Beating an opponent three times in a single season is quite the achievement.
The feat is considered to be one of the most challenging things for a team to accomplish — whether it is a high school basketball team of an NFL franchise. The Kinder girls basketball team unfortunately found that out in the opening round of the playoffs against Welsh — a team the Yellow Jackets had previously defeated twice during the regular season. Kinder fell short of taking three-of-three from Welsh as it suffered a 68-61 loss in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs last week.
“The girls came out and were not playing the way that we have seen throughout the season,” Kinder head coach Natasha Dowies said. “I don’t know if it was the playoff setting or the unexpected intensity from Welsh. We didn’t shoot the ball well, and had way too many turnovers early on.”
Kinder made adjustments after halftime but the Yellow Jackets were unable to recover from the first-half struggles — suffering the seven-point defeat. Kinder senior Brooklyn Fontenot scored 22 points in her final game as a Yellow Jacket.
“We finally settled down in the second half and were able to start significantly cutting into their lead,” Dowies said. “We just ran out of time.”
Despite the disappointing playoff performance, Kinder still finished with 22 wins, went undefeated in district to win the District 5-2A championship.
“I cannot be more proud of the way our season went,” Dowies said. “These girls worked so hard. They were undefeated in district and they beat some tough teams outside of district. Even though we didn’t make it as far as we wanted to, we still have so many things to be proud of.”
Reeves
Reeves meanwhile will be looking to make a run to the state championship.
After receiving an opening-round bye, No. 3 Reeves (26-6) hosted No. 14 Epps (14-16) on Monday night in the Class C playoffs. Due to earlier deadlines for Mardi Gras, the results of that game will not be published until next week.
So with not having a game to play how did the Raiders keep focus?
“It was tough,” Reeves head coach Mark Dronet said. “We tried to keep focus by playing against some of the boys last to help push us.”
Epps is coming off a 55-51 win over Simpson in the opening round and according to Dronet is a dangerous team.
“Epps is an athletic team that could give us problems if we don’t come to play,” Dronet said.
Oberlin
The Oberlin Tigers also had their postseason end in the opening round.
No. 18 Oberlin came up short on the road at No. 15 Gueydan with a 48-44 defeat in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs.
Even though the season ended prematurely for Oberlin, which ended with a 9-17 overall record, head coach Jack Tinsley praised what his young team was able to accomplish this season.
“All year long we have played hard no matter the opponent or the circumstances,” Tinsley said. “Adversity struck early in the game but we rallied. That’s huge for a young team playing at about 60 percent health wise. Although we’re disappointed in the outcome it will pass and the lesson from this season will sharpen their focus for years to come.”
