With three seniors at the helm — Katelynn Wilson, Kylei Leblanc and Cierra Amos — the LaGrange Gators have again emerged as a contender in nonselect Division II.

LaGrange (12-4) has won six consecutive games with a trio of quality wins over Westlake, Barbe and Iowa to rise to the No. 4 spot in the division’s power ratings.

“They play well and they complement each other,” LaGrange head coach Lakeem Holmes said. “Off the court, they have a lot of leadership.

“They are not too full of themselves to clown with our younger girls. They lead well off the court. It is probably one of the better senior groups that I have had in a long time.”

Two of the trio are the last holdovers from the Gators’ 2021 state championship team in Wilson at point guard and Leblanc, a 5-foot-11 small forward. The Gators fell a game shy of the state tournament last season.

“They are battle-tested,” Holmes said. “They are the last group that was on that team that won state. They were freshmen on that team.

“It wasn’t necessary because they played, but they practiced against the Jeriah’s (Warren) and Aasia (Sam). I have a picture on my (social media) page of Jeriah taking Katelynn and Kylei under her wing. I asked Jeriah why she was hanging out with the freshmen, and sometimes kids know what is next. She knew they were kind of going to be the next group to compete. They are talented.

Katelynn and Kylei got a bunch of different (junior college) offers.”

Wilson is normally a shooting guard but had to move over to run the offense. She scored 13 points Tuesday in the Gators’ 58-54 win over Iowa (18-3), which featured the Nos. 4 and 5 team in nonselect Division II.

“On the court, Katelynn has really stepped up a lot with her shooting,” Holmes said. “(Wilson) didn’t hit any threes (Tuesday), but usually she is hitting two or three a night.

“We had another guard that we ended up losing this year, so Katelynn is kind of playing out of position. She is having to run and initiate the offense and be a gunner for us, so it is kind of hard.”

Leblanc and Amos run the Gators’ ‘bully ball’ inside game and combined for 29 points and 25 rebounds.

“One of our core strengths is our inside game,” Holmes said. “Both of our post players play elite style. Whenever we are clicking, we are playing more of a style of bully ball.

“We can go inside and get those kind of possessions.”

Leblanc, who earned second-team Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 4A all-state honors last season, creates matchup problems with her ability to play all over the court, Holmes said.

“With Kylei, it is getting Kylei comfortable handling the ball,” he said. “I think she is an elite post. You are not going to see any fours or fives that can take the ball up the floor, play point sometimes.

“It is just about continuing to get her comfortable. She is so unselfish. Kylei’s uniqueness is that guards really can’t guard her because she is too big for them. Then the post can’t guard her because she will pull you out. When (Iowa) started pressing up, she was able to get the ball and handle the ball against wings and guards.”

Amos stands at 5-5 but is a powerful force in the lane.

“What Cierra gives us down low is that she is so strong,” Holmes said. “It definitely makes us more of an inside-out team. Cierra is probably one of the kids that I am most proud of in the whole program. She didn’t play basketball with us during her freshman year. (Tuesday), she has 12 (points) and 10 (rebounds), and she has been having nights like that often.”

The rest of the Gators’ lineup is young and inexperienced with two sophomores — Ramiyah Thomas and Marleigh Alexis — while junior Dakhia Alfred and sophomore Tiona Harris come off the bench.

“We may seem like an older team, but we lost a lot last year,” Holmes said. “We only return two girls that started the majority of the minutes last year. We try to rely on them. We have been letting our young girls mature around those three. It is just about getting the team comfortable.”

The Gators will be in New Orleans for the next three days for the Sugar Bowl National Prep Classic, looking to improve their play with district and the playoffs approaching.

“We are nowhere near where we want to be come February when we get to district and the playoffs,” Holmes said. “There are a lot of growing pains.

“We are still working on ball handling and handling ball pressure. As we learn the scoring situation, we will be better. Like (Tuesday), we were up 15, and we started leaving people open, pushing the ball when we didn’t need to. As they learn basketball, we will get better.”