The Allstate Sugar Bowl has recognized the top girls prep team from the Greater New Orleans area since 2013-14 – all high school teams based in the Greater New Orleans area are eligible for the honor. The honor is selected by the New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, which has been existence since 1957. The Committee selected an overall team of the year, regardless of gender, from Louisiana from 2010-13. All of the Sugar Bowl annual awards were presented on a calendar-year basis until 2009 when the Committee changed to an academic calendar (July-June). The annual awards banquet is typically held in late July or early August.
The John Curtis basketball team, which was undefeated against Louisiana opponents, winning by an average of 26 points per game, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Outstanding Girls Prep Team for 2025-26.
The top-seeded Patriots (25-1) capped off their dominant season with a startling 82-38 victory over No. 3 St. Joseph’s in the LHSAA Division I Select state championship game. It was John Curtis’ eighth state championship in the past decade. Curtis was led by several players who played on prior state title-winning teams, including seniors Ke’Sonja Nelson and Bailey Timmons. The pair was among four Curtis players that scored double-digit points in the state title game win. Curtis applied intense defensive pressure throughout the game with 32 points off turnovers.
“I’m so happy for the girls,” Curtis coach Alendra Brown said. “We wanted to use this opportunity in the (state) final to showcase our skills, and it was important that the girls came out strong and showed what they were of capable of while playing with poise and under control. I wanted them to just enjoy the moment and leave it all on the court.”
Curtis lost to Huntington in the state semifinals last year but gained revenge with a hard-fought 44-42 victory in this year’s semifinals. The Patriots, who finished the year 25-1, buried No. 17 Hammond, 53-13 in the regional and then stopped No. 8 Captain Shreve, 59-37, in the quarterfinals.
Curtis had regular season wins over Division I Non-Select state champion Zachary, Division II Select state champ University Lab, and Division II Select state runner-up Madison Prep. Its only loss came at the hands of Hoover, which won its sixth straight Alabama Class 7A state championship this year.
Outstanding Girls Prep Team, New Orleans
