The Airline Vikings, Parkway Panthers and Bossier Bearkats posted boys basketball district victories Tuesday night.
Airline edged playoff-bound Southwood 67-64 in a District 1-5A game at Airline. Parkway downed Haughton 88-67 in another 1-5A game at Haughton.
Bossier stayed in the hunt for the District 1-3A title with a 66-34 rout of Mansfield at Bossier.
Elsewhere, the Benton Tigers lost a 61-59 heartbreaker to the Minden Crimson Tide in a 1-4A game at Minden.
With a chance to earn a share of the District 1-1A lead, the Plain Dealing Lions also suffered a tough loss, falling to the Arcadia Hornets 49-47 in Arcadia.
At Airline, Robby Dooley and KJ Bilbo scored 16 points each to lead the Vikings to their 12th win of the season. Noah Hildebrand added 13 and Jacob Guest 11.
The Vikings trailed by seven at the half and then outscored the Cowboys 14-8 in the third quarter to get within one. Hildebrand hit two of his three 3-pointers in the quarter.
The fourth quarter was played at a fast pace with Airline outscoring Southwood 26-22.
Bilbo scored 10 points in the final quarter, and Dooley had six. Hildebrand and Scott Jackson scored four each.
At Parkway, the Panthers improved to 21-8 overall and 6-2 in district play. Parkway trails 1-5A leader Byrd by two games with two to play. Byrd clinched a share of the district title with a 91-88 double overtime victory over Captain Shreve Tuesday.
Parkway, which was No. 23 in the latest Class 5A power rankings released by the LHSAA Tuesday, is a shoo-in for the playoffs but will likely have to travel in the first round.
At Bossier, senior guard Kentrell Hardy hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead the Bearkats to the rout of Mansfield. Larry Robinson added eight as Jeremiah Williams was able to clear his bench on Senior Night.
Bossier (13-12, 6-2) remained a game behind Evangel, which edged Booker T. Washington 61-58 Tuesday, in 1-3A with two games to play. The Bearkats visit North Webster Friday and host Evangel next Tuesday in the regular-season finale.
Bossier, which was No. 19 in the Class 3A power rankings released Tuesday, still has a shot at hosting a first-round playoff game.
At Minden, the Crimson Tide hit two free throws with 1.1 seconds left for the victory.
Benton led 42-39 going into the fourth quarter. Minden got the upper hand and took a four-point lead with 2:40 remaining. But the Tigers fought back to tie it at 59 with time running out.
Misses at the free-throw line hurt the Tigers down the stretch.
It was the second tough loss in the last three games for Benton, which lost to Loyola 55-54 on Feb. 3.
Four of Benton’s seven district losses have been by six points or less.
At Arcadia, Chiner Long scored 16 points and Keldrick Carper 15 in Plain Dealing’s loss. The Hornets clinched the District 1-1A title with the close victory.
The Lions, who close out district play Friday at Haynesville, were No. 18 in the 1A power rankings. The top 16 teams host first-round playoff games.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
