Senior middie Blake Fife registered a game-high five points on three goals and two assists to lead C.E. Byrd to an 8-7 victory over Brother Martin in a Louisiana High School Lacrosse League game Sunday afternoon.

Senior attackman Ben Eldredge and senior middie Chase Hall each added four points to help the Yellow Jackets improve to 5-4. Eldredge had three goals and one assist, and Hall finished with two goals and two assists.

In defeat, senior attackman Walker Kirkikis had a team-high four points on two goals and two assists for Brother Martin, which fell to 6-3. Sophomore middie Donald Davis added three points on two goals and one assist, senior middie Taylor Eilers scored twice and senior attackman Jordan Ramirez finished with a goal and an assist.

Despite the loss, Brother Martin showed how much the gap has closed between it and C.E. Byrd in just one season. Last year, C.E. Byrd beat Brother Martin 15-5 in the state quarterfinals.

Sunday, it didn’t come nearly as easy.

The Yellow Jackets led 2-0 at the end of the first quarter, 5-4 at halftime and 7-5 at the end of the third quarter. C.E. Byrd led by as many as three in the fourth before Brother Martin scored back-to-back goals to pull within one. However, it could not get the equalizer.

“We feel like we’re competitive with the northern teams,” Brother Martin head coach Billy Kirkikis said. “We’re hoping we’ll be able to make some waves come playoff time.”