Lady Bulldog playoff run ends in semi-finals

After the last two playoff games, the Ville Platte Lady Bulldogs knew in order to win a state championship one aspect of their game must change; shooting percentage. Despite winning in the regional and quarter-final rounds, the Lady Bulldogs found their shots did not stroke the bottom of the net at times.
Against the Mansfield Lady Wolverines Wednesday night in the semi-finals, Ville Platte once again had trouble knocking down shots. As in the other playoff wins, the Lady Bulldogs could not overcome the poor shooting performance and fell to the Lady Wolverines 60-44, thus ending an otherwise tremendous season.
Coming off the opening tip, Ville Platte struck first on a two-point bucket by Ja’Kayra Thomas. The rest of the first quarter was not kind to either team offensively. Mansfield managed to record nine points in the period, while the Lady Bulldogs were only able to score a meager four points in the period. The Lady Wolverines took a 5-4 lead at the 3:00 mark; a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game. As the first period ended Mansfield held a 9-4 lead.
The Lady Wolverines struck first to open the second quarter, hitting on four straight baskets to open the lead up to 17-4. Ville Platte tried to bounce back, cutting the lead to 19-8 at the 3:28 mark. However, Mansfield continued to take advantage of the offensive woes of the Lady Bulldogs and finished the period with a 15-point lead, 25-10 as the first half horn sounded.
As in the first quarter, Ville Platte was first on the scoreboard in the third period, as Thomas hit another shot to cut the lead to 25-12. The Lady Wolverines would respond with five quick points to extend their lead to 30-14. The two teams exchanged baskets for the next minute of the game to bring the score to 33-19 in favor of Mansfield. The last three minutes of the quarter belonged to the Lady Wolverines, as they went on an 8-3 run and extended their lead to 41-22 as the third stanza came to a close.
Understanding that their season was on the line, the Lady Bulldogs began to ratchet up the defensive pressure and started hitting some much-needed baskets. A two-point bucket by Brianna Pete at the 3:42 mark cut the Mansfield lead to 47-36. The Lady Wolverines answered the Ville Platte push, scoring the next five points. Once again, the Lady Bulldogs made another comeback attempt, cutting the lead to 54-44 with 1:20 left in the game. Unfortunately for Ville Platte, the drive to bring the Lady Wolverines to within striking distance came too late. The Lady Bulldogs were forced to foul, sending Mansfield to the line, where they hit six of eight free throws to end the game.
Ville Platte was led in scoring by Pete, who netted 15 points. Deja McKinney added 13 points in the losing effort. Thomas chipped in nine points.
Ville Platte finishes the season with an overall record of 28-6 and a district and parish championship. The Lady Bulldogs have now competed in three of the last four Top 28 tournaments. With a cupboard full of talent coming back next year, Ville Platte is poised to make another run at the Top 28 and a chance at a state championship.
Road to the Top 28
For the third time in the last four years, the Ville Platte High Lady Bulldogs have made it to the Top 28 girl’s basketball tournament in Lake Charles. To get to the semi-final round, the Lady Bulldogs had to take care of the Albany Lady Hornets; a team they had defeated last year in the semi-finals. In an ugly win, Ville Platte had to hold off a very poor shooting Albany team to pick up the victory 48-36.
The Lady Bulldogs and Lady Hornets both shot under 40 percent from the floor. Ville Platte shot 17 of 31 from the free throw line, while Albany was nine of 19 from the charity stripe.
Ville Platte came out in the first quarter in attack mode. The Lady Bulldogs opened the game on a seven to zero run in the first three minutes. Albany, a team on their heels for that initial barrage from Ville Platte, began to settle down. The Lady Hornets composed themselves enough to score seven of the next eight points, and trailed 8-7 with 3:04 left in the period. The Lady Bulldogs became assertive once again and reeled off the next seven points to lead 15-7 as the first quarter came to a close.
If the first quarter was kind to Ville Platte, the second quarter was a harsh slap in the face. The Lady Bulldogs went ice cold from the floor and was only able to record four points in the period. The Lady Hornets seized on the Ville Platte misfortune and began chipping away at the Lady Bulldogs lead. By the time the buzzer to end the first half had sounded, Albany had knocked down 13 points and took the lead 21-19.
It was the Brianna Pete show, for the Lady Bulldogs, to open the second half. The senior guard not only netted seven points in the third quarter, but also gave a tremendous defensive and rebounding effort to help Ville Platte regain the lead. Behind Pete’s performance, the Lady Bulldogs knocked down 11 points, while holding the Lady Hornets to only six total points. At the end of three quarters, Ville Platte led 30-27.
The final period turned out to be a free throw contest. Out of the 27 total points scored in the quarter, half of those points came from foul shots. With the Lady Bulldogs leading 34-28 at the 7:15 mark, Ville Platte decided to pull the ball out and force Albany to extend their zone. When the Lady Hornets did extend their zone, the Lady Bulldogs used their advantage in athleticism and drove the ball to the basket, forcing Albany to foul.
In the period, Ville Platte went to the charity stripe 10 times, hitting on eight of 19 free throw attempts. Defensively, the Lady Bulldogs held the Lady Hornets to only nine points in the quarter. Ville Platte was able to continue extending their lead in the stanza, until the final horn sounded.
On the night, the Lady Bulldogs were led by Deja McKinney, who netted 21 points. Pete added 13 points for Ville Platte.