The No. 4 Sulphur Tors will be looking to stay atop of the District 3-5A standings today when they host the Barbe Bucs (JV 5 p.m. freshman gym/Varsity 7:30 p.m. main campus).
The Tors are currently ranked fourth in the latest LHSAA unofficial power rankings and would like to keep it that way. Sulphur can earn an extra point in the power rankings if they win the district title.
“They are all important especially if you win the district championship you get a whole extra point,” Tor basketball head coach Clint LeBato said. “We have to make sure we take care of our games at home so we can win the championship and get some more points.”
The Tors have a favorable schedule down the stretch with four of their five remaining games at home.
The Tors (23-5, 4-0) got a wakeup call in their non-district game against Leesville on Tuesday. Sulphur fell behind 27-22 in the first quarter before coming back for the 77-63 win. LeBato said on Thursday that there would be no room for error for the Tors in their remaining games.
“We have to make sure we don’t slip up and stay where we are,” LeBato said. “We should be ready to go against Barbe. Our guys get excited about playing Barbe.”
Sulphur hopes to avoid a similar slow start like the one they had in their first game against the Bucs (12-15, 0-4) on January 19th when they won 45-38.
“We are trying to put in some stuff to get us some easy baskets,” LeBato said. “The way they (Barbe) play defense they are very aggressive.
“If everybody plays well we should be ok. We have to get a good effort from everybody.”
The Tors are healthy with four games to go other than point guard Tanner Kuykendall who had a slight injury in a recent practice. Kuykendall has been playing through injuries most of the season and LeBato expects him to be ready to go for the Barbe game.
“Tanner kind of tweaked his ankle in practice the other day but he should be ready to go,” LeBato said. “Tanner is doing a good job for us. He is handling the ball for us and setting up other players.”
Sulphur, La. —
