BY Matt Vines
The winning streak couldn’t last forever, and North DeSoto’s softball streak to begin the season ended at 18.
The Lady Griffins (20-3) have lost three of their last five games as they battled teams in other parts of the state in the past week.
North DeSoto’s streak ended in a 3-2 loss against Brusly before another one-run loss (1-0) to St. Thomas More.
The Lady Griffins blew out Barbe (20-4 score) but dropped to Sterlington 6-3.
North DeSoto restarted its winning ways in the District 1-4A tournament with an 11-0 win against Evangel Christian.
The Lady Griffins will face Minden in the tournament championship on April 3 but will continue its schedule with six non-district games in between.
North DeSoto still owns the top spot in the District II power rankings by more than three power points.
Stanley is on a roll with six straight wins and 12 of its last 13.
The Lady Panthers started District 3-B play with a 29-5 win against Florien and also added big wins against parkway and Many to the list among others. Stanley is No. 6 in the Division V Non-Select rankings.
Mansfield (5-15) has lost seven of eight with its lone win coming against Jonesboro-Hodge (27-10 score).
BASEBALL
North DeSoto retained its top-five power ranking in Division II by winning two games following its loss to Red River.
The Griffins (14-4) topped Cedar Creek (17-1 score) and Captain Shreve (5-2).
NDHS is No. 5 with one month left in the regular season. The action in the next week includes Grant tonight, Winnfield on Saturday, Many on Monday, Bossier on Wednesday and Evangel Christian on Thursday.
Logansport has won four of its last five games to counteract a period of six losses in seven contests.
The Tigers split with Montgomery and beat Negreet, Florien and North Caddo before falling to Northwood.
Logansport (8-9) is No. 18 in Division IV Non-Select.
Stanley continues to roll in District 3-B as the Panthers are 3-0 with two wins against Florien and one against Zwolle.
The Panthers (13-4) are ranked seventh in the Division V Non-Select and have won seven of its last nine games.
Mansfield (3-4) has dropped its last four contests, including losses to Doyline (10-0), Simsboro (18-1) and Many (16-6). Mansfield is sitting outside the playoff picture at No. 30 in the Division III Non-Select power rankings.
TRACK AND FIELD
The North DeSoto girls track and field team edged Parkway to win the Don Millen Bearkat Invitational hosted at Benton High on Wednesday.
The Lady Griffins tallied 119 points and fended off second-place Parkway at 103 points in the 16-team field.
Mansfield came in fourth with 58 points.
The North DeSoto boys track and field team claimed third with 92 points with Mansfield finishing eighth in a 16-team field.
On the girls side, North DeSoto won three events.
Taylor Clark claimed the 100 meters (12.10), Yazmin Ferguson won the discus (97-7) and Mikayla Mondello captured the triple jump (100-3).
Three North DeSoto girls relays finished second, including the 4×800 (Macaylah Tingle, Ellie Simmons, D’Anna Robinson, Makayla Butler), the 4×200 (Clark, Roderia Whitaker, Aja Douglas, Tayneesha Dejuanta), and the 4×100 (Nailah Delton, Douglas, Clark, Whitaker).
Other second-place finishes include Madison Veal in the 110 hurdles (18.11), Tingle in the 800 (2:36.76), Mondello in the javelin (100-3) and Molly Wiley in the pole vault (8-6).
Third-place spots include Josie Parker in the discus (89-9) and Keri Harris in the 110 hurdles.
Mansfield showcased its speed with three wins in the shorter distances.
LaJordan Boykins won the 200 (26.01), LaBrasia Ross the 400 (1:01.92) and Mansfield took home the 4×100 (Trinity Ford, Boykins, Germanee Robertson, Zakhia Austin).
Austin added a silver in the 100 (12.26) and the long jump (15-8).
Mansfield’s 4×400 relay captured bronze (Robertson, Austin, Boykins, Ross).
On the boys side, North DeSoto’s Javonte Taylor won the triple jump with a mark of 42-11 and also claimed second in the long jump (20-11) and high jump (5-10). Kaleb Brownlee added a second-place in the triple jump (40-6).
North DeSoto relays racked up points with a second place in the 4×800 (Dylan Compton, Lake Bates, Chaz Martinez, Gavin Shirley), a second place in the 4×200 (Kenny Thomas, Dale Howard, Braylen Delton, Lake Bates), third in the 4×400 (Compton, Bates, Kaleb Brownlee, Martinez) and a fourth in the 4×100 (Bates, Thomas, Delton, Howard).
Third-place finishes for North DeSoto included Thomas in the 100 (10.81), Howard in the 110 hurdles (15.29) and Compton in the 800 (1:59.30).
Mansfield’s Ian White logged the Wolverines’ best finish with a second-place in the 110-hurdles (14.48).