Road to the Top 28 will have a few speed bumps

    Happy New Year. We made it.
    With that revelation in mind, let’s talk some roundball.
    The Louisiana Sports Writers will begin their weekly Top 10 poll in the next few weeks, but I’ll fill you in on what to expect as districts begin to open play.
    From results of the early games, I believe it’s safe to assume that it will be difficult for many area teams to make it to the boys’ and girls’ Top 28 tournaments in Ruston.
    The best bets for local Catholic schools are St. Augustine, the reigning Class 5A champion, and Holy Cross in Class 4A, and possibly Archbishop Chapelle in the girls’ Class 5A semifinals.
    St. Augustine would be one of the favorites to repeat in 5A, but its descent into 4A puts the Purple Knights in fast company.
    And Holy Cross, which made the Top 28 field in 2011 as a 3A school and would-be favorite to win most other area 4A districts, is in a league with the Knights, who have beaten the Tigers twice already.
    But winning it all in this class  won’t be easy for either, and the reason is that there are a number of teams around the state that are playing lights-out basketball.
    So, let’s look at the field and  the order in which I believe the local districts that include Catholic schools will play out.
    Class 5A – The top teams are Scotlandville (14-3), Natchitoches Central (13-2) and possibly Westgate (12-1).
    The best team in our area seems to be 11-4 East St. John.
    Locally: District 6-5A – 1. Covington, 2. St. Paul’s, 3. Northshore, 4. Mandeville, 5. Ponchatoula, 6. Slidell, 7. Fontainebleau.
    District 9-5A – 1. Brother Martin, 2. Jesuit, 3. Archbishop Rummel, 4. Grace King, 5. Chalmette, 6. West Jefferson.
    Class 4A (the state’s strongest class again) – Peabody is 16-0 and just two opponents have been able to stay within 10 points of the War Horses. Their main opposition should come from St. Augustine (13-1), Northside (15-1), St. Thomas More (15-2) and Huntington (13-2), all capable of beating the best 5A teams in the state.
    Locally: District 10-4A – 1. St. Augustine, 2. Holy Cross, 3. East Jefferson, 4. Warren Easton, 5. Riverdale, 7. Ben Franklin.
    District 9-4A – 1. O.P. Walker, 2. McDonogh 35, 3. Archbishop Shaw, 4. Cox, 5. Belle Chasse, 6. Karr.
    Class 3A – Glen Oaks (14-2), Bossier (12-1) and Farmerville (14-3) seem to be the best of this bunch.
    Locally: District 7-3A – 1. Port Allen, 2. Brusly, 3. St. James, 4. E.D. White, 5. St. Charles Catholic, 6. Donaldsonville.
    District 10-3A – 1. McMain, 2. De La Salle, 3. Lusher, 4. Reed, 5. Miller-McCoy, 6. McDonogh.
    Class 2A – 1. Riverside (10-5 with all losses out of state), 2. John Curtis (12-0), 3. Sterlington (16-2) and Mansfield (15-4).
    Locally: District 8-2A – 1. St. Thomas Aquinas, 2. Springfield, 3. Doyle, 4. French Settlement, 5. Pope John Paul II, 6. St. Helena, 7. Northlake Christian, 8. Pine.
    Class 1A – Southern Lab (11-5), Christian Life (10-3) and Elton (9-1) could be the class.
    Locally: District 7-1A – 1. Southern Lab, 2. Christian Life, 3. Mount Hermon, 4. Varnado, 5. Archbishop Hannan, 6. Kentwood.
 

The ladies have their say
    On the girls’ side, Chapelle, Ursuline and Xavier Prep appear to be the top playoff contenders, but all are in competitive districts. Here’s my predictions:
    Class 5A – Lafayette (17-0), Southwood (13-0), West Monroe (13-1), Ouachita (16-2) are the big guns in this grouping.
    Locally: District 6-5A – 1. Northshore, 2. Fontainebleau, 3. Ponchatoula, 4. Covington, 5. Mandeville, 6. Slidell, 7. St. Scholastica.
    District 9-5A – 1. Archbishop Chapelle, 2. Dominican, 3. Chalmette, 4. Mount Carmel, 5. West Jefferson, 6. Grace King.
    Class 4A – St. Thomas More (12-1), Salmen (14-1), Benton (19-3) and Vandebilt (14-4) are the top four.
    Locally: District 9-4A – 1. Belle Chasse, 2. McDonogh 35, 3. Cox, 4. Karr, 5. Academy of Our Lady, 6. O.P. Walker.
    District 10-4A – 1. Ursuline, 2. Cabrini, 3. Warren Easton, 4. East Jefferson, 5. Riverdale, 6. Ben Franklin.
    Class 3A –  The best seem to be Caldwell (15-2), Albany (15-3), Loyola (15-3) and St. James (13-3).
    Locally: District 10-3A – 1. Xavier Prep, 2. St. Mary’s Academy, 3. De La Salle, 4. McMain, 5. Lusher, 6. Reed.
    Class 2A – Lake Arthur (13-1), Dunham (14-1), Iota (14-2)and John Curtis (13-1) are the favorites     to make the trip to Ruston.
    District 8-2A – 1. Doyle, 2. French Settlement, 3. Northlake Christian, 4. St. Thomas Aquinas, 5. Pine, 6. Springfield, 7. Pope John Paul II, 8. St. Helena Central.
    District 9-2A – 1. Fisher, 2. Thomas Jefferson, 3. South Plaquemines, 4. Academy of the Sacred Heart, 5. Cohen, 6. Algiers Tech.
    Class 1A – Have you ever heard of Tensas? Although the school is located in Louisiana’s least populated parish (5,252 citizens as of 2010), the Panthers are rolling along with a 19-0 record. Others to watch are Central Catholic of Morgan City (11-1), Vermilion Catholic (16-3) and West St. John (13-4).
    Locally: District 7-1A – 1. Mount Hermon, 2. Southern Lab, 3. Archbishop Hannan, 4. Varnado, 5. Kentwood.
    And not to forget our Class C boys district (9-C), there is one powerhouse, Phoenix, whose 18-4 record makes the Plaquemines Parish school a threat to unseat Atlanta as champion. The district finish should pan out this way:
    1. Phoenix, 2. Grand Isle, 3. First Baptist, 4. Bishop McManus, 5. Holy Rosary, 6. Lutheran.