First-round of girls' playoffs set
Published 5:59 pm Thursday, February 18, 2021
ROSEPINE – Typically, the first round of the girls' basketball playoffs would have been completed by now.
But thanks to Mother Nature, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association had to alter the format to accommodate for the wintry weather the state endured this week.
Many games across the state have been moved to other days, including in our little corner of Louisiana.
Conditions permitting, South Beauregard and East Beauregard will open the playoffs Friday night, while Rosepine and Pitkin will take to the court on Saturday.
In Class 3A, the Lady K's of South Beauregard (18-4) will host Wossman (7-13) out of Monroe. The third-seeded Lady K's and No. 30 Wossman are tentatively scheduled to play at 6 p.m. Friday in Longville.
The Lady K's took second place in district play this season and have the opportunity to make a deep playoff run.
SBHS, coached by Susan Johnson, is a very balanced team with several players able to lead in scoring on any given night. The primary players for the Lady K's have been Dayla Simon, Kayleigh Hudler, Raelyn Gunter and Kara Smith, although there have been numerous others who have made solid contributions along the way.
Also tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, the No. 15 Oberlin Lady Tigers will entertain district rival and No. 18 East Beauregard in a Class 1A playoff contest.
Having played each other in district, the two teams are no strangers. But East Beauregard has had the advantage in both games this year, winning by 10 points on Jan. 11 at Oberlin and by nearly 30 at home just two weeks ago.
Oberlin (10-12) is led on the court by a pair of eighth-graders in Megan Manuel and Kayle Wolfe, along with senior Rachel Goodly, while the Lady Trojans (5-14) are sparked by Camryn Reeves.
The winner between East Beauregard and Oberlin will face second-seeded Merryville on the road early next week.
On Saturday, the seventh-ranked team in Class 2A, the Rosepine Lady Eagles, will host the No. 26 Northeast Lady Vikings. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. and can be heard on Today's Country 105.7 with Will Norris and Chaston Tavares on the call.
The Lady Eagles (24-6) are coming off a solid district campaign and are much improved from a year ago when they reached the second round of the playoffs, while Northeast (7-6) have played 17 fewer games than Rosepine.
The Lady Eagles are led on the floor by the trio of Kelly Norris, Taylor Farris and Addison Fruge, while others like Laken Stephens and Ashlynn Smith have also been major contributors to their success this season.
Also on Saturday in the first round of the Class B playoffs, the No. 18 Pitkin Lady Tigers (8-13) will take to the road in a 4 p.m. contest against the No. 15 Weston Lady Wolves (13-14).
The Lady Tigers are led on the court by the tandem of Abby Robinson, Heidi Nelson and Morgan McAlister.
The winner between Pitkin and Weston will face the defending state champion Fairview Lady Panthers early next week.
Merryville, Anacoco, Hicks, Hornbeck, Evans and Simpson will all open their respective playoff journeys next week.
This article originally appeared on Leesville Daily Leader: First-round of girls' playoffs set