BOBBY ARDOIN
Contributing Writer
Two St. Landry Parish boys’ basketball teams play first round playoff games, as a three other postseason candidates play road contests.
North Central, the top-seeded boys’ team in Class 1A, has a bye this week and awaits the winner of either No. 16 Logansport or 17th-seeded Centerville as a regional round opponent.
The Hurricanes reached the semifinals last year in addition to winning the 2021 parish boys’ championship and the 2022 District 5-1A championship.
Teams That Are Playing First Round Games
Beau Chene, Northwest High, Opelousas, J.S. Clark Leadership Academy and Eunice High qualified for the state divisional playoffs.
Westminster Christian was seeded No. 14 in the Division IV playoffs. The Crusaders were scheduled to play No. 3 Country Day in the regionals Tuesday night.
Northwest and Beau Chene, a pair of district champions, ranked among the top-10 teams in their classifications will play first round home games.
Fifth-seeded Beau Chene hosts No. 28 North Vermilion. The date of the Beau Chene-North Vermilion contest was unavailable when the posting deadline occurred Tuesday afternoon for St. Landry Now.
Meanwhile No. 9 Northwest hosts Mentorship Academy, a 24-th seed on Friday night. The Northwest-Mentorship winner plays either No. 8 Sophie Wright or 25th seed Albany.
Traveling Teams
A strong regular season finish enabled No. 30 Eunice to qualify for the state playoffs. The Bobcats go to New Orleans Thursday night for a game against No. 3 Eleanor McMain.
Also making a first-round road trip on Thursday night is No. 18 Opelousas, which goes to 15th-seeded Terrebonne. The Opelousas-Terrebonne winner meets either No. 2 Edna Karr or No. 11 Northwood-Shreveport.
J.S. Clark plays a familiar opponent on Friday night as the Bulldogs meet District 7-B opponent and 22th-seeded Hathaway. Fairview, the No. 6 team, awaits the Clark-Hathaway winner.
