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Friday, February 23, 2007

Ladies' Top 28 lookahead

Earlier this week, I analyzed the quarterfinals of the girls basketball state playoffs. In a bit I will analyze area teams' chances at next week's Ladies' Top 28. But once again let me analyze how I did last week.

In Class 5A, I said Southwood would win and they did. I thought Ruston would beat Mt. Carmel but I was wrong.

In Class 4A, I thought Parkway would play a good game against Glen Oaks but lose. I was right about that.

In Class 3A, I did not expect Mansfield to win on the road against fourth-ranked Marksville. I was extremely wrong about that and I'm glad. Mansfield routed Marksville and coach Kendra Cunningham, a former prep star at Pelican and college standout at Louisiana Tech, has done an outstanding job. Mansfield was woefully underranked all season in the polls.

In Class 2A, I predicted Homer would lose to Iota and the Lady Pels lost big to a team that was ranked No. 18 in the nation in USA Today's most recent rankings. There is no shame in that and it doesn't spoil a great season for Homer. I predicted Many would reach the Top 28 for the third straight year and the Lady Tigers did.

In Class 1A, I went against logic and on a whim picked Evangel to win on the road against Arcadia. I won't go on whims anymore as Arcadia used a big second-half to win easily.

Now on to the semifinals.

In Class 5A, I fully expect Southwood to beat Mt. Carmel and then win its 10th state title. I do think Southwood will be tested with a close game, though.

In Class 3A, Mansfield faces second-ranked Franklin. I picked against Mansfield last time and was wrong. I'm going to have to pick against them this time, too. Hopefully, the Lady Wolves will prove me wrong again.

In Class 2A, I expect Many to get to the finals but I don't see the Lady Tigers beating undefeated Iota again in the title game.

In Class A, Arcadia has a winnable semifinal game against Southern Lab but will likely be able to overcome top-ranked Southern Lab in the finals.

In Class B, Sabine Parish's Zwolle has as good a chance as any of the four semifinalists to win the title, but second-ranked Hornbeck is the favorite. If you want to reach a great story about Sabine Parish basketball in the New York Times, click on this link http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/22/sports/othersports/22zwolle.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

In Class C, four of the five ranked teams reached the semifinals, including area teams Calvin and Pleasant Hill. Calvin, which has lost only once this season, will likely win it all.

Good luck to all area teams.

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