The Bossier Bearkats will be looking for a spot in the state tournament for the second straight year when they host the Richwood Rams Friday night in the Class 3A quarterfinals.
Tip-off is 7 o’clock and a sellout crowd is expected.
District 1-3A champion Bossier (32-3), the No. 1 seed, brings a 20-game winning streak into the game. Richwood, the District 2-3A runner-up and No. 9 seed, is 24-9.
Bossier and Richwood met once during the regular season with the Bearkats coming out on top 61-48 on Dec. 14 in the Wossman tournament.
But head coach Nick Bohanan will be without two players who started that game, including 6-foot-7 forward D’Ante Bell. Bell suffered a season-ending knee injury in the regular-season finale against Neville.
“We’re going to look different,” Bohanan said. “I’m sure they’re going to look a lot different as well. I hear they’ve been playing really, really well here lately. We’re going to have our work cut out for us.”
Bossier is coming off a 53-35 victory over No. 17 Crowley. Senior guard Cody Deen came up big with 26 points. The Bearkats also got a strong effort from James Davis, who had 11 rebounds.
Richwood defeated No. 8 Patterson 71-65 in the second round.
The Rams went 6-2 in District 2-3A, losing only to No. 2 seed and district champion Wossman.
Richwood has won five state titles. The last one was in 2012, when the Rams defeated Bossier 67-55 in the Class 3A title game.
