Louisiana Top 25: Final Rankings 1-7
The high school season is officially behind us, which means it is time to update our final power rankings for the Top 25. With the playoffs came tons of upsets, and we decided to place a premium in the polls on state champions. Therefore, without further ado, here are you final Top 25. We will be continuing with the highest ranked teams in the state, all ending their season as the state champion in their classification and division.
Ranking | Team | Record |
---|---|---|
1 | Scotlandville | 25-1 |
2 | Sophie B. Wright | 24-3 |
3 | Rayville | 23-5 |
4 | Bossier | 21-3 |
5 | Peabody | 19-3 |
6 | St. Augustine | 23-3 |
7 | Madison Prep | 18-7 |
8 | Thibodaux | 20-2 |
9 | Walker | 19-9 |
10 | Ouachita Parish | 21-5 |
11 | Holy Cross | 21-5 |
12 | Landry-Walker | 13-7 |
13 | Bonnabel | 17-5 |
14 | Jesuit | 22-4 |
15 | Dutchtown | 15-5 |
16 | Catholic BR | 18-5 |
17 | Breaux Bridge | 22-3 |
18 | Woodlawn-Shreve | 20-5 |
19 | Jehovah Jireh | 26-4 |
20 | Dunham | 20-4 |
21 | Country Day | 15-7 |
22 | Ponchatoula | 18-5 |
23 | Wossman | 22-6 |
24 | Lafayette Christian | 20-4 |
25 | Live Oak | 16-7 |
Watchlist | Avoylles Public Charter | 19-2 |
Watchlist | Ville Platte | 19-1 |
Watchlist | Red River | 25-3 |
- Madison Prep
It might have taken to the state championship game against Rayville, but Madison Prep was finally given a game that they had to earn in the state championship. Up to that point, Madison Prep had averaged an incredible 109 point per game. That is simply unheard of. I am glad that at least on team gave them a competition in the playoffs.
- Scotlandville
Listen, if you want to make the case that Scotlandville is the best team in the state, I won’t argue with you. They are the only team in the state that took down Madison Prep, and they won the game when it actually counted towards power points. However, Scotlandville also lost in the regular season, and had a much tougher time in the Top 28 against both McKinley and Brother Martin.
- Peabody
From the last time that we updated the rankings, Peabody has simply been on a roll. They finished the regular season with back to back 100+ point games. Once the playoffs started, they were simply on another level than the teams they played. They won all of their playoff games by an average of 40 points, and the only time the other team was within 20 points of them was in the state championship game against Wossman, a game Peabody won by 19.
- Washington Marion
Washington Marion had as hard of a road to the championship that a top seed could have. They went through three teams on the way to the Top 28 that all have very historic programs, in Leesville, Edna Karr, and Tioga. In the Top 28, they took down two very tough teams this season in Fair Park and Ellender. It will be interesting to see how Washington Marion reloads next season after losing this senior class.
- LCA
LCA ends as the final team in the top 5, but they could have been much higher on this list. Had LSU signee and top 5 player of the 2017 class, Galen Alexander not torn his ACL earlier this season, there might not have been a team in the state with more talent than them. However, with that injury, they were forced to rely more on younger players without much experience. They were still able to get the first state championship in school history, after getting to the Top 28 each of the last four seasons.
- De La Salle
In each of Coach Paul Kelly’s six seasons, De La Salle has gotten exponentially better, and it has finally culminated in a state championship for De La Salle. Their three point shooting barrage mixed with their full court press was a deadly combination, and as a result they were able to win the state championship game by 12 points.
- Landry-Walker
There was little doubt that Landry-Walker had the talent to compete with anyone in the state, so it was very confusing to see them struggle so much during the regular season. However once the playoffs started, they were a completely different team. Because of their 22 seed, they had far and away the toughest road the a championship, defeating an 11 seed, a 6 seed and a 3 seed. They stopped Natchitotches Central from reaching the state championship game for the first time in three years, before taking down both teams in the Top 28 by 10+ points. If they would have played all season the way that they did in the playoffs, they might have been able to compete for the best team in the state.
- Country Day
Country Day is another team that absolutely cruised through the playoffs. Their closest game was in the semifinals against Riverside, and they won by 13, but in reality the game wasn’t that close. Country Day had the perfect combination of size, speed, youth, and experience. They would have been higher on this list if they wouldn’t have had bad losses before the turn of the new year. However, since then, they have only lost one game, a four point loss to LCA on the road.