The Benton Lady Tigers will be looking for a berth in the Class 4A girls basketball championship game when they face the Warren Easton Fighting Eagles on Tuesday.
Tip-off is 3 p.m. at Rapides Coliseum in Alexandria. The game is part of the Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA Marsh Madness state tournament. The Benton-Warren Easton winner will face the Neville-South Lafourche winner for the state championship Friday night at 8.
The top four seeds all made it to the semifinals in Class 4A. Benton (27-6) is the No. 1 seed. South Lafourche (24-8) is No. 2 followed by Neville (23-8) and Warren Easton (23-8).
Benton has defeated No. 32 George Washington Carvier 60-17, No. 17 Booker T. Washington 73-54 and No. 8 Carencro 52-46 en route to the semifinals. Warren Easton has defeated No. 29 Buckeye 58-18, No. 13 Helen Cox 67-45 and No. 5 Bossier 57-32.
Easton won the District 9-4A championship and has won 16 in a row.
District 1-4A champion Benton is led by junior Emily Ward, who scored 20 points in the victory over Carencro.
Sophomore guard Qua Chambers, freshman guard Jada Anderson, sophomore guard Dana Wainwright and junior forward Abbie Wynn have also been major contributors to the Lady Tigers’ success.
Junior guard Casey Harris led Warren Easton against Bossier with 17 points. Cabria Lewis, a 5-foot-7 junior, had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Fighting Eagles led by only one at the half and then went on a 25-0 run to start the second.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
