The Road to Marsh Madness: North LA Round 2 Preview

The Road to Marsh Madness saw some twist and turns during the first round on Friday. While most of the teams from north Louisiana who were expected to win did, there were still some first round casualities. As we move into the second round (or round of 16), we will look at the northern teams still in the fray. If things hold true within the brackets, there will be a large contingent of north Louisiana schools in the quarterfinals. 5A - 3A schools Even though the larger classifications usually have the smallest numbers of northern schools, four or more schools made it to the second round in each top classification. In class 5A, four schools made it to the 2nd round. Unfortunately, all four of them play one another. On Tuesday, #8 Southwood (the lone 1-5A school remaining) will host # 9 Natchitoches Central for the 2nd time this season. They both won on each other's floor so this winner-take-all contest should be very interesting. Meanwhile, down I-20 east, #18 West Monroe will play district foe #2 Ouachita. The Lions won both in-season match-ups handily. This one probably will be no different. In each contest, guard/wing play will be at a premium. Wings Rod Stinson (Southwood, 6'3, 2019) and CJ Carpenter (NCHS, 6'3, 2019) will be featured in the SHS-NCHS game. Point guards Brandon Jackson (West Monroe, 6'1", 2019) and Paul King (Ouachita, 5'10", 2019) will duke it out in the WMHS-OHS contest. In class 4A, four of the five teams representing north Louisiana are on the top of the bracket. #1 Bossier, #9 Franklin Parish, #12 Huntington, and #4 Woodlawn can all potentially meet each other in the quarterfinals. The Raiders probably have the toughest second round task as they have to travel and place defending champ, and five-seed, Carencro. The big man match-up will be one to see as 6'8" sophomore Joe Charles and 6'8" junior Kenny Hunter battle it out. If Woodlawn survives their trip to Livonia, a rematch with Carencro, at home, will be an enticing one. Class 3A sees representation from three different districts in the second round. 2-3A, one of the tougher districts in the state, has three teams. #3 Wossman and #8 Carroll hosts home games in the second round while # 11 Madison travels to play #6 Lake Charles College Prep. #2 seed Peabody ran roughshot over their first round opponent and will look to do the same against #15 Patterson. District 1-3A co-champs, and 12th seed, Green Oaks will travel down the highway to #5 Abbeville. Division II #2 Loyola College Prep is primed for a run to Lake Charles as they begin play on Tuesday against #15 Parkview Baptist. Peabody and Wossman are the head of the class here and have an impending showdown if they both make it to Marsh Madness in Lake Charles. 2A - Class C schools #1 Rayville leads the five school contingency from north Louisiana in the second round of class 2A. North Louisiana actually occupies three of the top five positions with #2 Red River and #5 Lakeview holding those positions. They will have to travel in round 2 as lower seeded teams #21 Capitol and #18 Jeanerette won their first round contest. #10 Many and #11 Delhi Charter are the other north Louisiana representatives in round two. They will have to pick up road victories if they want to advance deeper into the playoffs. In Division III, #5 Holy Savior Menard has already advanced to the quarters while #6 Calvary Baptist will be looking to do the same. Class 2A might have the most representation of any class in reference to north Louisiana schools making the quarterfinals. Eight schools are from north Louisiana in the second round of the class 1A playoffs. #4 Delhi has already secured a spot in the quarterfinals with their win over #13 Elton. They await the winner of the rivalry game between #5 Lincoln Prep and #12 Arcadia. Just down the road in Homer, the 18th ranked Pelicans host #2 North Central Hurricanes. The Canes have played stiff competition all season but I am not sure they have played in an environment like the one they will see on Tuesday night. #7 Logansport and 2018 semifinalist, #6 Tensas, will host visitors from down south in round two match-ups. If Tensas is to meet #1 White Castle for the 3rd time in the playoffs, they will have to pull some upsets. The only way they meet White Castle again would be in the championship game. LaDamien Bradford (6'5, 2020) and #3 Jonesboro-Hodge hosts #14 Plain Dealing in another I-20 contest. Needless to say, 1A has plenty of action up and down the I-20 corridor. Division IV has another four 1A teams playing led by #5 St. Mary's. The 2018 state runner-ups are looking to make it back to Lake Charles and will play #12 Houma Christian at 6 pm. #13 Ouachita Christian, #19 St. Fredrick's, and #15 Cedar Creek will all be on the road. If none of them are successful, St. Mary's will be the only north Louisiana team left in Division IV. Classes B and C combine for fifteen schools in the second round of the playoffs. Class C #1 Summerfield has already taken care of Grand Isle and made it to the quarterfinals. They will be joined possibly by the #8 Epps-#9 Ebarb winner. #12 Calvin will also look to be in the quarters to face the winner of the #4 Atlanta-#13 Gibsland-Coleman match-up. On the bottom half of the draw #3 Pleasant Hill and #6 Saline will look to move into the quarterfinals as well. Pleasant Hill has a very good chance to return to Lake Charles this year is they host a quarterfinal game. Class B, like class 5A, has some repeat contest in round two. #1 Zwolle will play #17 Choudrant again while #2 Simsboro will have a repeat occurrence with #15 Negreet at home. #5 Doyline will play #12 Quitman at home in another repeat match-up. #4 Weston is the only team that will face someone not from north Louisiana as they host #13 Holden. Look for the top five to play in the quarterfinals with a birth in Lake Charles on the line. North Louisiana will have plenty of action going on from border to border. Even at the class B and C level, north Louisiana has quality basketball talent in abundance. I look forward to the Tuesday night action to see who makes it to the quarterfinals.