LHSAA Class 1A First Round Playoff Predictions

We have made our way though the end of the high school basketball regular season here in Louisiana. This past Monday afternoon, the official playoff brackets were revealed. I really could see 10 or so teams in the class making a true run at the championship trophy. Today, we are going to take a look at the class 1A bracket, and attempt to make predictions on all of the first round games.   1 White Castle vs 32 Basile White Castle graduated 8 guys from its 2018 class 1A state championship team. With that, comes the tough task of rebuilding. At White Castle, I think the official term for that is reloading. The Bulldogs have done just that, they come into the playoffs boasting a 23-6 record. I expect White Castle to win big in this one. Winner: White Castle 2 North Central vs 31 South Cameron North Central comes in with a record of 26-6 and the experience of making a run to the semifinals in last year's playoffs. I see the Hurricanes winning this one. Winner: North Central 3 Jonesboro Hodge vs 30 Oberlin Jonesboro Hodge has been one of the most talked about teams in the state this year. They are led by 6'4 junior Ladamien Bradford who is the #4 player in our latest class of 2020 rankings. Bradford and the Tigers are expecting to make a deep run again this year in the playoffs after losing in the quarterfinals last year. Winner: Jonesboro Hodge 4 Delhi vs 29 Delta Charter Expectations are sky high for the Bears from Delhi. The Bears are coming off of a state runner-up season in 2018. With one of the biggest teams in class 1A, Delhi will look to impose its combination of size and speed on everyone they see in the playoffs. I expect to see the Bears make a deep run into the playoff this season. Delhi won the two games played between these two during the regular season by a combined score of 172-94. I like the Bears big in this one. Winner: Delhi 5 Lincoln Prep vs 28 Merryville Lincoln Prep is led by 6'1 junior Chanse Robinson. The do-it-all guard will look to take his Panthers into the later rounds of the playoffs this year. Robinson fills the stat sheet up every time he takes the court. He will have to do just that to take his team deep into the playoffs. I think they get off to a great start and cruise in this one. Winner: Lincoln Prep 6 Tensas vs 27 Lasalle Tensas is one of those teams I mentioned at the beginning of this piece that I wouldn't shocked to make a deep run into the playoffs from outside the top 5. They had a big win over the 4 seed Delhi earlier in the year during district play. That win alone shows that Tensas can play with and beat anyone on any given night. They will roll in this one. Winner: Tensas 7 Logansport vs 26 J.S. Clark Logansport comes in being another one of those teams outside the top 10 that I wouldn't be shocked to see make a real run at the championship. They are led by 6'0 junior guard Brian Lee and 6'6 sophomore big man Keavin McKeever. Logansport is extremely young for a top 10 team; they only have 2 seniors. Winner: Logansport 8 KIPP Booker T. Washington vs 25 Kentwood After playing a tough schedule on the year, Booker T. Washington comes in with 20-14 record. The Lions are a very athletic squad that is very capable of upsetting someone in the playoffs in the later rounds. Winner: KIPP Booker T. Washington 9 Grand Lake vs 24 Ringgold Grand Lake comes in with an impressive 22-9 record, but Ringgold also comes from a tough district in 1-1A. They will come in with an upset on their mind going against Grand Lake. I am going to go with Ringgold for pulling off the upset in this one. Winner: Ringgold 10 Centerville vs 23 Northwood - Lena Centerville comes into the postseason losing close games to Lafayette Christian and Central catholic in the past month. That alone is enough to show you that the Bulldogs are are more than capable of playing their way into the second or even third round of the playoffs. Winner: Centerville 11 East Iberville vs 22 West St John I like East Iberville in this one. The Tigers have a win this season over #1 seeded White Castle while going 6-0 in district play. I expect East Iberville to pull away in the second half and secure the victory. Winner: East Iberville 12 Arcadia vs 21 Haynesville Arcadia won the two district matchups between these two teams during the regular season each by 20 plus points. I don't think this one will be any different; Arcadia wins big to set up a potential second round game with district rival Lincoln Prep. Winner: Arcadia 13 Elton vs 20 Gueydan The one time these two teams played each other during the regular season, Elton won 61-29. That was in early December, it will be interesting to see if either of these two teams have improved since then. I like Elton in this one. Winner: Elton 14 Plain Dealing vs 19 Varnado Plain Dealing has logged wins over multiple 5A schools this season in Haughton and Byrd. They also have wins against two good district teams in Arcadia and Homer. I think Plain Dealing wins this one to set up a second round game with district foe Jonesboro Hodge. Winner: Plain Dealing 15 Sicily Island vs 18 Homer This may very well be the game of the night in 1A. These are two very solid teams. They each come from two of the toughest districts in 1A. Sicily Island comes from district 2 and Homer from district 1. I expect this game to be back and forth. Sicily Island will rely on senior guard Tyreke Toliver. Homer will be led by junior point guard Jayshun Miller. It will be fun to watch these two go back and forth all night in this one. Winner: Homer 16 Montgomery vs 17 Oak Grove Oak Grove comes in with a 15-15 record, while Montgomery comes in at 15-12. Oak Grove will be led by 6'3 junior guard Taevon Anderson and 6'5 sophomore forward Demon White. The Tigers have been up and down all season, but I think they get the win in this one. Winner: Oak Grove