Matt Vines

COUSHATTA – The celebration might have been delayed a couple of days, but Red River can officially celebrate an outright district title.

The Bulldogs (22-4) mangled Lakeside 98-34 to end District 3-2A play on Thursday and finish the league with a 7-1 record.

It’s the program’s first outright district title since 2010-11.

“Winning the district title outright is a major accomplishment,” said Red River coach Dadrian Harris. “We set a goal of winning the district title before the season started, and we achieved it.

“However, the job is far from finished. The Division III Non-Select championship title is the most important title to us.”

A veteran squad returns from last year’s run to the championship game, where a No. 13 seeded Bulldogs squad won three games away from home (two true road games) against top-10 seeds.

Red River has been the No. 1 seed in the power rankings virtually this entire season, and they’ve had to adjust from being the hunter to the hunted.

That experience was on full display Tuesday when Winnfield pulled an upset with a buzzer beater, winning 50-49.

“As much as we don’t want to lose, we needed a reality check,” Harris said. “Much respect to Winnfield, they simply wanted it more than we did.

“We gave up too many second-chance opportunities, and they did a good job capitalizing on those opportunities. We have to realize that every team is going to play their best game against us because they want to knock off the top dog. We cannot take nights off and think other teams will just lay down to us. This loss is a lesson learned moving forward. We will self-reflect, get some good film study, make adjustments, and refocus.”

The Winnfield loss ended Red River’s winning streak at 13 games, the first defeat of 2025 and the first since Dec. 28 against Alexandria Senior High.

While district play may be over, Red River will challenge itself in the final week of the regular season.
That starts Saturday with a tussle against Calvary Baptist, the No. 1 team in Division III Select in a neutral site game at Woodlawn High at 6:30 p.m.

Sophomore T.J. Jamison is the top-rated point guard in the Class of 2027 by Rivals and leads a talented Cavs (24-2) squad, which has beaten the likes of Huntington, Ruston and Vandebilt Catholic among others this season.

“We go in as the underdogs, which we are no stranger to being in such a position,” Harris said. “It will be great to play in a championship atmosphere against another elite team on a neutral court.

“A game of this magnitude will help us prepare mentally as we approach the playoffs. (Calvary coach Vic Morris) does a great job with those guys, and our focus and execution have to be sharp. We have to match and exceed Cavary’s energy in every facet. I’m definitely looking forward to the matchup.”

Red River isn’t without its own stars as seniors Jomello McDonald and Jayden Wells have been selected to play in the FastBreak ENT All-Star Classic, which occurs after the season on April 5.

Red River’s top spot in Division III Non-Select isn’t in jeopardy, especially with a flurry of games against good teams to end the regular season.

After Calvary on Saturday, Red River heads to Class 4A Loyola Prep before home games against Homer on Wednesday and Class 1A power Lakeview on Saturday.

Red River handed Lakeview just one of its four losses this season in a 50-39 win back on Jan. 4.

Red River girls pull out regular-season finale against Lakeside
The Lady Bulldogs needed a win after dropping three district games in a row heading into Thursday’s game against Lakeside.

Red River used its homecourt advantage to fend off the Lady Warriors in a 61-45 win, which keeps the Lady Bulldogs in the running for a home playoff game.

Red River (11-16) had been on the inside track of a home playoff game throughout the season before it’s late-season slide, which included a pair of close losses to Mansfield (34-30) and Winnfield (40-37) after a defeat by Many (45-32).

The Lady Bulldogs entered the finale at No. 17 and chasing No. 16 Avoyelles by about 0.60 points, and now Red River must wait and see if the Lakeside win is strong enough to boost itself back above Avoyelles in the power ratings.

The playoff brackets will be released Monday with the deadline to play your first-round game being Thursday.

Red River hasn’t hosted a playoff game since 2021 with just one playoff appearance (2023) since that season.

Red River baseball picks up win season-opener
The Red River baseball team breezed through a season-opening win against Zwolle in 8-1 fashion Monday.

The Bulldogs return to the diamond at Converse on Tuesday and then at Captain Shreve a week later.

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