Region 7-1A tournament.

The Greenies made it all the way to the finals &045; thus qualifying for the Class 1A playoffs &045; before losing to Bogue Chitto.

&uot;This was a culmination of a lot of hard work and togetherness, especially for the student-athletes,&uot; Garcia said. &uot;I’ve been here 36 years, and this has to be the greatest sports season we’ve ever had.&uot;