Bossier Summer League Preview
The Bossier Summer League hosted by Bossier High will kick off on Monday, June 4th. Games will be played on Mondays during the month of June between 2 PM and 8:30 PM. Teams from the Shreveport, Bossier, and surrounding parishes (mostly from districts 1-5A and 1-4A) will gather and play two games per session. Here on Prep Hoops Louisiana, we will preview the Monday night lineup and players to watch.
Huntington High will open action in two of the first three games on June 4th. The Raiders are coming off of what some would call a sub-par year after their first round, playoff exit. After going through a year where he had to rely on younger talent in key positions, Coach (Mack) Jones now has a group that is a year wiser. Guard Dajerious Jackson and 6’7″ junior big man Kenny Hunter will be the go-to players as Huntington begins work to improve upon last season’s record. They will start off play on Monday with district rival BTW-Shreveport and finish up playing the Knights of North Webster.
The Lions of BTW are coming off a disappointing end to their 2017-18 campaign. They were in prime position to create a three way tie for first place with crucial games in their home gym. When it was all said and done, they lost those games by a combined total of 46 points and were never the same. Even though they made the playoffs, they lost in the first round by 34 points. To shake off that result, they will begin their summer playing district foes Minden and Huntington under new on court leadership. 2019 post Cason Dunlap (6’5″) will lead the team into the summer play as the go-to-guy. He will have support from last year’s starter at point guard, junior PG Herman Key . The play of these two will determine how well BTW-Shreveport regroups and goes about their business this summers.
Coach Chris Bush is taking over the reigns as the new head coach at Captain Shreve high school. He comes with a wealth of experience coaching on the 5A level with previous stops at Natchitoches Central and Ruston. During his most recent stop at Green Oaks, he led them to a district title and a first round playoff venture. Bush will have a stellar sophomore class to work with this season. Guards Marveon Porter (5’10”) and wing Maurice Green (6’2″) played heavy minutes during their freshman campaign and should be ready to take their game to another level. Sophomore Kendall Coleman (6’5″) has looked good during grassroots play and should be ready to anchor the middle for the Gators this summer. They will get two test out the chute as they play state runner up North Caddo and summer host Bossier in the early evening.
Perennial 1-4A power, and summer league host, Bossier will begin Monday’s play with games against Captain Shreve and North Caddo. The Bearkats will be bringing back all of their main offensive threats from their 2017-18 campaign which ended with a stunning lose to McDonogh #35 in the second round. Led by the senior tandem of Kalaas Roots (6’1″) and Jacoby Decker (5’9″), Bossier will not be short on scoring. 2020 post Dante Bell (6’7″) will still anchor the middle while guards Tim King (6’0″) and Cody Dean (5’10”) get acclimated into the Bossier way having a full summer with the team. There should definitely be fireworks when Bossier hits the floor on Monday.
While most teams will be seeing their first action during the summer period, Woodlawn-Shreveport has already played four games. In Neville’s team camp, Woodlawn went 2-2 last week and will be looking to rebound against some of the local competition. They will be tested right out of the summer league gate with a late evening tilt with 5A quarter-finalist Southwood (5A) and Calvary Baptist (Division III). Even though Woodlawn lost six seniors from their state runner up season, they return all state guard Tramichael Moton (6’1″, Sr.) and his little brother Delatrion Moton (6’3″, Soph.). They will have help from bullish post John Mitchell (6’3″, Soph.) and shooting guard Ahmad Green (5’10”) to fill the offensive void left by those lost. There is little doubt that Coach Kenny Sykes will have his team ready for their two games on Monday night.
Speaking of a team that lost seniors, Calvary Baptist will begin summer league play after losing five themselves. Coach Vic Morris will not have the presence of senior stalwarts like “Tank” Davis or Malachi Fitzwater; however, he will have some new blood seeing a lot of minutes this summer. Transfer wing D’Marcus Hall (6’5″, Jr.) and freshman Martin McDowell (5’9″) should add some scoring punch to the Calvary lineup this season as they will see more floor time beginning this summer. Add with them the improvement of incumbents Micah Jernigan (5’10”, Sr.) and 6’4″ junior Cliff Mosley, Calvary should see a slight uptick in pace and scoring. They will need it as they begin their summer schedule with tough games against south Shreveport schools in Woodlawn and Southwood to close play on Monday night.
Another team that knows about losing senior leadership is the Southwood Cowboys. They will be moving into their second summer session with Coach Eddie Hamilton with an abundance of varsity experience absent from their squad. What they will have are three seniors who have seen a wealth of playing time and were vital cogs in their quarterfinal run in class 5A. Senior point guard Bobby Baker (5’7″) and senior wings Rod Stinson (6’3″) and Sadarionne Ellis (6’3″) will lead a super talented and super athletic squad into Monday night’s play against Woodlawn and Calvary. The latter two provided much of the offensive punch during their playoff run and will look to do so this season. If they can get consistent play from sharpshooting forward Kameron Steward (6’4″, Jr.) and ultra talented wing Christian Caldwell (6’6″, Jr.), the Cowboys will be a force in their class.
With the talent of the teams playing, these Monday contest will be must see. June 4th should be the beginning of a good summer for these teams from northwest Louisiana. Look for Prep Hoops Louisiana to be right there to follow the action.
Monday, June 4th Schedule
Huntington vs BTW-S’port (2pm); Minden vs N. Webster (2:40); Huntington vs N. Webster (3:20); Minden vs BTW-S’port (4pm); Captain Shreve vs North Caddo (4:40); Captain Shreve vs Bossier (5:20); North Caddo vs Bossier (6pm); Woodlawn-S’port vs Southwood (6:40); Calvary vs Southwood (7:20); Calvary vs Woodlawn (8pm)