Tough road ahead for boys playoff teams

By: RHETT MANUEL Sports Editor The road to Marsh Madness begins now for the Evangeline Parish boys’ teams that qualified for the Louisiana High School Athletic Association playoffs. Three of the parish’s teams – Ville Platte, Mamou and Sacred Heart – earned the right to travel that road over the next couple weeks leading into the state’s premiere high school basketball event that begins March 6. The paths along that road, however, will vary in difficulty. Among the three qualifying teams, only Ville Platte will be at home as playoff matchups begin tonight. The Bulldogs earned a first-round home game by way of a 20-win regular season. Final power rankings placed the Bulldogs as the No. 8-seed in the Division III non-select playoff bracket. The Bulldogs, led by junior guard Sage Papillion, host No. 25 St. James in a 6:30 tip-off tomorrow night in their home gym. Ville Platte, while talented, will have to navigate a tricky bracket to make it to Lake Charles’ Burton Coliseum. Should the Bulldogs win tomorrow night, a second home game against either No. 9 Sterlington or No. 24 Red River would be next. What gives reason for pause is the fact that Ville Platte’s final test would likely be top-seeded Port Allen. The Pelicans and Bulldogs met earlier in the season in a tournament, a matchup that Port Allen won 71-47. The No. 19-seeded Mamou Green Demons will make a trip to southwest Louisiana to start its playoff journey, going to No. 14 Rosepine. As of press time, the game’s official start time hasn’t been posted on the LHSAA website. This too is a rematch of a regular season matchup between two teams, one where Rosepine blew out Mamou in a 85-54 game on its home floor last month. Should Mamou pull the upset, it would travel to play a fresh Winnfield team in the regional round. The No. 3-seeded Tigers earned a first-round bye. For Sacred Heart, its journey throughout the season has been one of growth. While the young Trojans have experienced some growing pains all year, especially in the early portion of the year, the Trojans ended the year much better than they started it in posting a 4-2 district record. The No. 22-seeded Trojans will make the trip to No. 11 Ascension Catholic Friday night at 7 p.m. Ascension Catholic finished the regular season with a 14-14 record. Both teams lost to a common opponent, French Settlement, in the regular season. The winner of this matchup will travel to Morgan City to play No. 6 Central Catholic, who earned a first-round bye.