The Bossier Bearkats took the District 1-4A lead with a 66-52 victory over the Minden Crimson Tide Friday night at Bossier.
Bossier improved to 13-11 overall and 5-0 in district with its sixth straight victory. The Bearkats can clinch at least a share of the title with a victory at Woodlawn Tuesday. Minden dropped to 18-3 and 4-1.
In District 1-5A, Parkway downed Benton 50-37 at Parkway, and Haughton fell to Evangel Christian 59-50 at Haughton.
In the other 1-5A games, Huntington handed Natchitoches Central its first district loss 54-44 at Huntington, and Captain Shreve defeated Byrd 59-53 at Byrd.
In a non-district game, Airline fell to Calvary Baptist 67-48 at Airline.
Parkway (16-10, 5-1) and Natchitoches Central (20-6, 6-1) are tied for first in the loss column. Captain Shreve (17-10, 4-2) and Evangel (13-12, 4-2) are tied for third.
Parkway hosts Evangel Tuesday and Captain Shreve Friday.
In a non-district game, Providence Classical Academy fell to Converse 41-36 at PCA.
At Bossier, the jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never trailed. But the Tide made a game of it.
Minden was within one with 20 seconds left in the third quarter and the momentum appeared to be in favor of the Crimson Tide.
That didn’t last long, though. Bossier’s David Thomas put up a 3-pointer. It was blocked. But Thomas grabbed the deflection and shot again. This time it was nothing but net with 0.7 seconds left. Thomas was also fouled. He made the free throw for the four-point play and the Bearkats led 47-42 after three quarters.
Minden stayed within striking distance early in the fourth, but the Bearkats dominated the final four minutes.
Bossier led 53-47 with 3:47 left. Minden had a chance to get within three but missed a 3-pointer.
Thomas then knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to put Bossier up by nine. The Tide cut the lead to seven but that was as close as they would get.
Kerel Dean had another big night for the Bearkats. He led the team with 23 points, including 19 in the first half. When he wasn’t scoring, the 6-7 Xavier of New Orleans signee made his presence felt on defense.
Thomas finished with 13 points. Kam Davenport came up big in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of his 12. Jatravion Bunnery scored seven of his nine points in the third quarter. Javonte Small scored seven in the game, including three from the line in the fourth.
Bossier led 11-2 just a few minutes into the game. But Minden wasn’t fazed. The Tide rallied and tied it at 13. The Bearkats scored the last four points of the first quarter for a 17-13 lead.Â
Bossier extended the lead to eight, but Minden’s Christian Harris hit a 3 at the buzzer to get the Tide within five at the break.
Offensive rebounds were key for Bossier. The Bearkats got several second- and third-chance baskets.
Cameron Parker led Minden with 14 points. Darnell Morris added 11.
At Parkway, Caleb Evans and KB Williams led eight Panthers who scored with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Evans knocked down four 3-pointers. Jacob Gaskins added nine points.
The Panthers led 13-4 after the first quarter. The second was even and Parkway led 21-12 at the half.
Both teams got going offensively in the third and Parkway maintained the nine-point lead. The Panthers limited the Tigers to six points in the fourth.
Greg Chambers and Maddox Martinez led Benton with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Benton (8-14, 1-5) hosts Airline Tuesday.
At Airline, the Vikings dropped to 10-17. Calvary Baptist improved to 23-2 with its 11th straight victory.
At Haughton, the Bucs dropped to 17-11 and 3-3.
Note: Statistics provided by coaches.