Parish trio finishes 8-A girls’ play expecting state playoff berths.

Iberville Parish’s trio of White Castle, East Iberville, and St. John closed out District 8-A basketball competition Friday night with high expectations of qualifying for postseason playoff participation.

Top ten ranked WCHS claimed the league crown with an undefeated 12-0 district mark and regular season showing of 17-4. East Iberville High finished with a solid 7-4 district mark and an 8-17 record against solid district and non-district opponents. Like EIHS, St. John played a tough season slate and finished with a 13-15 overall record and a 5-7 district worksheet. Both teams showed enough unofficial power points over the weekend to qualify for playoff berths.

It will be the first state playoff berth in basketball for a St. John High girls’ team in at least ten years.

Expected to join the parish trio in the state playoffs out of the solid 8-A district are runner-up 8-4 West St. John and third place 6-4 Ascension CHS. WSJHS finished 20-6 overall, while ACHS closed with a 13-12 overall record.

Here are reports on the parish teams’ final district week contests:

WCHS 64, SJHS 46:

The Lady Bulldogs closed out unbeaten in district with a 18-point victory in Plaquemine Friday night.

WCHS’ girls jumped out to a 20-6 lead after one period and went into the dressing room with a 30-20 lead. The Lady Bulldogs closed out with a 34-26 scoring margin in the second half.

Ronquel Gibson continued a string of double-figure scoring efforts in district as she led the WCHS girls to the victory. The senior bagged a game-high 15 points, while Erica Jones hit for 12 and Shylar O’Bear for 10. Bryanshel Gibson netted 8, while Skylar O’Bear tallied 5 and Delicia Landry managed 4 points.

Jessica Lee paced St. John with 12 points, while Shelbi Strickland and Megan Gremillin scored 9 apiece. Kaycie Hudson hit for 8, while Kamryn Theriot scored 6 and Macy Williamson 2 points.

ACHS 43, EIHS 35:

The EIHS girls closed out their district season with a 7-4 record after an 8-point loss to visiting ACHS last Thursday evening as the two clubs vied for third place honors in the league.

Kirstein Oubre and Jalaycia Mills led the EI club with 12 points apiece, while Kaithlyn Knight netted 6 points and Ariel Fuller 3 points.

WCHS 51, ACHS 46:

White Castle’s girls extended their perfect 8-A mark to 11-0 Wednesday of last week with a 25-point victory over visiting Ascension CHS.

The league champion Bulldogs fell behind in the first half by a 30-26 score, but came roaring back in the second half to win. The WC girls rallied with quarter margins of 14-8 and 11-8.

Ronquel Gibson turned in her best scoring effort of the season as she rang up 22 points to pace the WCHS club. Skylar O’Bear netted 13, while Latisha Starks had 6 and Bryanshel Gibson 4 points. Tallying 2 apiece for the Bulldogs were Delicia Landry, Tyrenee Foster, and Erica Jones.

WCHS 51, EIHS 36:

The Lady Bulldogs continued their run of consecutive district games with a 15-poin romp over visiting parish rival East Iberville High Tuesday of last week.

The victory provided the WCHS girls the district crown with a 10-0 record and only two games remaining on the slate. Meanwhile, EIHS slipped to 7-4 in league play, but still were in the hunt for postseason play.

White Castle rang up quarter margins of 10-5, 21-6, and 10-7. EIHS registered an 18-11 margin in the third stanza.

Ronquel Gibson continued a recent scoring run as she led the Bulldogs with 19 points. Sister Bryanshel Gibson added 11, while Erica Jones netted 10 and Skylar O’Bear 8 points.

Jalaycia Mills paced the Lady Tigers with 14, while Kirstein Oubre tallied 9 and Kaitlynn Knight had 6. Chaunice LaCour and Ariel Fuller combined for 7 more EIHS points.

SJHS 58, WSJHS 53:

St. John’s girls pulled off a clutch home victory Tuesday of last week by pinning a five-point loss on visiting and ranked West St. John High. The victory eventually boosted the Lady Eagles into a state playoff power-point total.

WSJHS fell to 7-4 in league play and to 19-6 with the loss.

The Lady Eagles used a 22-14 advantage in the second quarter to take a nine-point lead by halftime. The visiting Lady Rams rallied back with a 16-6 scoring margin in the third stanza, but the St. John ladies rallied back for a final 17-14 margin to win the game by five in one of their best league performances of the season.

Kaycie Hudson paced the Eagle offense with 14 points, while Megan Gremillion netted 12 and Shelbi Strickland 11 points. Jessie Brown had 9 and Kamryn Theriot 8 points. Tallying two apiece were Jessica Lee and Katherine D’Albor.

Deanna Bell led WSJHS with a game-high 19 points.

SJHS 51, CLA 34:

The Lady Eagles garnered their fourth district victory of the season Monday of last week with a solid 17-point victory. Eventually the SJHS girls would finish their final district week of play with a 2-1 mark.

St. John put together scoring margins of 10-4, 14-5, and 16-9 as they coasted to victory.

Theriot tallied a team-high 15 points to pace the SJHS offense, while Gremillion had 12 and Hudson 9 points. Brown and Strickland combined for 9 more Eagle points, while Emily Palermo, Lee, and Macy Williamson netted 2 apiece.

Amber Ambeau led CLA with a game-high 24 points.