All 5 Lincoln Parish boys hoops teams earn playoff berths

By Malcolm Butler and T. Scott Boatright

Make it 5 for 5.

All five of the Lincoln Parish boys basketball teams have earned a spot in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) playoffs, released on Monday.

Ruston (Non-Select Division I), Cedar Creek (Select Division IV), Lincoln Prep (Select Division IV), Simsboro (Non-Select Division V) and Choudrant (Non-Select Division V) will all not only be playing in the postseason, but they will be hosting their first games.

Ruston and Lincoln Prep earned a first round bye in their respective divisions while Choudrant, Cedar Creek and Simsboro will all face first round opponents.

Ruston enters the Non-Select School Division I playoffs as the No. 2 seed after a regular season that saw the Bearcats post a 27-3 record. The Bearcats will have a first round bye and will face the winner of No. 15 East St. John and No. 18 Terrebonne.

“I’m confident if we prepare the right way this week the guys can make a deep playoff run,” said Ruston coach Ryan Bond. “They have worked hard all season for this moment. I have faith in our players. I’m very proud of what we have done; I want them to win four more games.”

Ruston will play its second round game at home. Bond feels there is no easy path to the state tournament with talented teams scattered throughout the bracket.

“I like the fact we are home; it’s always a plus,” said Bond. “East St. John won their district, and were missing their best perimeter player for the first half of the season. They are well coach, and they play well defensively. Barbe is tough, and they have some length inside. They’ve got a 6’9” player and a 6’5” player along with a strong point guard. Southside has improved a great deal as the season went on, and they beat New Iberia during district play, who is the overall No. 1 seed.”

Cedar Creek just did get a home game as the Cougars are the No. 16 seed and will host No. 17 seed Westminister Christian. The Cougars posted a 12-13 record while Westminister Christian is 12-11 on the season out of District 6-1A.

The game is Friday at 6 p.m. at the Brickhouse. Tickets are $10.

“We are excited about starting the playoffs at home,” said Creek head coach Lance Waldron. “Westminster is very athletic with a couple of really good post players. It should be a good match-up.”

Lincoln Preparatory School is the second-seeded team in the Division IV Select School playoffs and earned a first-round bye.

The Panthers (21-4) will begin their playoffs on Feb. 28 against the winner of Friday’s contest that sends 18th-seeded Riverside Academy (8-13) to 15th-seeded Central Private (17-11).

Simsboro, seeded 15th in the Division V Nonselect School bracket, will tip off the playoffs at home at 6 p.m. Friday against 18th-seeded Hackberry.

Ticket prices for that game hadn’t been determined as of Monday night.

It wasn’t the bracket Simsboro coach Randy Carlisle wanted to see with second-seeded Anacoco (34-5) awaiting the winner of the Tiger’s game against Hackberry. Carlisle is in his first season at Simsboro after serving as Anancoco’s head coach the previous two seasons and amassing a record there of 67-14 and leading the Indians to the 2021 Class B finals and the semifinals last year.

“I had thought that we would get a 13th or 14th seed because I thought Ferriday was going to forfeit their game to us,” Carlisle said. “But instead of making them forfeit, (the Louisiana High School Athletics Association) just fined them.

“So I thought we were going to get to 13, where we would be playing either Doyline or Gibsland-Coleman if we made it to the second round (the way the bracket ended up falling that game would have been against fourth-seeded Gibsland-Coleman, which has a first-round bye) because I think we can play with them.”

But now Carlisle will have to return to Anacoco if his Tigers (14-17) advance to the second round.

“So now I’m going back to my old team where I worked for two-and–a-half years — a team that’s got everybody back and has been picked to win it,” Carlisle said. “So it’s not a good draw for me.

“Now we’ll hopefully have to play against the best in the second round, because they’re the best team in Class B. But you have to play the best to accomplish the final goal. I just wish that game would have come later.”

Choudrant will also open the Division IV Non-select School boys playoffs at home.

The Aggies (20-9) are seeded eighth and will play host to 25th-seeded Florien (15-16) at 6 p.m. Friday night at the CHS Gym.

Ticket prices for that contest will be $8.