Matt Vines

COUSHATTA – Perhaps the playoff stage affected the No. 13 seed Red River boys basketball team as the Bulldogs were tied with No. 20 DeQuincy at halftime of Friday’s first-round playoff game.

But the young Red River squad quickly found their footing in the second half, opening a 24-point lead in the third quarter en route to a 66-50 win.

Red River’s prize is a second-round trip to No. 4 Vinton on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Coach Dadrian Harris said his team honed in defensively in the second half against DeQuincy.

“Defense was the decisive factor in the game for us,” said Harris, who is in his third season as the Red River head coach. “We were playing with high emotions and adrenaline flow in the first half, but we finally settled down and locked in on the defensive end, which allowed us to get a few steals and easy points in transition.

“Our shots began to fall, and we open up that lead in the first five minutes of the third quarter.”

With Red River having dispatched of a DeQuincy team tied for second place in District 5-2A, now the Bulldogs get a Vinton squad who won that district title.

“Vinton and DeQuincy are similar in style of play, but I think Vinton may have a few more polished players,” Harris said. “I don’t believe they have anything we haven’t seen this season.

“The biggest challenge is the three-hour drive to go play.”

Vinton (18-4) rarely suffered defeat, but the Lions didn’t play an opponent above a 2A classification.

The school east of Lake Charles lost to fellow district member Notre Dame twice along with Class C Singer and an out-of-state opponent.

Red River went 3-6 against teams from larger classifications as well as challenging itself inside of Class 2A, which includes competitive losses to No. 1 French Settlement, No. 3 Winnfield and Division IV No. 1 Lakeview.

Vinton did beat DeQuincy by double digits in two meetings, and Harris said facing a fellow District 5-2A member in Vinton does help in preparation on short notice.

“You get to see how DeQuincy and Vinton matched up with each other,” Harris said. “Once my staff and I figure out how Vinton beat DeQuincy and some other teams on the radar, then we can game plan accordingly.”

Red River is no stranger to deep playoff runs with eight Top 28 appearances in the last 25 years, but a win Tuesday would send the Bulldogs to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2020.

Red River’s first-round win is the eighth consecutive season in which the Bulldogs have won at least one playoff game.

“Winning a playoff game itself shows how competitive the program has been over the years,” Harris said. “Consistency is the key to unlocking doors we have yet to enter.

“We have been fortunate enough to be able to handle business in the first round, but the first round doesn’t win a championship, which is the ultimate goal. Hopefully we can build off the first round and be more hungry to win the second round.”

As a No. 24 seed in 2023, Red River upset No. 9 Sterlington and fell by just three points to No. 8 Ville Platte in the second round.