Five Bossier Parish girls basketball teams are headed to the state playoffs, which begin Thursday.
Benton (24-5), last year’s Class 4A runner-up, is the No. 2 seed in Class 5A.
The Lady Tigers were No. 1 in the power rankings for most of the season. But thanks to a new rule that gives district champs an additional power point, District 2 champ Ouachita Parish vaulted ahead of them.
Benton hosts No. 31 New Iberia (13-15) at 6 p.m. in the first round.
Official final power rankings and pairings were released Monday by the LHSAA.
In other Class 5A first-round games, No. 11 Parkway (22-8) hosts No. 22 Fontainebleau (21-10) and No. 32 Airline (15-17) visits Ouachita Parish.
The Parkway game has been tentatively set for 6 o’clock. The Airline game is at 5:30.
In a Class 3A first-round game, No. 17 Bossier (14-12) is at No. 16 Pine Prairie (21-11) at 6.
In a Class 1A first-round game, No. 16 Plain Dealing (14-14) hosts No. 17 West St. John (11-17).
Parkway and Airline are back in the playoffs after one-year absences.
This season is the first since the 2011-12 season Parkway has won 20 or more games.
