Few people have the opportunity to etch an indelible mark on history. Emani Young, a sophomore player on the Oakdale Lady Warrior basketball 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.”
Kaylee Bradley added 10 points on the night against Arcadia and was coming off a 23-point performance in the team’s 54-31 win over top seed White Castle in the quarterfinals on Thursday, February 23. For Bradley, she was heating up at the right time after having a rather slow season offensively.
“It was definitely hard at first not knowing if you’re going to score or not and not knowing if you’re going to get better throughout the season,” said Bradley, “but when you have a good team like this and a great coach you just know you’re going to get better every time if you push yourself.”
For junior Akeelah Hobson, who was a major contributor for her team all season and all her career thus far, advancing to the state finals brings great pride for her team. “Without them,” she said, “we wouldn’t be here right now. I thank my coaches for believing in us. We’re taking it home. One game is left then we’ll be state champions, baby!”
Jolie West was also a major contributor during her freshman campaign and did not shy away from facing the size of the Arcadia players. She said, “Seeing big girls like that is pretty hard sometimes, but I know you can do anything if you push hard enough.”
The lone senior of the team, Marlee Hart, expressed advancing to the finals is “just so rewarding to put in this work and finally get what we deserve and earned.”
She added, “It feels like a dream honestly.”
For head coach Renotta Edwards, it also 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.”
On a personal level, this was the first time in her career as a player and a coach that Edwards reaches what was formerly known as The Top 28. “I never thought I’d ever get there,” she said. “I’ve always been close but never there. While playing, I got to the quarterfinals twice. While coaching, I never could make it past the second round. The fact that we’re here is… I’m just happy.”
While it is Edwards’ and Lady Warriors’ first time in the state tournament, it feels like the first time for Kyle Jinks and his Fairview Lady Panthers, who earned another trip to the championship game after beating Reeves for the fourth time this season.
“It feels the same way every time just like it’s the first,” Jinks said after his team’s 68-54 win over their parish and district rival in the semi-finals. “I have one senior, Isabella Smith, on my team, and I promised her this year I was going to do everything possible to make sure she didn’t end her season with a loss. So far, we’re there with one game left. She didn’t like the way I did playing that because there were some tough practices, but we are again in the finals.”
Smith was held to five points in the game against Reeves but made her presence known off of the boards with 17 total rebounds, 13 of which came on defense.
“I knew I was going to have to step up on defense,” Smith said. “Even though we beat them already, we were still going to have to step up because there’s always a chance you can lose. So, rebounding the ball and playing hard defense was my mindset going into this game.”
Smith, for Jinks, is one of his tough kids who stepped up and delivered their team to the state finals again after losing Rylee Cloud last year. “Everyone of them said we can do it,” said the Fairview coach. “They stepped up, and here we are again in the finals.”
What sets this time apart for Jinks is the tougher road than normal to reach Hammond. “After they combined Class B and C, this is the toughest classification in my 26 years I’ve been coaching,” he expressed. “It’s by far the most competitive.”
While Oakdale’s opponent in the Non-Select Division IV Finals was yet to be determined as of press time, Fairview will face a familiar opponent in the Non-Select Division V Finals, the Hathaway Lady Hornets.
“They’re a very good team and are very well coached,” Jinks said about Hathaway. “They’re a lot like us. They play a lot like we play, so that might be a fun game to watch. I don’t know how good it’s going to be to coach, but I’ll let you know when it’s over.”
The Oakdale game is set for tomorrow, March 3, at noon at the University Center on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University, and the Fairview game is set for 8 p.m.
