The Benton Lady Tigers and Parkway Lady Panthers posted District 1-5A victories Friday night.
Benton routed Natchitoches Central 61-37 at Benton and Parkway rolled past Airline 74-46 at Airline.
In the other 1-5A games, Haughton fell to Southwood 55-49 at Southwood and Captain Shreve defeated Byrd 74-39 at Byrd.
With two district games left, Captain Shreve (19-6, 11-1) leads Benton (22-5, 10-2) by one game. The Lady Gators host Parkway (21-7, 7-5) Tuesday and visit Airline (14-16, 2-10) Friday.
Shreve edged Parkway 42-39 in the teams’ first district meeting Jan. 17 at Parkway.
Benton visits Southwood (16-8, 6-6) Tuesday and hosts Haughton (13-12, 4-8) Friday.
Regardless, the Lady Tigers and Lady Gators will be among the top seeds in the playoffs. Benton was No. 1 in the latest 5A power rankings and defending state champion Captain Shreve was No. 3.
In a District 1-3A game, Bossier fell to district leader Mansfield 50-34 at Mansfield.
In a District 1-1A game, Plain Dealing crushed Ringgold 69-12 at Plain Dealing.
At Benton, the Lady Tigers avenged a 60-56 loss to Natchitoches Central on Jan. 14 in Natchitoches.
Qua Chambers and Jada Anderson led Benton with 25 and 20 points, respectively.
The duo scored seven each in the first quarter as the Lady Tigers rolled to a 15-6 lead.
Benton cooled off in the second quarter but still led 23-17 at the half.
Chambers pumped in 11 in the third quarter. Benton scored 25 and was in control 48-32 heading into the fourth.
At Airline, Mikaylah Williams, Jada Hardy and Sh’Diamond McKnight all had big games for the Lady Panthers.
Williams scored a team-high 23. Hardy and McKnight poured in 18 and 17, respectively.
McKnight and Hardy hit two 3-pointers each and Williams had one as the Lady Panthers went on a 19-4 run in the first quarter.
Williams knocked down two more from beyond the arc in the second and Parkway led 39-13 at the half. Williams finished with five 3s.
Kayla Hampton led Airline with 13 points and Kori Rice added 10.
At Southwood, Taralyn Sweeney poured in 26 points and Takaiyah Sweeney had 17, but it wasn’t quite enough.
Haughton played a strong first half.
Taralyn hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter and scored 12 points. Takaiyah scored 10 in the first half. The Lady Bucs took a 24-17 lead into the locker room.
Taralyn scored nine in the third and Haughton extended the lead to 39-29. But the fourth quarter belonged to Southwood.
The Lady Cowboys outscored the Lady Bucs 23-8 to rally for the victory.
Raven Johnson led Southwood with 20 points.
At Mansfield, Jasmine Ford and Sanaa Brown scored eight each to lead Bossier (13-12, 4-3).
The Lady Kats got off to a fast start and led 14-7 after the first quarter. But the Lady Wolverines (20-5, 6-0) took control with a 20-4 second-quarter run.
At Plain Dealing, the Lady Lions improved to 11-14 overall and 3-4 in district.
