A return to action

Prior to last Friday's contest, the Lady Bulldogs had not played an actual game since January 19th due to COVID-19 protocols.
Ville Platte's first game back after nearly a month of cancellations-postponements and quarantine resulted with a 57-36 victory over District 5-3A rival Mamou.
"It felt like a breath of fresh air," Ville Platte girls coach Rhonda Thomas said. "We were a little rusty at first for three quarters. Offensively we couldn't buy a bucket but the girls pulled it out in the end."
Ville Platte set the tone early by building up a 12-3 lead at the end of the opening quarter. Mamou fought back in the second quarter and trimmed VPHS's lead down to a mere three points at halftime.
"I tried to get a good rotation in," Thomas said. "I wanted to let all the girls get on the court but everyone was rusty. Mamou though made contested shots and they got on a little hot streak."
The two teams battled back and forth in the third but the Lady Bulldogs entered the fourth quarter with a five-point lead.
Then VPHS took control with a dominant final period as the Lady Bulldogs scored 24 points.
"I told the girls we have to run the floor," Thomas said. "We had to find a way to win and pull out the last burst of energy. We were able to run the floor and got a couple of transition buckets and from there it was all about finishing the game."
Shayla Hickerson led Ville Platte with 20 points, including scoring eight in the final quarter. Trinity Leday added 13 points, including seven in the final quarter.
Ville Platte was unable to build on that momentum in a loss the following day against North Central.
In Saturday's 54-44 defeat to North Central, the Lady Bulldogs kept pace with the Hurricanes for the first three quarters. VPHS trailed by only two points after the first quarter, four at halftime and then six entering the fourth quarter.
VPHS was unable to overcome that single-digit deficit as North Central junior point guard Ya'jaia Goudeau put on a show leading all scorers with 32 points.
"We paid so much attention to the point guard that we left the center open early on," Thomas said. "We had to adjust our defense a little while still paying attention to Goudeau. She just kept making contested shots over two defenders."
VPHS was paced by Vandryua Wilson with 18 points and Shayla Hickerson adding 10.
With the regular season wrapping up this week, Thomas wants her Bulldogs to take on a playoff mindset.
"I want to see them fight to finish," Thomas said. "We have to get our mind mentally prepared. I told them to picture in their mind that first playoff game last season at Buckeye. It was wild and crazy there. That is the type of atmosphere and we have to be prepared for that."