Three Avoyelles Parish teams advance in girls basketball playoffsl

Three of Avoyelles Parish’s five high school girls basketball teams advanced in the playoffs after Thursday night wins, with one of the local cage squads falling by one point in overtime.

Avoyelles Public Charter went into their home game with Delhi Charter as the No. 4 seed in the 32-team Class 2A playoffs. The No. 29 Lady Gators were no match for the dominating Lady Vikings, which took an easy 55-22 victory on their home court, which is nicknamed Valhalla.

APCS led 39-3 at one point in the second quarter and did not allow a Lady Gator goal until the last half of that quarter.

The Lady Vikes’ almost impenetrable defense stole the ball numerous times, often leading to points. They host the No. 13 Winnfield Lady Tigers on Monday.

Also in Class 2A, the Bunkie Lady Panthers tamed familiar foe Rapides Lady Mustangs, 49-33. The Bunkie cagers travel to Lake Arthur Monday in their quest for a state championship.

It was the Lady Panthers’ first playoff win since 1999, when they defeated Notre Dame of Crowley in the first round.

Bunkie trailed Rapides for most of the game, but took the lead for the first — and last — time with a layup by Kaylen Rabalais with 6:33 left in the third quarter, making the score 25-23 at that point. The Lady Panthers’ skill at rebounds and forcing turnovers that led to quick points served them well for the rest of the night.

The Lady Mustangs were only able to muster three points in the fourth quarter.

The Avoyelles Lady Mustangs came very close to sending all three of the parish’s District 4-AA teams to Round 2, losing a heart-breaker in overtime to Doyle, 53-54. The Lady Tigers will have their paws full Monday when they travel to Rayville to take on the No. 3 Lady Hornets.

In the eight-team Division V non-public school playoffs, the St. Joseph Lady Eagles had almost as easy an evening as the Lady Vikings, pummeling Country Day University Academy, 50-24.

The other three games in that division will be played tonight. The Lady Eagles will either travel to play No. 1 Family Christian in Baton Rouge or host the No. 8 Christ Episcopal Wildcats. Barring a David-Goliath reenactment on the Flames’ home court, St. Joe will have to bump the favored Lady Flames in what will be the semifinal contest in Division V. The championship game will be played either Feb. 25 or Feb. 26 in the Alario Center in Westwego.

In Class 3A, the No. 21 Marksville’s Lady Tigers were bounced from the playoffs by the No. 12 Carroll Lady Bulldogs, 62-40. Carroll goes to No. 5 Jennings in Monday’s second round.