By George Mahl-Sports Editor

If the prep basketball season were a horse race, the track announcer would be saying “down the stretch they come.” Since I have already given a brief update on the girls situation, here is how River Parish teams are stacking up heading into the final week and a half of the season.

St. Charles Catholic may be the best team with a below .500 record in district. They have not been blown out, they have played hard, but have been unable to figure it out. The Comets may be their own worst enemy right now. They have been very competitive in games recently against St. James and Lutcher. They even had the lead at halftime against the Bulldogs, who may end up winning the district.

Speaking of Lutcher, Mike McNamara, head coach, probably has the best inside play of any team in the River Parishes. Led by Gerard Landry and freshman Trenton Marshall, if the Bulldogs can get some momentum going, they may have a good shot to get to the Top 28 in Lafayette next month.

East St. John is a strange team to figure out. They roll past a solid Ellender team by 20 points, but falter against mediocre teams. I think the Wildcats have the best perimeter team in the River Parishes. Although St. Charles Catholic has some good perimeter shooters that are not to be taken lightly.

ESJ Head Coach Charles Julien will likely find his team finish in fifth place in 6-5A. The top of the district will see the bayou teams claim at least three playoff spots.

Across the river in Edgard, West St. John will have little difficulty claiming another district championship. The Rams do not have an exploding scorer like Demond Carter or Josh Labiche, but have managed to get double digit scoring from most of its starters. It will be interesting to see how far the Rams can go in the playoffs because 2A is one of the toughest classifications to be in for boys basketball.

West St. John may find themselves in the same predicament this year as last year – facing University in the playoffs. Riverside Academy has one of the youngest teams in the area. RA Head Coach Tommy Monier is still looking for the right chemistry for his club. It seems the Rebels have not gotten much support this year outside of Labiche.

Finally, they may have some shaky moments along the way, but I fully expect Reserve Christian to win its third consecutive state championship this year. Good luck to all teams who get into the playoffs.