It was a complete team effort for Carencro boys basketball when it faced Bonnabel in the opening round of the LHSAA boys basketball playoffs Friday.
The moment Carencro boys basketball had been preparing for all season finally came as it kicked off the 2026 LHSAA Boys Basketball playoffs on Friday, Feb. 27.
After earning a No. 15 seed in the Select Division I bracket, the Golden Bears hosted Bonnabel. With their game plan already in place, execution was the only thing on their mind. They jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, beating the Bruins 69-51.
“I think we executed the game plan well today,” Carencro senior guard Kendrick Bernard said. “We’ve been working really hard at practice and we’ve just been executing. And that’s what we did tonight.”
With this win, the Bears have punched their tickets to the regional round, where they’ll look to carry this momentum over.
A hot start for Carencro
To open up the first quarter it was clear that Carencro’s offense was already hot with Bernard leading the charge. Listed at 5-foot-10, the dual-sport athlete knocked down three treys in the first quarter, igniting the Bears offense. According to head coach Christopher Kovatch, this is nothing new for the guard after he challenged him during the regular season to step up more.
“There was a point in the middle of December, we’re in game and I really challenged him in a couple of things. And from that moment, he has just been stellar,” Kovatch said. “He’s knocking on the door of 1,000 points in his career right now, and if he does well, we really do a whole lot better.”
Bernard’s contribution didn’t stop on offense though. Defensively, he was a problem for the Bruins, snagging seven rebounds. He would go on to finish the game with a team-high 21 points along with a steal.
“We did good on defense, but that’s just us; we’re a defensive team,” Bernard said. “We’ve just been preaching defense, defense, defense. We locked down and we’ve been locking down opponents since last year.”
Golden Bears’ bench gets involved
Outside of Bernard, the Bears had weapons all around, including ones coming off the bench like sophomore forward Hayden Monroe and junior guard Dentrell Morrison.
Both quickly made their presence felt in the game from rebounding to scoring.
“You might notice we don’t do starting lineups before the game because we have eight starters,” Kovatch said. “We fully believe in those guys and what they can do and I mean that’s part of who we are as a group. Dentrell Morrison is probably the best sixth man, at least in this area.”
Morrison became a fastbreak assassin for the Bears in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points in a hurry. The 5-foot-9 guard would go on to finish with 16 points and two blocks. Monroe was a key in the paint, grabbing a team-high eight rebounds along with 11 points.
The Bears will need all the bench contributions as possible in the second round, traveling to No. 2 seed Alexandria.
“It’s gonna be a tough game,” Morrison said. “We’re gonna prepare, be ready for everything they throw at us and make sure we play at our sharpest point.”
Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Carencro basketball beats Bonnabel to advance to LHSAA second round
Category: General Sports
