Louisiana

Top 25 Louisiana Boys High School Basketball State Rankings (1/20/2025)

Published

1 year ago

January 20, 2025

Top 25 Louisiana Boys High School Basketball State Rankings (1/20/2025)

District races have begun in earnest across the state. Some leagues will greatly impact the rankings, such as District 5-5A (Catholic-BR, Liberty, Zachary, Central-BR, Scotlandville and Woodlawn). That league, which only plays one round, hasn’t kicked off yet. The robust Catholic League will showcase a terrific matchup this week in St. Augustine vs. Jesuit on Jan. 24.

There is a small slate of games scheduled for Monday, Jan. 20 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day). Things will grind to a halt on Tuesday and Wednesday with a historic winter storm on the way that will cancel some games and postpone others.

Keep reading to find out our top 25 boys basketball teams in Louisiana.

Previous rank: 1

Power rating: No. 1 (Division I select)

The Bears defeated Dunham, 63-49, in a Baton Rouge city rivalry game. Matthew Hotstream scored 22 points as Catholic built a 15-point halftime lead on the road, according to Charles Salzer of The Baton Rouge Advocate. Senior Tate McCurry added 20 points.

Previous rank: 2

Power rating: No. 2 (Division I select)

The Patriots defeated St. Helena and Glen Oaks. Liberty has a game on Monday, Jan. 20, against Greenforest High (Georgia) at the MLK Classic in Atlanta. Seniors Malek Robinson (14.9 ppg), Chivas Lee (10.3) and Kareem Washington (10.2) are the leading scorers. Washington is shooting 52% from the field. Junior Devin Houston is averaging 9.7 points, 2.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game.

Previous rank: 4

Power rating: No. 1 (Division II select)

The Eagles defeated Woodlawn-BR and McDonogh #35. Shaw erupted for 61 points in the second-half of the 97-61 rout of McDonogh #35, according to Grant Chachere of Crescent City Sports. Freshman Christian Clair posted 20 points. Shaw made 14 3-pointers. Senior Khalil Awogboro also totaled 20 points with five 3s. Kobe Butler and Allen Shaw, who came off the bench, chipped in 15 and 14 points. Triston Naquin was also in double figures (12).

pic.twitter.com/JF8CDFjFNb
— Archbishop Shaw Basketball (@BasketballShaw) January 18, 2025

Previous rank: 5

Power rating: No. 1 (Division III select)

The Cavaliers defeated Homer, Union Parish and Wossman. Bubba Strong’s triple at the buzzer clipped Wossman, 57-55, in a game played Saturday night at Lincoln Prep in Grambling. Robert Wright (2027) led with 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists, according to Jimmy Watson of The Shreveport Times. Strong had 12 points. Jaiden Hall added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists. G’Marrion Scott tallied seven points and 11 rebounds.

Previous rank: 6

Power rating: No. 3 (Division II select)

The Warhorses defeated Northside, 62-47, and won the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Classic with a 50-48 victory vs. Springfield (Mass.) Central. Telek Love scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds to nab game MVP honors vs. Springfield. Isaiah Jones had 13 points and nine boards. Braydon Durant finished with six points and 14 rebounds. Hall of Fame coach Charles Smith signed the “iconic Hall of Fame shoe” during the trip.

Previous rank: 7

Power rating: No. 3 (Division I select)

The Cougars defeated Westgate, 62-40, in the District 4-4A opener, and routed Holy Savior Menard in Alexandria, 75-35. STM made a dozen 3-pointers in the win vs. Menard. Eli Deats, one of the primary perimeter shooters, had 15 points. Trenton Potier contributed 12. An important district game at Northside will take place on Jan. 31.

Previous rank: 3

Power rating: No. 1 (Division I nonselect)

The Broncos gained wins over Madison Prep and David Thibodaux sandwiched around an 85-82 double overtime loss to Archbishop Hannan. Sophomore Ian Edmond, who led with 29 points vs. Hannan, scored at least20 points in all three games. Xavier Ferguson added 25 vs. Hannan. For the week, Edmond totaled 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals, and he took two charges in the game vs. David Thibodaux, which was at Madison Prep on Saturday.

Previous rank: 9

Power rating: No. 2 (Division I nonselect)

The Yellow Jackets secured non-district wins over Baton Rouge area foes Episcopal and Parkview Baptist. Jermaine O’Conner (9 of 14 FG) poured in 23 points in the 68-60 win over Parkview Baptist (14-4), which led at halftime, 36-29. Trae Dorsey’s reverse lay-up put Denham Springs ahead 61-54, according to Will Weathers of The Baton Rouge Advocate.

