LaGrange, Westlake, Bell City take home runner-up trophies

Published 11:42 am Sunday, March 8, 2026

Three Calcasieu parish girls basketball teams – LaGrange, Westlake and Bell City –  reached the finals at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association state tournament in Hammond, but each saw its state championship hopes dashed last week.

Non-select Division II No. 2 LaGrange (29-5) was trying to win its first state championship since back-to-back titles in 2020 and ’21 but couldn’t overcome a disastrous start on Saturday and lost to state champion No. 4 Wossman (21-8), who won its fifth consecutive state championship, 50-39.

LaGrange didn’t make a field goal in the first quarter and fell behind 16-1. But the Gators did battle back and went on an 8-0 to close the third quarter and cut the Wildcats’ lead to 34-30.

Sophomore point guard Kayla Harding led LaGrange with 13 points and six rebounds, while senior Marleigh Alexis added 12 points and five rebounds.

Westlake historic season ended with a 44-36 loss to No. 1 French Settlement (32-3) in the Non-select finals on Friday. It was the fourth consecutive year the teams met in the playoffs and the Lions first win over the Rams.

The Rams (21-6) have never played in a state championship before but managed to pull ahead 11-8 on junior guard Ivy Broussard’s three-pointer with 11 seconds left in the first quarter. Westlake led 15-8 in their second quarter, but prolonged cooled shooting spells plagued the Rams. They made just one field goal in the final six minutes of the first half and trailed 22-18. They had a scoreless streak of four plus minutes in the third quarter and had a six-minute span without a field goal in the fourth quarter.

Westlake freshman Laila Rousell had nine points, seven rebounds, and three blocks, while Wilrye added nine points, seven steals, and three assists.

Class B No. 1 Bell City suffered the biggest heartbreak out of the group. They lost in the final for the second consecutive season. This time by one point to No. 2 Pitkin, 51-50, on Friday.

Bell City (26-3) trailed 42-36 with six minutes, 35 seconds left in the game and managed to pull even with the Tigers with a 9-3 three run. Klancie Hebert (11 pts) made a pair of free throws with three minutes, 19 seconds left to tie the game at 45-45.

With 6.5 seconds left, Peyton Herpin, who led the Bruins with 21 points and eight rebounds, grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled with a chance to tie the game, but made 1 of 2 free throws. It looked like Pitkin had knocked the ball out of bounds on the miss, but officials awarded the ball to the Tigers, who ran out the finals seconds.