Career milestone

By: TONY MARKS
Editor

For the first time in her career as a player and a coach, Ville Platte native Renotta Edwards has reached the state basketball tournament. Her Oakdale Lady Warriors went on the road and knocked off top seeded White Castle in the LHSAA Girls’ Non-Select Division IV Quarterfinals to advance to Marsh Madness in Hammond.
“I’ve always been close but never there,” Edwards said about finally reaching what was formally known as the Top 28. “Playing I got to the quarterfinals twice, and coaching I never could make it past the second round. The fact that we’re here is... I’m just happy.”
Edwards is in her second season at Oakdale and took on a job at a program that had three head coaches in as many years. Upon taking the job, Edwards’ main priority was bringing consistency.
“I do hope to bring some consistency here,” Edwards said at the time she was hired. “I’m hoping to bring some consistency to where we are on the same page with some of the top tier teams in the state. That’s what I’m trying to accomplish.”
Edwards played at Ville Platte High School before playing for LSU Eunice and Northwestern State University. She then coached at Northwest High School for a year before moving on to coach at LSUE and then at Northwood University for two years. For the past seven years (before going to Oakdale), she has been the head coach of the Pine Prairie Lady Panthers. She was named Evangeline Parish Coach of the Year in her last season at Pine Prairie.
Edwards inherited a young team last year with one senior, Jaslynn Russell; a sophomore point guard, Akeelah Hobson; and two starting freshmen, Kaylee Bradley and Emani Young.
“We have a lot of learning to do,” Edwards said last season, “but they’re getting it. They’re buying in and trying to get a little bit better every day.”
The learning, buying in, and trying to get better all paid off a season later as her Lady Warriors, with Marlee Hart as the lone senior, captured the number 9 seed in the playoffs this year.
Oakdale opened the playoffs with a 65-15 win over Ferriday then took their show on the road against Lake Arthur in the regional round. The Lady Warriors took care of business and defeated the Lady Tigers 53-43 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since losing to Red River, 80-47, in 2018.
“We played well,” said Edwards after the win against Lake Arthur. “I’m extremely proud of (my team). Marlee stepped up, and all of them stepped up. We made free throws, we made shots, we played defense, and we withstood the crowd. I’m extremely proud of everybody. Free throws and layups extend games and win games.”
Then against White Castle in the quarterfinals, Edwards’s game plan, as she explained, was to “keep them in front of us because they’re very athletic.”
She went on to say, “We didn’t want to overplay. They’re very aggressive. We just didn’t want to commit turnovers in the back court. We just stuck to the game plan and made shots and hustled. We were so hungry. We wanted it and had been sacrificing. We hadn’t had any days off, so I’m just so proud of them.”
After the 54-31 win over the Lady Bulldogs, Edwards expressed, “I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s been a long time coming. I’m so proud of the girls. I’m very humbled and blessed right now.”
Oakdale then arrived in Hammond and took on Arcadia in the semi-finals. Few people have the opportunity to etch an indelible mark on history. Young, a sophomore player on the Oakdale team is now one of those people. With two seconds remaining on the clock and her team trailing 46-44 against the fourth seed Arcadia Lady Hornets in the semifinals of the LHSAA Girls’ Marsh Madness, she launched the basketball from well behind the arc and sent her ninth seeded team to the state finals with a 47-46 win.
“All I knew was I had to make the shot for my team,” Young said, who inbounded the basketball prior to making the game winning basket. “When I passed the ball in, I said ‘give me the ball.’ I had the belief that we were going to win and make that shot.”
Young, who led the Lady Warriors with 18 points and 10 rebounds, went on to say competing in the finals is “really big because we’re going to be the first people from Oakdale High to be state champs.”
For Edwards, it feels like a dream to be one win away from a state championship. “I’m so proud of them,” she exclaimed. “That’s what happens when you keep working and keep believing. This is the product of it.”
Oakdale now takes on Lakeview for the state title tomorrow at noon.