BY MATT VINES, DeSoto Parish Journal
MANSFIELD – It feels good to be a Lady Wolverine.
The Mansfield girls basketball team (18-8) gutted out a pair of road wins against other District 3-2A contenders with victories at Winnfield (42-30) and at Lakeview (40-38), who was previously unbeaten in district play.
The Lady Wolverines (7-1 District 3-2A) closed out their regular season with a win late Thursday night against Red River.
“Discipline and defense were keys to both of those wins (Winnfield and Lakeview),” said Mansfield coach Kendra Neal-Jones. “The girls played well defensively throughout the entire game, and we made some big defensive stops in the fourth quarter.
“We made free throws late against Lakeview. Chelsie Davis made 10-of-11 from the line to secure that win.”
Mansfield avenged an earlier loss to Lakeview and could be outright district champions if Winnfield tops Lakeview tonight.
But if the Lady Gators win, Lakeview and Mansfield will share the district title.
“We have been executing better offensively, and staying with what we do best, which is playing tough on the defensive end.”
Mansfield entered the season-finale at No. 10 in the Division III Non-Select rankings and will host a first-round playoff game.
The LHSAA will announce playoff pairings Tuesday.
North DeSoto, Logansport girls fighting for home court in playoffs
Both the North DeSoto and Logansport girls basketball teams know they are in the playoffs, it’s just a matter of where that first-round game will be.
The Lady Griffins (18-7) are at No. 16 and have a .30 lead in the Division II Non-Select power rankings to be one of the 16 first-round hosts.
But district foe Minden (No. 17) gained ground with a 61-53 win Tuesday.
North DeSoto will likely hold on to that as they finish the regular season Friday with lowly Woodlawn, who hasn’t won a district game and has just six wins all season.
Logansport’s tailspin continued as the Lady Tigers have dropped six of their last seven games since knocking off North DeSoto on Jan. 9.
Logansport (9-10) is just 1-5 in District 3-1A play, beating previously one-loss LaSalle in its only district win. The Lady Tigers lost the rematch to LaSalle by 33 points before a 72-71 overtime loss to St. Mary’s at home Tuesday.
Sitting at No. 17, Logansport still has a shot at a home playoff by winning its season-finale late Thursday night at Montgomery.
Stanley (5-23) is firmly out of the playoff picture at No. 43 and attempted to snap a 10-game losing streak in its season-finale late Thursday against Converse.
Area boys teams trying to break into the playoff picture
Logansport is the only DeSoto Parish boys basketball team that has locked up a playoff spot heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Tigers (8-8, 3-2 District 3-1A) pieced together a four-game winning streak that was snapped by district champion St. Mary’s on Tuesday in a 47-38 win.
But Logansport sits at No. 22 in Division IV, and the improvement from a 42-point loss to St. Mary’s earlier in the season means that the Tigers should be an unwelcome site on the road in the first round of the playoffs.
If the playoffs were to begin today, then Mansfield (9-17) would be in at No. 28, owning a .70-point lead for the final Division III playoff spot.
The Wolverines’ win against Winnfield last week is a big reason why, but the class of the league showed its separation in the last two games as Winnfield (89-56) and Lakeview (75-42) topped Mansfield.
Mansfield has one more regular-season game against Homer this Thursday.
North DeSoto (7-10) appears to have slid all the way out of the playoff picture at No. 33 as the Griffins have lost seven of their last eight contests. The most hurtful was a 49-45 home loss to Haynesville on Monday as North DeSoto desperately needed victory points to crack the top 28.
The Griffins aim for their first District 1-4A win in the finale at home against Woodlawn tonight before heading to Haynesville on Thursday.
Stanley (9-22) may not be totally out of the playoffs sitting at No. 31 with its finale late Thursday night against Converse, a team they’ve beaten three times this season. Stanley put itself in this position by splitting with Florien, scoring a 58-46 home win Monday.
A win might vault the Panthers into the top 28, but they’ll need help from teams above them.