The Westgate Tigers take their first step toward defending their Class 5A state championship and Catholic High takes steps toward forgetting a tough first-round loss last year after each was seeded high enough to earn a home game to open the 2007-08 LHSAA boys’ basketball playoffs.

Seven other Teche Area schools also earned spots in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association playoffs Wednesday as coaches from around the state met at Alexandria Senior High to determine seeds for the teams that qualified for the postseason.

In Class 5A, the defending state champions drew the fifth seed and will play host to 28th seed John Ehret at Westgate on Friday.

Westgate’s Jacoby Colbert (15) goes up for a basket against Lafayette High earlier this year. Colbert and the Tigers lead a contingent on nine Teche Area teams in the LHSAA boys basketball playoffs that begin Friday. - Bill Smith / The Daily Iberian Advertisement

Westgate senior Tyrunn Walker, who was named Most Outstanding Player after last year’s 75-70 win over Ellender in the finals, thinks his team was ready to defend the title.

“We’re going to do what we have to do to get back to the title game but we’re doing it one game at a time,” said Walker. “We have to work as a team. Last year we were confident heading into the playoffs. This year we have a lot of young guys and we need some confidence.

“We have to get across to them that it’s one and done. We can’t lay back and say that we’ll get them next week.”

For Catholic High, trying to get over the disappointment of last year’s first round loss, the road to redemption starts at home Friday at 7 p.m. when the No. 5 seed Panthers play host to 28th seed North DeSoto.

“It’s about what I expected,” said CHS coach Billy Dreher. “The only thing I didn’t like was the formula was changed this year and with the old way we probably wouldn’t have seen a Top 10 team until we reached the Cajun Dome.

“The way it is now, if we win we will probably have a second round game at home but then have to go on the road for the quarterfinals. But good teams have to win on the road in the playoffs eventually.”

It’s also a chance to avenge a too-early loss last year, according David Perez.

“We learned a lot last year in the first round and we don’t want to be in that same situation this year,” said Perez. “I think that we are going to get out of the first round this year. This is the biggest game, just for us to get over that hump.”

Another Class 3A team with a home first round game is 12th seed Franklin Senior High, which will play host to 21st seed Buckeye Friday at 7 p.m.

If the Hornets and the Panthers both win, the two teams would meet at Catholic High in the second round.

“I figured that we would be seeded somewhere between 9 and 12,” said first-year FSH coach Todd Viator, who won a state title at Jeanerette in 2005. “We ended up on the low end of where I thought we’d be.

“We had our struggles early this year, the kids were getting used to me and I was getting used to them, but right now we’re playing pretty good basketball. It’s always better to be playing well at the end of the year than the beginning.”

Also in Class 3A, West St. Mary drew the 23rd seed and will play at 10th seed Northwest Friday.

The Assembly Christian Lions also made it into the playoffs with a 10-23 record by finishing third in District 7-C. But the Lions weren’t helped as they drew the No. 32, or last, seed in the playoffs and have to travel to No.1 seed Atlanta, southwest of Winnfield, for a 6:30 p.m. Friday game.

“We’re going to give it a shot,” said ACS coach Jerel Russo. “We’re not conceding anything to them. We’re going to use it as an exposure to a top quality team and if we want to be a team like them in the future, we need to learn how to play them now.

“I thought that we’d end up 29, 30, 31. I didn’t think that we’d be 32 however.”

Also in the unenviable position of No. 32 is Class A Hanson, which will travel to Baton Rouge to face Christian Life Academy Friday.

The area’s two Class B schools, ESA and Centerville, both made the playoffs.

ESA, the sixth seed, won the District 7-B title outright, its first since 2003, and will play host to 27th seed Holden at 7 p.m. Friday.

“I knew that we’d be around five or six but I hoped that we’d end up a four,” said ESA coach Mike Bourgeois. “The meeting and the seeds went pretty much like I thought it would.

“The bracket that we are in doesn’t look that bad, but in the playoffs you have to come out and play every night. We’ve been playing basketball for so long now, it’s always hard to keep the players focused on the goal.”

Centerville, which finished second in District 8-B, drew the fourth seed and will play host to 29th seed Mount Herman Friday at 7 p.m.

In Class 4A, St. Martinville Senior High drew the 25th seed and will travel to Slidell to face fifth seed Salmen Friday.