By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

With the ringing in of the New Year, prep basketball gets into full swing pretty soon with the open of the district schedules for teams in the River Parishes.

For large schools in the River Parishes, East St. John leads the way in the boys division, standing at 18-4 thus far through the season.

The Wildcats reached the semi-finals of the playoffs last year and have been impressive this year against a tough schedule. They’ll be tested early on in the district swing this year though as they tip-off against Hahnville (at home) and John Ehret (away). The Tigers sent ESJ home in last year’s quarter-finals while Ehret was crowned state champion.

Destrehan has been steady on the year, building up a 13-5 record heading into the end of December. The DHS Wildcats will come into town to play East St. John on Janurary 30.

On the girls side, Hahnville looks to be the front-runner in the race to the 5-5A championship with a 16-2 non-district record. Meanwhile, the LadyCats have gone 13-7 and should vie with John Ehret in competition for the district title. Destrehan’s girls squad is in 6-9 so far this year, but shouldn’t be looked past despite being in the middle of a rebuilding year. Last year, the LadyCats reached the semi-finals where they lost to eventual state champions Southwood.

Another rivalry to look for is in district 10-2A as St. Charles and Riverside are scheduled to meet on Jan. 26. The Comets and the Rebels met two weeks ago for the Riverside Holiday tournament, where the SCC squad took a 54-74 championship win.

The Rebels though, have been steady on offense lately and have been competetive laregly because of Josh Collins and Kane Keller. Collins provides a slasher on offense for Riverside while Keller has been a threat from three-point range with 80 on the season.

St. Charles has size and finesse of their own though, from Austin Martin and Jonathan Bonura, who helped the Comets put together a five game win streak heading into the East Ascension tournament and the New Year.

Also in district 10-2A, St. James and Donaldsonville will be a presence in the title race. The Wildcats have built a record of 9-4 while Donaldsonville’s Tigers are 8-9.

The girls teams for Riverside and St. Charles are set to start the district games off for the local area with a tilt scheduled for Jan. 9.

In that 10-2A race, Curtis and Donaldsonville lead the district with records of 9-7 and 12-8 respectively.