Girls basketball: New Tech sole parish playoff survivor

Louisiana New Tech at Plain Dealing was the only Bossier Parish team to survive the first round of the LHSAA girls basketball state playoffs Monday night.
The two-time defending state champion Lady Lions defeated St. Martin’s Episcopal 59-49 in Plain Dealing.
Senior guard Dennisha Chambers poured in 37 points — right at her season average — to lead New Tech (14-8).
Deaspria Harris added nine points, and Dra Briggs had eight.
New Tech, the No. 15 seed, travels to Abbeville to face No. 2 seed Vermilion Catholic in the second round Thursday. Vermilion Catholic defeated No. 31 Cedar Creek 57-45 in the first round.
In Class 5A first-round games, No. 32 seed Airline fell to No. 1 seed Southwood 72-28 at Southwood, and No. 31 Haughton lost to No. 2 Natchitoches Central 73-41 in Natchitoches.
In Class 4A, No. 29 Benton lost to No. 4 seed Neville 32-17 in Monroe.
Benton oach Mary Ward used a stall strategy and it almost worked.
The Lady Tigers were within 17-14 with four minutes left. But they had to abandon the strategy when Neville went up by five.
Benton was hit hard by graduation after reaching the semifinals last season. The Lady Tigers still managed to finish 16-12 with a team that had no seniors.
In Class 3A, No. 20 Bossier couldn’t quite pull off the upset of No. 13 Avoyelles. The Lady Kats lost 60-54 in Moreauville.
Deniera McGlothan closed out an outstanding season with 26 points for the Lady Kats, who trailed by just two points going into the fourth quarter. Khobi McDaniel added 12 points.
Bossier finished 15-14 in J.C. Dickey’s first season as head coach.
At Natchitoches, Mikayla Barber led Haughton with 16 points. Ebone’ Green and Brittany Robinett scored eight each, and Amber Brooks had six.
Haughton (17-13), with just one senior on the team, won seven more games than last season.
Airline closed its season 11-19.