Louisiana Top 25: 1-5
1) Riverside (24-0)
So far this season, Riverside has been the team to beat in Louisiana, and no one has been able to do it thus far. What is even more impressive is who those wins have been coming against. The Rebels have beaten 9 teams in this Top 25, including beating most of those teams multiple times. They have had a couple of close ones, and games that have gone into overtime, but it says a lot about Riverside that even in these games they have come out on top every single time. Riverside has a whole host of seniors that are lead by Alabama commit Jared Butler, but it would be a shame not to also mention Garland Robertson, Jeremiah Bigham, and Jalen Banks who Riverside are all going to miss dearly next season.
2) Rayville (19-0)
Rayville is 19-0 and looking at their schedule, there shouldn’t be a game the rest of the season that the Hornets aren’t favored in, so I would be very surprised if Rayville doesn’t finish the season undefeated with the 2A state title. They haven’t played the toughest schedule up to this point, but there have been plenty of opportunities for Rayville to slip up, and they haven’t. Going forward, make sure you remember the name Mylik Wilson, who I am surprised still doesn’t have a national profile, but will before soon. I expect him to blow up nationally this summer, and before long he is going to be a top 100 player in the nation.
3) Madison Prep (12-2)
For most teams, when you lose a 4 star high major player for 8 weeks, suddenly your season is pretty much over. However, that isn’t the case for Madison Prep, who has done a surprisingly good job of staying afloat after losing Josh LeBlanc. They have only lost two in that time, and one was a double OT thriller against Riverside, and something tells me if Josh LeBlanc was active that game might have turned out a bit differently. However, a lot of the credit for Madison Prep’s continued success goes to a trio of seniors in Kobe Julien, Jharon Whitfield, and Tyrese Walker. Julien has done a great job stepping up as a scorer in the time that Leblanc has been gone, and has elevated his game as high as I have seen it.
4) Peabody (19-2)
Peabody started the season with a very tough schedule, and picked up 2 quick losses in November as a result. The Warhorses haven’t lost since, and are currently on a 15 game winning streak, including a number of very impressive wins over other top 25 teams, as well as 3 tournament victories. One of the most impressive things about Peabody is that they are relying mainly on juniors in Kyron Gibson and Darius Smith. As good as they have been so far this season, they have a chance to be even better next season.
5) Scotlandville (18-4)
In one of the biggest upsets in high school basketball so far this season, Scotlandville went down against Edna Karr in the first round of the Sugarbowl Prep Classic 46-50. Since then, Scotlandville has beaten their next three opponents by an average of 28, including avenging the loss against Edna Karr. When they are at their best, there aren’t many teams that are capable of taking down Scotlandville, but outside of Javonte Smart, they are still relying on a lot of young players, so there have been a few games this year that they have lost games that they shouldn’t have.