Xavier Prep up to No. 8, St. Aug remains No. 1

    Xavier Prep, led by a veteran lineup of Alana Lawrence, Ashunti Allen, Cha’von Foxhall, Kia Jackson and 6-3 center Kailyn Williams, moved up two spots in the weekly Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s girls’ Class 3A basketball Top 10 poll this week.
    Xavier (15-8), coming off a resounding 66-31 victory over St. Mary’s Academy, jumped over Rayville, ranked No. 7 last week, and Richwood to take the No. 8 position.
    The Yellowjackets and De La Salle (12-5) shared the District 10-3A lead entering this week’s games. They were scheduled to meet Jan. 27 at De La Salle. The Lady Cavaliers received an honorable mention.
    Archbishop Chapelle (14-3) remains the No. 8 team in the Class 5A poll and is the only team with as few as 14 wins in the Top 10 list.    
    Dominican, which has won 17 of 24 games and is on a 10-game win streak, received some votes. It could make a case for inclusion this week depending on the outcome of its district game against Chapelle.
    The top two – No. 1 Southwood and No. 2 Lafayette – have an interesting race going.
    Both have identical 24-0 records. Southwood has outscored its opponents by an average of 33 points per game, and Lafayette has been beating foes by an average of 24 points.
    St. Thomas More (23-2) leads Class 4A; St. James (17-4) is No. 1 in Class 3A; John Curtis (19-1) is the 2A leader; Tensas (24-0) tops Class 1A; and Fairview (27-5) heads the Class B-C poll.
    St. Augustine remains the Class 4A boys’ leader, holding an eight-point voting margin over Peabody.
    The Purple Knights, who have won 25 of 27 games this season, garnered 10 of 12 first-place votes to remain slightly ahead of Peabody, 23-1.
    The War Horses’ 102-66 win over Tioga last Friday gave head coach Charles Smith his 800th victory.
    This class, considered the strongest of the seven boys’ classes, includes No. 3 Huntington (25-4), No. 4 Salmen (13-3), No. 5 St. Thomas More (20-4), No. 6 Northside (20-3), No. 7 Istrouma (18-5), No. 8 Neville (14-5), No. 9 Ellender (17-6) and No. 10 Plaquemine (21-5).
    Locally, McDonogh 35, O. Perry Walker, East Jefferson  and Holy Cross received honorable mention points.
    East St. John is the highest-ranking local Class 5A team, remaining at No. 6. Brother Martin remains a notch out of the Top 10, getting 26 points from the writers.