Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Class 3A 2nd Round Playoff Preview and Predictions



Time to look at 3A now, in a class that many consider weak, I consider very wide open. Of course you have top seeded Vidalia that should make the title game with Gary Stewart and Torrey Dixon leading the way but you also have teams outside the top ten like Madison at 21, Northwest at 19, and Holy Cross at 11 that can seriously make some more noise. Madison is coming off a upset win over 12 seed Caldwell, Northwest upset 14 seed Port Allen and Holy Cross sneaked by 22 seed Franklin who was better than what their seed indicated. On the flip side with Vidalia you have teams like Plaquemine and Richwood who could meet in the quarterfinal's on friday that are used to the Top 28 and deep playoff runs as are other top 10 seeds like Rayville(8), ED White(4), Carroll(3) and even Marksville(20) in recent years. So, as many say 3A is weak this is just a wide open class with a lot of good teams that are very similar. Another team that is now in the mix after dropping down from 4A is #5 seed Abbeville. With that said, these 2nd round games are going to be very interesting. The first game to watch is the 8/9 game of Crowley hosting Rayville. Both teams are coming off easy wins. The second game to watch traditional power Madison(21) hosting Abbeville in what is sure to be a entertaining game. A third game to watch and quite possibly the best game of the 3A second round is going to be Northwest hosting Carroll. Caroll is a very talented team that has tons of tradition. Northwest is loaded with young talent including the brother of 5A Scotlandville's J-Jay Thomas. Cleveland Thomas has been NHS's leading player all year as a sophomore averaging close to 24 ppg. The last game to really take a look at is North DeSoto hosting Richwood. ND has a very talented junior in LeRon Barnes while Richwood has as deep a team as there is in Louisiana led by senior Marceis Davis who is coming off a game in which he scored 30+ and I believe had 9 3's. A win by the Rams would set up a potential home game with 2 seed Plaquemine if the Green Devils defeat 15 seed Iowa.

Class 3A Predictions:

1. Vidalia over 16. Bogalusa
9. Rayville over 8. Crowley
21. Madison over 5. Abbeville
4. E.D. White over 20. Marksville
19. Northwest over 3. Carroll
11. Holy Cross over 6. Green Oaks
7. Richwood over 23. North DeSoto
2. Plaquemine over 15. Iowa

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