Parish basketball tourney begins

By Tom Dodge
Sports Editor
PRAIRIE RONDE – Familar names sit atop the St. Landry Parish basketball tournement seedings.
For the fifth straight year, North Central enters the tournament as the top seed as the Lady Hurricanes have won the last three girls parish titles.
North Central (7-1), the defending Class 1A state champions, earned a first-round bye in the tourney.
The remaining girls’ seeds determined by votes of the coaches are Beau Chene, Eunice, Port Barre, Northwest and Opelousas.
The tournament begins today as the Port Barre Lady Devils face Northwest followed by a clash between the Eunice Lady Cats and Opelousas.
The Beau Chene Lady Gators will face the EHS/OHS winner at 7 p.m. today in the girls semifinal.
“We are playing well right now,” Eunice High head Wayne Fontenot said. “We are improving as the season goes, we just need to take care of business to do well in this tournament.”
North Central will take on the Port Barre/Northwest winner at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the other semifinal.
A loss would put the Lady Cats against either Port Barre or Northwest at 4 p.m. today.
The girls championship game is set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Port Barre Red Devils were selected by the coaches as the boys’ top tourney seed.
Eunice is the No. 2 seed, followed by Opelousas, Northwest, Beau Chene and North Central.
In the 2014 parish tournament championship game, Beau Chene defeated Opelousas High.
Both Port Barre and Eunice have first-round byes.
“The players and coaches are all focused on the same goals, which has allowed some early season success,” Eunice High head coach Chad Andrepont said. “We’re just trying to get better everyday and see how good we can be as a team.”
OHS and North Central opened the boys’ side of the tournament on Wednesday, followed by a battle between Beau Chene and host Northwest.
Eunice plays 4 p.m. Friday in the semifinals against the OHS/North Central winner.
Port Barre will play at 7 p.m. Friday in the other semifinal game against the Beau Chene/Northwest winner.
A Bobcat win advances Eunice to the championship game Saturday at 8 p.m.
A loss forces the Bobcats to face either Port Barre, Northwest or Beau Chene at 5 p.m. Saturday.