Junior attackman Saban Sellers registered a game-high five points on three goals and two assists to lead St. Thomas More to an 8-4 victory over Brother Martin in a Louisiana High School Lacrosse League semifinal Saturday afternoon at Pan-American Stadium in New Orleans.

Senior attackman Scooter Todd added three points on two goals and one assist, senior middie Chad Becnal had a goal and an assist and junior attackman Michael Leonpacher dished a pair of crucial assists to help the Cougars (13-2) advance to the state championship game for the first time in school history.

St. Thomas More will next face the winner of Saturday afternoon’s C.E. Byrd-New Orleans Jesuit semifinal. In the regular season, the Cougars lost to both the Yellow Jackets and the Blue Jays.

The second-annual Louisiana High School Lacrosse League state championship game will face-off Sunday morning at 11 a.m., CDT, at Pan-American Stadium.

“We’re very excited about playing for a state championship,” St. Thomas More head coach Mike Guidroz said. “We worked really, really hard for a really long team, and the kids earned it. They deserve to be here.”

On Saturday, junior middie Ashton Langlinais and senior attackman Joe Boustany each scored once to round out the offense for St. Thomas More, which has won seven straight games.

Defensively, junior goalie Andrew Broussard saved 14 shots.

Brother Martin led 3-2 at the end of the first quarter before St. Thomas More went on a six-goal run to seal its trip to the title game. The Cougars led 5-3 at halftime, 7-3 at the end of the third quarter and 8-3 after Langlinais scored with 7:25 to play in regulation.

“We did not play good man-to-man defense in the first quarter, and when we switched to zone it helped us,” Guidroz said. “We were less confused and stopped missing our assignments, and it also got our offense going. In the second quarter, we had some good transition goals.”

Brother Martin, which was making its first trip to the state semifinals, finished the season 8-4. Senior attackman Jordan Ramirez finished with a co-team-high three points on two goals and one assist, senior attackman Walker Kirkikis added a co-team-high three points on a goal and two assists and senior middie Taylor Eilers scored once in a losing effort. 

“We played well,” Brother Martin head coach Billy Kikirkis said. “We had a lot of shots on the goal. We just couldn’t put it between the poles. We couldn’t close it out.

“We’re very happy with our season. We’ve improved throughout, and we just fell a little short. It gives us motivation to come back strong next year.”