Previous rank: 10

Power rating: No. 3 (Division I nonselect)

The Wildcats went 3-0 on the week with wins over Donaldsonville, White Castle and Archbishop Rummel. Central pounded Donaldsonville (63-33), which is No. 5 in the Division III nonselect power ratings, with a 10-5 record. Max Tingle and Karter White knocked down 3-pointers in the first quarter of the 73-38 win over White Castle.

Previous rank: 16

Power rating: No. 2 (Division II select)

The Hawks blew out John F. Kennedy, 51-31, which avenged a recent loss to the Cougars. Hannan also won at Zachary, 85-82. AJ Thompson gave the Hawks an 83-82 lead and tacked on two free throws, according to Robin Fambrough of The Baton Rouge Advocate. Drew Timmons had 34 points and 11 rebounds.

Previous rank: 11

Power rating: No. 6 (Division I select)

The Blue Jays defeated Brother Martin and East Jefferson. After trailing by six points entering the fourth quarter, Jesuit outscored Brother Martin, 18-5, to claim a victory at home by a 52-45 margin, according to Ken Trahan of Crescent City Sports. Brewer Nitcher’s 21 points paced the Blue Jays in the non-district win over its Catholic League rival. Ethan Lapeze and Brennan Pitts had eight points apiece.

Previous rank: 12

Power rating: No. 4 (Division I select)

The Trojans defeated Northwest, 66-63, and earned a 52-50 win over Neville in the District 2-5A opener. Jordyn Johnson’s long-range 3 from the top of the key provided ASH with a 21-8 lead vs. Neville, which rallied at home. Marcus Bolden made it 27-22 with another 3. Trey Dorty put the game on ice with a steal.

Previous rank: 13

Power rating: No. 6 (Division II select)

The Blazers won on the road in overtime, 62-59, against Cecilia, and handled LaGrange, 85-42. LCCP beat is previous season high of 70 points. Jaiven Matthews had 23 points. Izayha Brown added 21.

Previous rank: 14

Power rating: No. 5 (Division I select)

The Purple Knights defeated Frederick A. Douglass , Chalmette and Young Audiences Charter. St. Aug won at home (50-48) against Douglass (16-5). Shooting guard Tye Williams recently returned from injury, according to Spencer Urquhart of The New Orleans Advocate.

Previous rank: 8

Power rating: No. 1 (Division II nonselect)

The Wildcats won the District 2-4A opener vs. Tioga, 68-56, with losses to Carroll (61-55) and Calvary Baptist. Wossman is scheduled to travel to Peabody on Jan. 21.

Previous rank: 15

Power rating: No. 10 (Division I nonselect)

The Bearcats defeated West Monroe and Pineville. Sophomore Ahmad Hudson accounted for 28 points and 26 rebounds with six blocked shots in the 73-63 win over West Monroe, according to Matt Belinson of The Ruston Daily Leader. Hudson (6-8) scored 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Bearcats rallied from a five-point third-quarter deficit.

Previous rank: 17

Power rating: No. 2 (Division III select)

The Class 2A Cajuns downed Class 5A Hahnville (57-43) and Edna Karr (59-51). Upcoming opponents include De La Salle (12-5), Vandebilt Catholic (16-5), Madison Prep (14-6), McDonogh #35 (16-6) and H.L. Bourgeois (11-10).

Previous rank: 19

Power rating: No. 4 (Division I nonselect)

The Chiefs defeated Haughton in the District 1-5A opener, 71-27, and are scheduled to travel to small school power Negreet (17-5) this week. Ja’Dell Demery had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Haughton.

Previous rank: 20

Power rating: No. 7 (Division II select)

The Vikings lost at Peabody and defeated Jennings. Northside plays its District 4-4A opener at home vs. St. Thomas More on Jan. 31.

Previous rank: 22

Power rating: No. 6 (Division I nonselect)

The Lions defeated Sterlington and West Monroe. Freshman Darren Ford scored 22 points and made two clutch free throws in the 66-64 Districtr 1-5A win over West Monroe, according to Megan Murray of KNOE-TV.

Previous rank: 23

Power rating: No. 1 (Class B)

The Cardinals defeated Loreauville and St. Louis Catholic. Lacassine exploded for a 49-19 halftime lead vs. Loreauville (11-4) and went on to win, 77-64, according to poster CJR3888 on the Louisiana Sportsline message board. 6-foot-4 Kane Broussard is a top scorer.

Previous rank: Not ranked

Power rating: No. 7 (Division I select)

Ponchatoula is 2-0 in league play with a 63-40 win over Hammond (15-5) and a 96-85 overtime win over Covington (15-5). The Green Wave’s losses have been to teams with a combined record of 75-12. U-High (11-6), which defeated the Wave by three points earlier this month, has half of that group’s setbacks.

