Five young South La. standouts 2027 and beyond late in the season

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Louisiana has a strong wave of young talent — in multiple sports — on the rise, and several basketball prospects for the 2027 recruiting cycles and beyond have already started to play notable roles for good programs in their respective classifications.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are notes on five young starters — three freshmen, an eighth-grader and seventh-grader — Prep Redzone Louisiana had the opportunity to catch during recent south Louisiana scouting stops. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Torrey Beaulieu Jr. — 5-3 G — Family Christian (2029)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The small, quick point guard was not only a bright spot, but a leader for his undermanned Flames in a tough matchup against higher-classification Teurlings Catholic. "T.J." grew up around the game at a high level as the son of a former area standout and longtime assistant coach and plays with the intelligence, confidence and poise that comes with that pedigree and experience. The younger Beaulieu racked up steals against the older, bigger Rebels and navigated their pressure defense the other direction to consistently find his teammates in prime scoring opportunities before eventually finding his own for a team-high 12 points after halftime. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Skyler Garrison — 6-4 F — Family Christian (2028)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Beaulieu's frontcourt running mate provided the Flames' interior presence with nine points and six rebounds as one of the biggest players on the court, but showed some ball-handling ability to help the guards navigate the Teurlings press and finish with three assists of his own. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2421118' first='Elijah' last='Haven'] — 6-4 G — Dunham (2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the state's top 2027 prospects in both football and basketball, coach Chad Myers said he has worked with Haven to be more assertive at his young age. And the standout quarterback and guard rose to that challenge in the fourth-quarter against higher-classification, defending-champion Catholic (Baton Rouge) as he completely took over to erase a small deficit, take the lead and hold off the Bears down the stretch with his scoring in the lane, facilitation, defense and strong rebounding.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2132743' first='Ethan' last='Kimmie'] — 6-4 G/F — University Lab (2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Even despite battling foul trouble against Class 5A Walker, the freshman wing had his hands all over his Cubs' road victory with 12 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four blocks as he flew around the court with his length, nonstop motor and bouncy athleticism to frustrate the Wildcats.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2132726' first='Allen' last='Shaw III'] — 5-9 G — Archbishop Shaw (2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The young guard held his own for the title-hopeful Eagles in a high-profile and higher-intensity New Orleans rivalry matchup against quick, guard-lead L.B. Landry with the district championship on the line. Shaw finished with four points, a couple assists and a couple steals and chased down six rebounds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->