Weathering the storm

DEVILLE -- It took a ton of determination, but the Ville Platte Lady Bulldogs were able to weather the thunderstorm that was the Buckeye Lady Panther defense to pull off a 57-49 win in the first round of the LHSAA Class 3A playoffs Thusday night.
With the win, Ville Platte improves to 15-15 on the season, but most importantly they advance on to the second round to face the No. 3 seed Madison Prep. The Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Chargers will tangle at Ville Platte High tomorrow night. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
Thursday’s game started off on a very bad note for Ville Platte. Using a 1-2-2 full court, in your face pressing defense, Buckeye created a number of turnovers that led to an 11-0 lead after the first 3:40 of play.
After a time out and a long heart-to-heart with head coach Dot Doulet, the Lady Bulldogs settled down in time to slowly work their way back into the game. Ville Platte answered by scoring the next nine points, including a three-point basket from Vandryua Wilson.
The rest of the period saw the Lady Bulldogs squander chances at the charity stripe and the Lady Panthers pull back ahead by five points, 16-11. During the final two minutes of the first quarter, Ville Platte was one of five from the free throw line.
With the nervousness gone and the two teams becoming more familiar with each other, the game slowed down offensively. Over the first four minutes of the second quarter, neither team could find any rhythm in their shooting.
That lull in offensive play led to only seven points scored between either squad. With 3:47 to go before half, the scoreboard showed a 19-15 lead for the Lady Panthers.
The pace picked up in the latter half of the period, especially for the Lady Bulldogs. As Ville Platte began to break down the Buckeye press, the Lady Bulldogs found some easy lay-ups and their first lead of the night.
At the 1:16 mark of the quarter, Wilson hit a basket that put Ville Platte up by one, 23-22. Unfortunately, that lead did not last, as the Lady Panthers went on a 5-1 run down the stretch to own a 27-24 advantage heading into the locker room.
The game teeter-totted back and forth to begin the third quarter. At the 3:12 mark of the period, the game was tied at 34-34. The two teams continued to exchange baskets up until the clock showed 42 seconds left.
At that point, Ville Platte, trailing by one, got back-to-back baskets from Jayla Williams to take a three point lead, 43-40. The baskets were the last to be scored in the period and gave the Lady Bulldogs the confidence needed to finish off the Lady Panthers in the final period.
Buckeye knocked down the opening basket of the fourth quarter to cut the lead back down to one. But, Ville Platte’s fast breaking offense began to wear on the Lady Panthers.
With tons of energy left in their tank, the Lady Bulldogs tore off the next 11 points in a row to take a 54-43 lead. Buckeye tried to make a run in the final two minutes of the game. However, Ville Platte had established too big of a lead to allow the Lady Panthers any chance of making a comeback attempt.
Three players scored in double digits for Ville Platte, as Trinity Leday led the way with 12 points.