The Bossier Bearkats are heading back to a familiar place — Lake Charles and the state tournament.
Bossier, the No. 4 seed, defeated No. 5 Franklin Parish 55-49 in a non-select Division II quarterfinal game Friday night at Bossier.
The Bearkats (22-9) will face a familiar foe, No. 1 Wossman, in the semifinals at the state tournament, also known as Boy’ Marsh Madness, next week at Burton Coliseum. The Wildcats (23-7) defeated No. 8 West Feliciana 65-52 Friday.
Bossier is returning to Lake Charles for the second straight year. The Bearkats have reached at least the semifinals four of the last five years. Last year, Bossier fell to Wossman 50-44 in the title game.
Parkway’s remarkable run in the non-select Division I playoffs came to an end Friday. The No. 23 seed Panthers fell to No. 2 Ruston 68-30 in Ruston.
Parkway, which upset No. 10 Slidell and No. 7 Sulphur in the first two rounds, finished 15-16 in Eric Shepherd’s first season as head coach.
Ruston (22-3) will play No. 6 Central (24-7) in the semifinals next week. Central ended No. 3 Natchitoches Central’s season 56-48 Friday.
At Bossier, the Bearkats got off to a red-hot start, outscoring the Patriots 20-7 in the first quarter. Ron Dillard hit two 3-pointers and Ethan Dodson one. JD Davis scored six.
Bossier cooled off in the second quarter but took a 30-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Dodson knocked down two more from long range in the third. The Patriots hit three 3-pointers. The quarter was even and Bossier maintained the 12-point cushion.
Franklin Parish hit three 3-pointers in the fourth, but the Bearkats withstood a rally. DT Thomas hit a big 3-pointer and Braylon Robinson scored four.
Robinson, Davis and Dillard all scored 12 points. Dodson had nine, Thomas seven and Montrevell Lewis five.
Chris Addison led Franklin Parish, which finished 23-8, with 13. Zyrell Tillman and Avery Johnson scored 12 each.
At Ruston, the Panthers kept it close for awhile. They led 10-9 after the first quarter.
But the Bearcats went on an 8-1 run early in the second to go up by six.
Parkway got within four, but the Bearcats extended the lead to 26-18 at the half.
Ruston dominated the third quarter, exploding for 30 points, to put the game out of reach.
Darren Ford led the talented Bearcats with 26 points. Ahmad Hudson had 15 points and 16 rebounds.