One step closer

VILLE PLATTE —The Ville Platte Lady Bulldogs took one step closer to another District 5-3A title Tuesday night, as they cruised past the Church Point Lady Bears 65-34.
With the win, Ville Platte is now 13-7 on the year, but most importantly they are now 2-0 in district play.
Church Point falls to 1-13 on the year and 0-2 in district.
The game was tighter than most thought in the opening quarter. The scrappiness of the Lady Bears, who only field six players on the team, was good enough to pull them within six points as the first quarter came to a close.
“Hats off to Church Point,” said Lady Bulldog head coach Dot Doulet after the game. “They really got after it on offense and defense, even with them only having six players on the team. They shot the ball a lot better than I expected them too.”
The Lady Bulldogs utilized a zone defense the entire game. This was a change for Ville Platte, as they are usually rely on a pressing, in-your-face defense to expose weaknesses in their opponents.
“I wanted to play our zone defense tonight to allow our players to see the ball better,” stated Doulet. “We are not used to playing zone. I thought we did alright. We still have a lot to work on if we want to continue playing zone in the future.”
It did not take long for the Lady Bulldogs to begin to pull away from the Lady Bears in the second period.
After a made free throw from Church Point, Ville Platte hit two quick buckets, including a three-pointer from Miya McKinney to open up a 21-11 lead.
The Lady Bears would not go away quietly. Church Point answered with five points of their own to cut the lead back to five at the 4:40 mark.
Ville Platte did not let up on defense, even thought they were still in a zone. The Lady Bulldogs were able to knock balls loose and get easy lay-ups on the offensive end to extend the lead to 27-16 with only 3:17 to go in the quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs added two more baskets before the end of the half to take a 31-19 lead into the locker room.
Substitutions for the Lady Bulldogs began in the first quarter and continued throughout the game. According to Doulet, this was another tactic meant to get some experience for the push into the heart of district competition.
“We need to make sure that we have players that can come in and give us some quality time down the stretch,” commented Doulet.
That combination of starters and bench players allowed the Lady Bulldogs to really open the game up in the final two quarters.
Ville Platte used fresh legs to go on an 11-4 run in the first four minutes of the third quarter.
Church Point had no answer to Ville Platte’s athleticism, as the Lady Bulldogs ended the third quarter leading 48-28.
The final quarter was much the same, with Ville Platte continuing to pour on the points. The Lady Bulldogs wound up outscoring the Lady Bears 17-6 to close out the game.
Kealogah Calvin blasted the nets for 33 points. The junior center has had to take over in the middle since the injury to Tyreonna Doucet.
Ville Platte will host Eunice Friday night.