Challenges for Elton, Merryville, Sam Houston, LaGrange girls teams
In this edition of the Three Point Shot, Rodrick Anderson and Warren Arceneaux preview the week in area high school basketball.
What is the best girls game on the schedule?
RA: Elton at Merryville, Friday. Elton is the team to beat in District 4-1A, but three-time defending district champ Merryville is on the rise and looking to extended its 48-game game district win streak that dates back to the end of the 2014-2015 season.
Elton has won seven straight games and is 4-0 in district. Merryville has won eight of its last 10 after starting its first season without Andrea Cournoyer in more than six seasons with a 2-7 record.
Sophomores Madisen Mahfouz and Alyssa Duncan led a Merryville team that has no juniors or seniors, while Elton is a seasoned team led by senior guards Jameica and Jamaica James.
WA: Baton Rouge Lee at Sam Houston, Friday; Lee at LaGrange, Saturday. Lee is 17-1 and reached the Division II title game last week. This weekend the Patriots will visit Lake Charles to play a pair of 5A teams that were ranked third and fourth in the latest power rankings.
LaGrange is coming off a strong 3-1 showing in the highest bracket of the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans.
Sam Houston went 1-2 at the same tournament, picking up a quality win over Natchitoches Central.
What is the most interesting boys game?
RA: Welsh at Lake Arthur, Friday. This will be the second top-10 showdown in District 6-2A for Lake Arthur this week. No. 4 Lake Arthur will face No. 3 Ville Platte on the road Tuesday before host No. 7 Welsh Friday. Lake Arthur has won nine consecutive games and the defending district champs, but Welsh is off to a 12-3 start led by 6-3 junior small forward Thomas Scruggs, who is averaging over 20 points a game.
WA: LC College Prep at Washington-Marion, Friday. W-M head coach Albert Hartwell has won a district championship each of the eight years he has been at the school and has the Indians at 2-0 in District 4-3A after narrow wins at Westlake and home against St. Louis last week. Prep opened district play with a win over South Beauregard last week and has won 7 of its last 8 games. W-M swept a pair of close games last year, winning by a combined 10 points.
Name a player to watch.
RA: Elton forward Victoria Woods. The 6-1 sophomore is averaging a double-double for the Class 1A No. 2 Indians. She is averaging 12.1 points per game and is a big-time rebounder, averaging 13.5 per game with 18 or more in six of her last eight games.
WA: Washington-Marion guard Amiya Dartest scored 43 points last week as W-M split a pair of district games against Westlake and St. Louis.
Dartest had 32 in a loss to St. Louis and will face South Beauregard and LC College Prep this week as the Charging Indians attempt to stay in the title chase.