Louisiana 'Marsh Madness' girls basketball recap: Oakdale continues surprising run to final on a buzzer-beating shot
By Mike Coppage
Oakdale girls photo by the LHSAA Twitter page
It almost doesn't feel right to label the Oakdale girls basketball team as an underdog or a Cinderella story any longer.
Emani Young banked in the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired to give ninth-seeded Oakdale a 47-46 win against No. 4 Arcadia in a Division IV non-select semifinal game on Monday at the University Center on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.
The ninth-seeded Lady Warriors' thrilling victory was the second of five semifinal games that took place in the first session of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association's "Marsh Madness" girls basketball state tournament.
Monday's win came on the heels of a quarterfinal game where the Lady Warriors thoroughly dismantled top-seeded White Castle on the road, 54-31.
Young, a junior guard, led all scorers with 18 points. She was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line and grabbed 10 rebounds for the 20-12 Lady Warriors, who will meet the winner of Tuesday's No. 3 Oak Grove (21-3) versus No. 2 Lakeview (25-3) matchup in the championship game set for noon on Friday.
According to LGRBasketball, Arcadia (23-9) was determined to slow down sophomore guard Kaylee Bradley. The Lady Hornets began the contest utilizing a box-and-one defense against Bradley, who was averaging nine points and seven rebounds.
Bradley still managed to finish with 12 points and five rebounds. Akeelah Hobson added nine points and four assists for Oakdale, which made 14-of-18 free throws. Arcadia shot 6-of-19 from the line.
DeAsia Alexander shot 50 percent from the field (7-for-14) to pace the Lady Hornets with 16 points. Justice Young (5-of-9 field goals) had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Division V Select Semifinal
J.S. Clark 59, Family Christian 24
In the first game of Session 1 Monday, the third-seeded Lady Bulldogs eased to their first-ever title game appearance behind a balanced attack that saw five players contribute at least seven points
Tristanie Albert's 15 points paced J.S. Clark (23-10), which will square off with top-seeded Oak Hill (32-11) in the championship game at 6 p.m. on Friday. The freshman guard was the team's fourth-leading scorer (9 points per game) coming into the game. She shot 6-of-8 from the floor and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.
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Shanna Simien added 14 points for the Lady Bulldogs, who shot 76.9 percent from the floor in the third quarter. Taylor Barnaba (11 points), Erianna Ned (eight) and Ramya Pickney (seven) made it a group effort.
The Lady Bulldogs turned the ball over only five times while forcing 21 turnovers from second-seeded Family Christian (23-13), which was averaging 68 points per game.
Aaliyah Gaddis, who finished with 13 points for the Flames, accounted for three of her team's four field goals. Family Christian shot 4-for-30 from the floor and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. The Flames converted 16-of-23 free throws.
J.S. Clark dished out 13 assists (Barnaba had a team-high five) and collected 12 steals. Six Lady Bulldogs had at least one steal, with Simien notching three steals.
Division V Select Semifinal
Oak Hill 77, Plainview 54
It was business as usual for the top-seeded Lady Rams (32-11), who handled Plainview for the third time this season. In the regular season, Oak Hill cruised to 74-53 and 66-50 wins over the fifth-seeded Lady Hornets (15-20).
Oak Hill took a 68-40 lead at the end of three quarters. Alexis Dyer (10-of-20 field goals) led all scorers with 24 points. Krystina Greene (10-of-19 field goals) added 22 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Brilee Dousay (8-of-11 field goals) was also in double figures with 17 points.
The Lady Rams recorded 20 steals while forcing 24 turnovers.
The Lady Hornets placed three in double figures: Cameron Sutton (15 points), Rhyen Williams (12) and Arabella Ashworth (10). Sutton, who shot 5-of-10 from the field, grabbed 10 rebounds.
Division V Non-Select Semifinal
Hathaway 47, Florien 41
This matchup of Southwest Louisiana small-school powers lived up to the hype.
The second-seeded Lady Hornets (32-4) increased an 18-17 halftime lead to 34-27 at the end of three quarters. The sixth-seeded Blackcats (32-3) whittled the deficit to 35-33 with 5:30 remaining, but a clutch 3-pointer from Sienna Guidry helped send Hathaway into the finals, where they'll meet top-seeded Fairview at 8 p.m. on Friday.
Chaylee Beard. who led the Lady Hornets with 14 points, had four of her team's seven treys. Hathaway shot 7-of-36 from beyond the arc and 25.4 percent (15-of-59) from the floor.
Lamiyah Sanchez added 12 points and four assists for the Lady Hornets. Guidry had 11 points.
Also for Hathaway, Madison Suire grabbed 11 rebounds to accompany five assists and three steals. Alli Crader had eight rebounds and three assists.
J'Nasura Richardson scored 15 points with 22 rebounds and five assists for Florien. Latoya Holmes added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Hathaway and Fairview met in November, with the Lady Panthers winning 71-63 on their home court.
Division V Non-Select Semifinal
Fairview 68, Reeves 54
Leading by nine points at the half, the top-seeded Lady Panthers (38-6) outscored the fifth-seeded Lady Raiders, 23-8, in the third quarter.
Reeves (29-7), which was led by Hope Cauthron's 18 points and 13 rebounds, shot 53.8 percent in the second quarter to stay within striking distance at intermission.
Fairview (38-6), however, held the Lady Raiders to 21.4 percent shooting (3-of-14) in the decisive third quarter.
The Lady Panthers' starting five lit up the stat sheet.
Isabella Smith scored five points while grabbing 17 rebounds with four blocks. Ella Reeves (26 points, eight rebounds) hit a trio of 3-pointers and was 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
Avery Williams added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. Reesie Jinks chipped in 12 points and nine assists. Kaylee Guillory scored 11 points with six rebounds and three steals.
Maddison Ford scored in double figures for Reeves with 12 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
