The Airline Vikings and Bossier Bearkats advanced to the boys quarterfinals of the Doc Edwards Invitational basketball tournament with first-round victories Friday.
Airline defeated Red River 75-48 at Airline, and Bossier downed Plain Dealing 49-36 at BPCC. In other boys first-round games, Mansfield edged Benton 58-53, Byrd routed Northwood 101-57, Southwood dropped Green Oaks 74-45, Captain Shreve got past 2013 runner-up North Webster 76-64 and Huntington edged defending champ Richwood 80-78.
In Saturday’s championship quarterfinal games at Airline, Bossier plays Byrd at 5:30 and Airline meets Mansfield at 8:30. In quarterfinal games at BPCC, Southwood faces Shreve at 5:30 and Huntington plays Parkway at 8:30. The Panthers received a first-round bye.
In girls first-round games Friday, defending champ Mansfield downed Captain Shreve 56-28, Benton fell to Southwood 49-24, Byrd defeated Northwood 58-25 and Huntington downed Plain Dealing 60-42.
Airline, Green Oaks, Bossier and Red River all received first-round byes. In today’s championship quarterfinal games at Airline, Bossier plays Red River at 4 and Airline meets Green Oaks at 7. In quarterfinal games at BPCC, defending champ Mansfield takes on Southwood at 4 and Byrd plays Huntington at 7.
In boys’ action Thursday at Airline, Airline trailed Red River 26-25 at the half and then outscored the Bulldogs 27-10 in the third quarter.
Airline sophomore guard Noah Hildebrand sank three 3-pointers and scored 11 of his game-high 13 points in the quarter. Jacob Guest, who scored 11 points, hit a 3-pointer from the baseline during Airline’s early scoring burst in the third quarter.
Robby Dooley, who scored 10, had a 3-point play during the run. Scott Jackson added 12 points for the Vikings and KJ Bilbo had 11.
At BPCC, both Bossier and Plain Dealing had trouble scoring in a first-half that saw the Bearkats lead 18-15. Bossier opened the second half with a 6-0 run to take control.
Larry Robinson led Bossier with 14 points, and Kentrell Hardy added 13. Tyrise Edwards chipped in with seven. Chiner Long paced the Lions with 16 points, and Keldrick Carper had 10.
At Benton, the Tigers hung close with Mansfield throughout the game but couldn’t get over the top. William Givens led Benton with 15 points. Jerryun Lawrence hit three 3-pointers and scored 10.
In girls’ action at BPCC, Huntington’s Caitlin Jenkins, a 6-foot-3 Southern Miss signee, made things tough for Plain Dealing on both ends of the court. Jenkins scored 32 points and blocked or altered numerous shots. Hersey Stumon led the Lady Lions with 17 points.
At Benton, the Lady Tigers got off to a slow start and couldn’t recover against Southwood. Brandy Harris topped Benton with 10 points, and KeKe Carper had seven.
In girls consolation games Saturday at Benton, Plain Dealing plays Northwood at 4 and Benton faces Captain Shreve at 7. In boys consolation games at Benton, Plain Dealing takes on Northwood at 5:30 and Benton faces Red River at 8:30.
In a boys consolation game at Airline Saturday, Green Oaks plays North Webster at 2:30.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