Previous rank: Not ranked

Power rating: No. 9 (Division I select)

The Raiders have won five straight games since a loss to Captain Shreve, which it avenged. Against a box-and-one defense, sophomore Peyton Parker helped his team to a win over Carroll with 11 assists, 10 rebounds and four steals, according to The Basketball Tribune X page. 6-foot-6 junior Antonio Dixon is scoring 10.1 ppg and shooting 55%.

Previous rank: 21

Power rating: No. 3 (Division II nonselect)

The Bulldogs lost to Huntington and Wossman and defeated Wossman, showing again that they’re capable of taking down any opponent on a given night.

Previous rank: 18

Power rating: No. 6 (Division II select)

The Chargers snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Hahnville on Saturday. The last two setbacks – to St. Aug and Zachary – were by one and six points.

Dropped Out: No. 24 John F. Kennedy (17-5), No. 25 Holy Cross (16-3)

Watch List: Sulphur (18-4), Northshore (12-5), East Ascension (15-4), Minden (13-1), Opelousas (12-4) Franklin Parish (14-5), Brusly (15-2), Red River (15-3), Marksville (18-6), Ferriday (18-4), Franklin (11-3), Lakeview (15-4), John Curtis (15-5), Holy Cross (16-3), LB Landry (15-7), Bonnabel (13-6), Scotlandville (14-5), David Thibodaux (17-4), Sophie B Wright (13-5), Vandebilt Catholic (16-5), McKinley (10-7), University Lab (11-6), Frederick Douglass (16-5), St. Michael (16-7), Dunham (12-4), Newman (11-5), Rosepine (18-3), John F. Kennedy (17-5), De La Salle (12-5), Catholic New Iberia (9-7), Lincoln Prep (13-6), Crescent City (10-6), Avoyelles Public Charter (14-5), Zwolle (15-7), Pleasant Hill (19-5), Hicks (24-6), Quitman (19-2), Negreet (17-5), Loreauville (11-4), Mamou (17-4), Madison Parish (17-3)

Source link

Louisiana

How carbon capture is becoming one of the biggest fights in Louisiana politics

Published

5 hours ago

April 5, 2026

Press Room

How carbon capture is becoming one of the biggest fights in Louisiana politics

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Mark T. Guillory, second from right, speaks to fellow members of Save My Louisiana and, on the far left, State Treasurer Dr. John Fleming on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2025, outside the 19th Judicial District courthouse in downtown Baton Rouge. The group sued the state of Louisiana to challenge a law that allows companies seeking to do carbon capture to store the gas under private land. Fleming, a critic of carbon capture who is running for U.S. Senate, was present for the news conference held immediately after the lawsuit was filed. Guillory, a Rapides Parish resident, is one of the plaintiffs. Gary Musgrove, president of the group, is fifth from the right.

Source link

Louisiana

Vehicle hits revelers, injuring about 15, at Lao New Year celebration in Louisiana

Published

17 hours ago

April 4, 2026

Press Room

Vehicle hits revelers, injuring about 15, at Lao New Year celebration in Louisiana

More than a dozen people were injured when a vehicle struck revelers at a parade celebrating the Lao New Year on Saturday in rural Louisiana, authorities said.

The driver was quickly arrested and charged with impaired driving, police said.

Video shared on social media showed multiple people on the ground at the annual event in Broussard and New Iberia. The videos showed firefighters tending to one person trapped beneath the car, which wound up in a ditch along the parade route.

About 15 people were hurt, some seriously, according to the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office.

“Based on the preliminary investigation, this does not appear to be an intentional act,” said a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, Rebecca Melancon.

Acadian Ambulance, a private ambulance company, said on social media that it responded to the emergency at around 2:30 p.m. and sent 10 ambulances and a helicopter to aid the injured. Two patients were airlifted, it said.

The Louisiana State Police said the driver, who is 57 and lived in Jeanerette, La., appeared impaired when police arrived and later tested positive for a high blood alcohol level. He was charged with impaired, negligent and careless driving and having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.

The parade is part of a three-day New Year celebration set in the Lanexang Village, a Laotian neighborhood near New Iberia with hundreds of families near the Buddhist temple grounds of Wat Thammarattanaram.

It features Southeast Asian food, live music, a parade and other family-friendly activities attracting thousands each year.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry issued a statement on behalf of himself and his wife about the incident. “Sharon and I are praying for all those affected, and are grateful for the first responders who have responded to the scene,” he said.

The festival’s organizers issued a statement on Facebook saying they were “profoundly saddened” by the tragedy. “We are praying for the victims and for their families during this difficult time,” it said.

Afternoon and evening events were canceled, but the festival planned to hold religious services Sunday, the organizers said.

