No. 1 Vinton held off a furious second-half rally from No. 9 White Castle Friday evening to punch their first-ever ticket to the LHSAA Marsh Madness boys state basketball tournament with a 57-52 win.

Seniors D.J. Broussard, Jaheim Levias and Keithan Rigmaiden led the Lions (23-5. Broussard had a double-double with 15 points and 18 rebounds, helping the Lions prevent White Castle 6-7 center Damorion Burks from dominating the lane. Levias had 13 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Rigmaiden had 17 points and seven rebounds.

Despite the history win, Vinton didn’t get to celebrate much. As the teams wrapped up the customary postgame handshake, a large brawl broke out on the court that took several minutes to break up and left tension high until fans finally started to disperse.

Vinton will play No. 4 Ferriday in the semifinals.

White Castle trailed by as many as 25 points in the second half but started to chip away at the lead, forcing the Lions to turn the ball over 15 times. The Bulldogs used a 14-4 run in the fourth quarter and cut the Lions’ lead to 51-48 with two minutes left on Jamaal Brown’s 3-pointer.

Vinton used its defensive plan to perfection in the first half. They held White Castle without a field goal for the game’s first six minutes. They held the Bulldogs to 13.3 percent shooting in the first half and lead 29-11 at halftime. The Lions continued to roll early in the third quarter. They led by 25 points twice on a pair of free throws by Broussard and Levias.

Burks finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Non-select

Division I

No. 1 Zachary             78

No. 8 Sulphur             62

Sulphur (30-6). Zachary (26-6).

Division III

No. 2 Red River          71

No. 10 Westlake        59

Westlake (16-9): Jerald Garriet 11, Kevin Rideau 15, Ryan Allen 18, Avan Breaux 12. Red River (26-5): D. Newton 13, J. McDonald 20, C. Stafford 14, M. Smith 12.

Division IV

No. 1 Vinton  57

No. 9 White Castle   51

White Castle (16-15): Javon Woods 11, Shadrack Allen 16, Damorion Burks 10, Vinton (23-5): D.J. Broussard 15. Jaheim Levias 13, Keithan Rigmaiden 17.

Select

Division III

No. 5 Rosepine          65

No. 4 Newman           57

Rosepine (28-3): Hayden Brister 30, Kody Perry-Calhoun 11. Isidore Newman (20-7): R.J. Livingston 17, Pierce Cunningham 10, Sachim Dasa 11.

Division IV

No. 4 Hamilton          67

No. 12 Cedar Creek 48

Cedar Creek (15-10): C. Temple 12, C. Robbins 12, J. Terry 19. Hamilton Christian (18-6).

Class B

No. 1 Lacassine        67

No. 9 Stanley 25

Stanley (20-13). Lacassine (30-1).

Class C

No. 1 Pleasant Hill   69

No. 8 Reeves 38

Reeves (17-14). Pleasant Hill (28-5).