Playoff Winners and Losers (5A-3A): Round One
The Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) playoffs got off to an exciting start on Friday night. While most of the higher seeds prevailed, a few lower seeds showed that they were the better team. Most north Louisiana schools were successful in their first round match-ups. Here on PHLA, I will review first round finals.
Class 5A – N. LA 1st Rd record 4-1 For an up-to-date bracket, click the following link: https://lhsaaonline.org/MainBracket32.aspx?s=2&y=2018&d=5A
Winners: Natchitoches Central, Ouachita, West Monroe, & Southwood
Losers: Airline
Natchitoches Central and Ouachita opened as the top two seeds and they played as if they were. They dominated their opponents and rolled to easy home victories. West Monroe and Southwood got output from their senior leaders in their wins. Senior Langston Powell (6’4″ wing) had a game high 20 points against Hahnville while senior Yancey Kelly (5’10” guard) notched 15 to lead the Cowboys to victory against Central Lafourche. Airline almost made it a north Louisiana sweep in the opening round. However, they blew a double digit lead to St. Amant and lost by two.
Class 4A – N. LA 1st Rd record 3-7 For an up-to-date bracket, click the following link: https://lhsaaonline.org/MainBracket32.aspx?s=2&y=2018&d=4A
Winners: Bossier, Woodlawn-Shreveport, & Tioga
Losers: West Ouachita, Franklin Parish, Neville, Buckeye, Huntington, Bastrop, BTW-Shreveport
North Louisiana class 4A districts, especially district 2-4A, did not fair well during their opening contests. Bastrop’s loss to McDonogh #35 means that second seeded Bossier has to travel to New Orleans for their second round duel with the Roneagles. Bossier got a big performance Friday from their 5’7″ point guard Jacoby Decker when he scored 39 points. The Bearkats will hope that he remains hot coming into this contest. Other big scorers in their school’s victories were Jalen Brooks (6’5″ wing) 21 points and Tioga’s scoring trio of Roy, Sanders, and Moore. They accounted for 49 of their team’s 67 to secure their win against Assumption. Huntington and BTW-Shreveport were the other teams that traveled to southwest Louisiana and lost during round one.
Class 3A – N. LA 1st Rd record 6-4 For an up-to-date bracket, click the following link: https://lhsaaonline.org/MainBracket32.aspx?s=2&y=2018&d=3A
Winners: Peabody, Madison, Carroll, Richwood, Union Parish, Wossman
Losers: Green Oaks, Bolton, Jena, & Sterlington
Unlike their regional counterparts in district 2-4A, District 2-3A got off to an impressive first round start. The district went 5-1 in round one with Sterlington being the only team that lost. Second ranked Peabody handed the Panthers a 50 point loss. Jena lost their home outing to Donaldsonville while Green Oaks and Bolton lost road tilts. If all north Louisiana teams win next week, they will own five of the eight quarterfinal slots left in 3A which would be a major accomplishment.
The next round will have many great games across the state. If many of the north Louisiana schools continue to have success, they may hoist the state championship trophy at the end of the season. Here at Prep Hoops Louisiana, we will keep our readers informed of which teams are making their way though the brackets round by round. Look for new updates to playoff implications in the days ahead.