Louisiana Top 25: Week 1 (6-10)
- Bonnabel
Bonnabel is another team coming off a trip to the Final Four, and despite losing a D1 player in Joseph Thompson to South Alabama, they are in the perfect position to make a return visit. The reason for that is due in large part because of their phenomanal backcourt, which for my money is the best in the state. They return their leading scorer from last year in 2018 TJ Collins, who is averaging close to 25 points a game. Right next to him in the backcourt is 2019 Rodney Munson, a transfer who lead De La Salle in scoring during a state title run last season, who is averaging over 20 a game himself. Their only loss this season has been against a very talented Crescent City team that they had beatten earlier in the week. They will be in the Sophie B. Wright tournament this weekend, and are hoping to capture their second tournament title of the early season.
- Bossier
Bossier lost what should have been their best player heading into the season in 2019 Kam Davis, but they don’t look to have missed a beat so far. They are still being lead on the offensive end by 2019 G Jacoby Decker, an absolute mastermind on the offensive end. Despite his size, he is an elite scorer, and there aren’t too many that are capable of stopping him. They are also helped out by 2019 G Kaalas Roots, a deadeye shooter who has getten better with the ball in his hands and getting to the goal. Stepping up in Kam Davis’ abscence has been 2020 Donte Bell, who stands at 6’7 and is poised to be one of the top players of 2020. With his size, length, and athlticism, he is able to defend the rim and yank down boards at a high rate. They were able to take down LCA in overtime, despite LCA hitting a buzzer beater to go into overtime and having all of the momentum heading into the extra period. Their only loss has come at the hands of Natchitotches Central, on of the top teams in the state.
- Peabody
If one thing is for certain this year, it is that Peabody can score the basketball. Through four games so far this season, they have put up over 100 points in three of them. That’s not too bad, especially when you lost a senior last year that made 16 three pointers in a single game, in Cedric Russell at UL. A good portion of that scoring is coming at the hands of a couple of juniors in Kyron Gibson, and Darius Smith, both of whom are as talented as they come for the 2019 class. Their only loss so far this season has been at the hands of Bossier, who has knocked off some talented teams this season. They are going to be participating in the Showdown at the Lake this weekend, and if they walk away with the championship can find themselves near the top of the rankings.
- Rayville
Rayville last season was able to play Madison Prep as tough as anyone outside of Scotlandville when Rayville took Madison Prep on in the state championship game. Last season they were lead by three sophomores. All three of those sophomores return this season for their junior year, including the top player of 2019 Mylik Wilson, as well as his two cousins Ja’Markus Wilson and Ja’Michael Wilson. Mylik has the potential to be a high major D1 player, and I was speaking with a high major D1 coach that was surprised that Mylik doesn’t get more national recognition. Outside of tournaments, they don’t play an incredibly tough schedule, so it is totally within the realm of possibility that Rayville goes undefeated the entire season, as they should be favored in every game that they play.
- Washington Marion
It is going to be tough for Washington Marion to top the heights that they were able to accomplish last season. They walked away last season with the schools first title in exactly 30 years. But they have started the season on a positive note, starting this season 2-0, including a nice 18 point win over a Northside team with talent. They are going to be relying mostly on Michael Thomas for scoring this season, and will need to play with the same defensive intensity that they had last season. They are going to be playing the weekend at the Showdown at the Lake, and if they can compete there, it will go a long ways towards moving up the rankings.