A trio of Southwest Louisiana teams drew the top seed in their respective classes Monday when the Louisiana High School Athletic Association released the girls’ basketball playoff brackets.
Defending Class 4A champion LaGrange (22-1) is the top seed once again, two-time state runner up St. Louis (26-1) leads the Division II bracket, and 2020 state runner up Hathaway (20-3) is the favorite in Class B.
The LHSAA Marsh Madness girls state basketball tournament semifinals will be split between two sites because of coronavirus restrictions. Semifinals games will be played at the Southeastern University Center in Hammond and Burton Coliseum. All finals will be played in Hammond.
LaGrange rolled through the playoffs last season, winning by an average of 33.2 points, to win its firstever state championship. The Gators are on a 19-game win streak after losing to Division III No. 1 Lafayette Christian Dec. 3.
The Gators, who return several key players from last year’s team including the 2020 4A state tournament MVP Jeriah Warren, Aasia Sam and Deja Tanks, host No. 32 Beau Chene to open the playoffs.
St. Louis lost to Liberty in the Division II finals the last two seasons and is looking to win its first state championship since 1989.
The Saints host No. 16 Teurlings Catholic in the Division II regional round.
The Saints have won 12 consecutive games led by sophomore Paris Guillory and junior Myca Trail.
Hathaway bowed to 12-time champion Fairview (25-4) in the Class B finals last season but is looking to finish out on top for the first time since 1970 with key talent returning in Chloey Guidry, Lamiya Sanchez and Brea Baca-White. There is a possibility of a rematch in the finals with Fairview on the other side of the bracket at No. 2.
A total of 13 area teams garnered top-10 seeds.
Merryville (24-2), a semifinalist last season, is the No. 2 seed in Class 1A and will get a first-round by along with No. 6 Elton (7-8), the 2019 1A state champ.
In Class 3A, South Beauregard (18-4) is ranked third and after its first title since 2017 and third overall.
Lake Arthur (26-4), the District 6-2A champion, is ranked No. 3 in Class 2A.
Reeves (13-5) is the fourseed in Class B. Jennings (19-7) in Class 3A and Lacassine (17-8) in Class B drew six-seeds.
District 5-2A champion Rosepine (24-6) is the No. 6 seed in Class 2A. The Eagles made their first trip to the state tournament in more than 40 years back in 2018.
Iota (16-7) is seeded eighth in Class 3A.
Merryville, Hathaway, Elton, Fairview, Lacassine and Reeves will get byes in the first round.
There will be three matchups featuring Southwest La. schools. In Class 3A, District 4-3A’s No. 6 Jennings hosts No. 27 Iowa (8-17). In Class 2A, No. 15 Kinder (13-9) hosts rival Welsh (12-18), and in Class 1A, District 4-1A rivals No.15 Oberlin (10-12) and No. 18 East Beauregard (5-14) will meet in the first round.
Other area teams hosting in the first round include No. 13 Washington-Marion (13-6) and No. 16 Westlake (11-8) in Class 3A, Class 1A No. 10 Grand Lake (12-12) and No. 13 Bell City (14-7) in Class B.
Class 2A No. 27 Vinton (8-11) will make its first playoff appearance since 2005 when it travels to No. 6 Franklin.