Source link

Louisiana

Julia Letlow faces more questions about past DEI comments in Louisiana Senate campaign

Published

1 day ago

April 4, 2026

Press Room

Julia Letlow faces more questions about past DEI comments in Louisiana Senate campaign

How does U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow square endorsing diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a college presidential applicant in 2020 and her subsequent anti-DEI voting record in Congress?

That’s the question that confronted Letlow Friday in the face of continuing attacks from the man she is trying to unseat, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, for her calls to expand DEI to hire more women and racial minorities on the faculty when she was applying in 2020 to be the next president of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

In press releases and a video on Thursday and Friday, Cassidy pointed to her comments to challenge her conservative credentials. “Julia is a liberal,” he concluded.

State Treasurer John Fleming, the other major Republican candidate in the race, has piled on with criticisms of Letlow.

“DEI is a Marxist concept that says everybody has to have equal outcomes regardless of their abilities or regardless of how hard they work or study,” Fleming said in an interview. “Socialism or Marxism has never worked in any country.”

So far, Letlow has noted that she has expressed strong opposition to DEI programs since she was elected to the House in 2021. She also noted that Cassidy supported bills passed by Congress that included DEI programs.

On Friday, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate requested an interview with Letlow to ask her to explain how she could call for creating a “division” of DEI at UL Monroe and then oppose those programs after joining the House the following year.

“Early on, DEI was presented in higher education as a way to encourage people to achieve the American dream,” the campaign responded in a statement from Letlow. “But I quickly witnessed firsthand what it really was: another tool the radical left hijacked to divide people, push indoctrination, and build a system that holds people down instead of lifting them up.”

The wrangling over DEI is taking place six weeks before the May 16 Republican primary where Republicans and no-party voters will choose among Fleming, Cassidy, Letlow and Mark Spencer, a political unknown, to be their next senator.

The party’s leadership is crystal clear on DEI.

President Donald Trump, from the day he returned to office, has sought to root out DEI policies at the nation’s universities.

Gov. Jeff Landry wrote the U.S. Department of Education on Feb. 23 that “harmful diversity, equity and inclusion policies have no place in Louisiana.”

This backdrop explains why Cassidy began slamming Letlow on DEI immediately after Fox News on Wednesday aired a report that contained video of her promoting the benefits of DEI when she was one of six semifinalists to be UL Monroe’s next president in August 2020.

“I think it exposes her true colors,” Cassidy said in a video recorded on Thursday.

Letlow, who has a doctorate from the University of South Florida, was the university’s Executive Assistant to the President for External Affairs and Community Outreach at the time. Her comments came three months after a police officer in Minneapolis choked George Floyd to death, spurring a leftward move nationally in favor of DEI and so-called “woke” policies.

“A strong and progressive leader”

During the interview, Letlow called herself “a strong and progressive leader” and said UL Monroe’s next president needed to provide powerful support for DEI because the university didn’t have enough women and women of color on the faculty.

“We have 8 percent African-American faculty women on this campus,” she said. “That is not enough. That does not reflect our student population.”

She added, “We don’t have enough women at the top. We don’t have enough women of color at the top. I would be committed to that. I believe the president needs to have diversity on their senior council, just like you said. You avoid groupthink when you have more diverse voices at the table.”

Pearson Cross, a political science professor at UL Monroe, said central to Cassidy’s efforts is an attempt to neutralize or wrestle away from Letlow her chief campaign calling card: Trump’s endorsement of her on Jan. 17.

“Given the strident anti-DEI efforts by Trump and Landry, being a supporter of DEI makes it seem like you’re terribly out of step,” Cross said. “That’s a point the Cassidy campaign is making. It’s evidence that Letlow is not one of us.”

Ed Chervenak, a UNO political science professor, said Cassidy’s tactics are clear.

“He wants to reassure conservative voters that he’s the conservative candidate in the race, not Letlow,” Chervenak said.

Undermine Cassidy’s narrative

The Letlow campaign is seeking to undermine that narrative by reminding voters that Cassidy voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, and by noting that Cassidy, in August 2023, said Trump should drop out of the presidential race because he was facing criminal charges from four indictments. (Trump was convicted by a jury in New York City in May 2024 of paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels to hide a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign.)

The Letlow campaign is also zeroing in on several bills where Cassidy joined some Republicans in voting with Democrats to pass bills when President Joe Biden was in office. Tucked into these sprawling bills were measures that promoted DEI.

“Cassidy,” Letlow said in her statement, “voted with Democrats to fund and expand the DEI machine. So the contrast in this race is simple: I fought it, and he helped bankroll it.”

There are three candidates in the May 16 Democratic primary. They are Nick Albares, Jamie Davis and Gary Crockett. None currently hold elected office.

Source link