Class A, B, and C will begin the second season according to many around the horn. District 1-A will boast 6 of the 9 teams in the district will head to the next round. Doyline and Saline will be the representatives for District 1-B. Both teams from District 1-C will make a playoff appearance in the 16-team Class C Playoffs. Lincoln Prep and Doyline both received first-round byes. From District 1-A, only Plain Dealing will have to travel in the first round. Here is a recap of the first rounds. Division IV and Class C will be first-round of sixteen.
CLASS A
No. 4 Lincoln Prep (21-9), Bye
The Grambling-based Panthers will get to sit back on the first round and wait for the winner of the No. 13 Homer and No. 20 Sicily Island. The Panthers are rolling into the playoffs on a three-game winning streak.
No. 12 Arcadia (9-16) vs No. 21 Oberlin (6-13) ; Friday @ 6:30 pm
The defending state champion Arcadia Hornets begin their quest to defend their title starting at home against Oberlin. The Hornets have been shaky towards the end of the season trading wins and losses. Oberlin finished the season. Dropping their last two games.
No. 13 Homer (6-11) v. No. 20 Sicily Island (7-18); Friday @ 6 pm
The Pels have gotten some “W”s against some of the local playoff teams. The late start due to the football state championship put Homer behind about three weeks from everyone else. Five of their six wins have happened in 2021. They are 6-3 when scoring more than 60 points in a game. A win by the Pelicans will be a district rematch with Lincoln Prep. Sicily Island was 3-2 in February.
No. 14 Ringgold (12-17) v. No. 19 West St. John (8-16); Friday @ 6 pm
Ringgold had a tough February going 1-4 in their final five games. What you miss though is that they had some big names in those final five games. Class 2A No. 9 Jonesboro Hodge (17-6) and Division IV No. 2 Calvary (21-7). Ringgold also has been deadly in the playoffs in the past. Last year they knocked out No. 2 Elton in the second round last year and fell in overtime to Northwood-Lena. A win by the Redskins and they will get a rematch with Northwood-Lena. West St. John has lost their last eight games.
No. 22 Plain Dealing (4-19) at No. 11 Block (11-13) ; Friday @ 6 pm
The Lions made two crucial wins at the end of the season that bumped them into the 24-team field. A big win over Arcadia in the week before last and another win over Glenbrook doubled the win total for the year. Will the magic at the end of the season continue into the first round of the playoffs? Block has won their last four out of five games.
CLASS B
No. 5 Doyline (28-2), Bye
The five-time district champs pushed their way up to a No. 5 seed with some late wins over some quality Choudrant and Saline teams last week. The Panthers will have to wait for the winner of Bell City and Elizabeth. The Panthers could cause some damage and look to get back down to Lake Charles for Marsh Madness.
No. 9 Saline (16-18) v. No. 24 Converse (11-23); Friday @ 6 pm
The Bobcats will make one more tour through the Class B playoffs as they will move to Class C next year. Saline finished as the District 1-B runner-up but gave them a run for the Panthers to earn the district title. Saline is a team that could be dangerous through the playoffs if their trio of Ethan Roberts, Titus Malone, and Titus Jackson get hot. Converse plays in the torturous District 4-B along with Zwolle, Florein, and Stanley.
CLASS C
No. 2 Gibsland-Coleman (17-7) v. No. 15 Kilbourne (13-18) ; Friday @ 6 pm
The Bulldogs have only played two games in the past month. They will be well-rested but may show some signs of rust being on the bench so long. The Kilbourne games should be a good warmup for a good playoff run. The Bulldogs have not pulled back from some tough opponents as they have faced such top five teams as Simsboro, Calvary, and Ruston. Kilbourne has lost the last four out of five games.
No. 11 Summerfield (12-19) at No. 6 Phoenix (14-15) : Friday @ 5 pm
The Rebels struggled with some COVID issues at the end of the season and some of those losses are attributed to that issue. Summerfield will have to make the longest trip of any of the local teams as they will have to travel down to Plaquemines Parish to face the Phoenix Spartans. Phoenix has lost the last 4 out of 5 games.
DIVISION IV
No. 2 Calvary Baptist (21-7) v. No. 15 Cedar Creek (12-16) ; Wednesday @ 7:30
The Cavaliers are looking to make a third trip to a Division IV State Championship. Hopefully, this time third time will be a charm. The Cavaliers are going in with a lot of momentum by sweeping the District 1-A schedule and getting big wins over Scotlandville and Bossier.
Stay tuned to Under The Radar-NWLA for updates about the LHSAA Boys playoffs.
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