Avoyelles Public Charter advances in girls basketball playoffs

Avoyelles Public Charter's Lady Vikings advanced to the quarter-finals of the Class-AA girls basketball playoffs with a 71-57 victory over Independence on Monday. They will play No. 6-seeded French Settlement next.

So far in the Class AA playoffs, things have gone as expected. The eight quarter-final teams are the top 8 seeds in the playoffs.

Also, at this point all five basketball-playing high schools have a team in the playoffs -- APCS in the girls' brackets and Marksville, Avoyelles, Bunkie and St. Joseph in the boys side.

In the first round of the boys playoffs, #13 Marksville will play #20 Carroll in Class AAA.

In Class AA, #12 Bunkie plays #21 Lakeside, #14 Avoyelles plays #19 North Caddo and No. 15 Rapides (in nearby Lecompte and in the two parish teams' District 4-AA) plays #18 Mangham. Menard, another 4-AA team that made the playoffs, is No. 5 in the Division III non-public school playoffs and plays #12 Cristo Rey.

St. Joseph is the No. 11 seed in the Division V playoffs and faces #6 New Living Word.