The Bossier Bearkats edged the Loyola College Prep Flyers 38-35 in a District 1-3A game at Bossier on Friday night.
It was a tough night for the other parish squads.
Parkway suffered its first District 1-5A loss, falling to Captain Shreve 63-54 at Shreve. In the other 1-5A games, Benton lost a 59-58 heartbreaker to Southwood on the road, Airline fell to Byrd 61-57 at Byrd and Haughton dropped a 71-47 decision to Natchitoches Central at home.
Defending champion Natchitoches Central (13-1, 4-0) has sole possession of the district lead. Parkway (7-3, 3-1), Captain Shreve (12-7, 3-1) and Southwood (11-10, 3-1) are tied for second. They are followed by Airline (4-9, 1-3) and Benton (14-7, 0-4).
In a District 1-1A game, Plain Dealing lost to Ringgold 49-45 at home.
At Bossier, Carlos Butler hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Bearkats (12-7, 2-0) the victory.
Lakavin Thomas led Bossier (12-7, 2-0) with 10 points. Butler scored nine on three 3s. Joseph Manning, who is averaging more than 20 points per game, scored six but hit a big 3.
Tahj Roots also sank one from behind the arc and scored five points.
Henry Googe hit four from long range and led Loyola (6-13, 1-1) with 20 points.
The Bearkats led 10-6 after the first quarter. But the Flyers rallied in the second for a 23-21 halftime lead. Bossier took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter. The teams combined for 13 points in the final period.
At Captain Shreve, Bryce Roberts (22 points) and Trae Ware (19) combined for 41 of Parkway’s 54 points.
Ware hit four 3-pointers and Roberts three.
Both got off to hot starts. Roberts scored nine in the first quarter and Ware knocked down two 3s as the Panthers took a 16-12 lead.
Shreve dominated the second quarter, outscoring Parkway 20-7 for a 32-23 halftime lead.
Things didn’t go well in the quarter for the Panthers in the third quarter, either. They scored just nine points and were down 15 going into the fourth.
Roberts and Ware scored eight each in the fourth, but that wasn’t enough.
John Mitchell and AC Bryant led Shreve with 21 and 18 points, respectively.
At Southwood, Benton led 24-19 at the half and 41-40 after three quarters. The Tigers’ four district losses have been by a combined 16 points.
Brodie Romero led Benton with 13 points. Jalen Taylor and Jyrell McClendon had nine each. Ryan Ward added seven.
Eric McKnight Jr. paced Southwood with 17 points, including 15 in the second half. Artavious Washington added 16 and Mar’Quarius Johnson 15.
The Cowboys were 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. The Tigers made 7-of-10.
At Byrd, Devin Bilbo led Airline with 23 points. Colby O’Glee chipped in with 13.
The Vikings led 22-21 at the half. But the Yellow Jackets got hot in the third quarter and grabbed a 45-38 lead.
Bilbo scored 18 in the second half. He had 11 in the fourth as the Vikings tried to rally.
Darrion Turner led Byrd with 20 points. Brian Lair pumped in 16.
At Haughton, the Bucs dug themselves a deep hole early against the Chiefs, falling behind 15-2 after a quarter.
Haughton got on track in the second quarter with 16 points and trailed by just 12 at the half.
It was 48-33 at the end of three and Natchitoches Central dominated the fourth.
Malachi Burks and Zion Nelson paced Haughton with 10 points each. JJ Dudley added nine.
Darius Turner led Natchitoches Central with 21.
At Plain Dealing, the Lions fell to 1-9 overall and 0-2 in district. Ringgold improved to 8-10 and 1-0.
