Lady Wolves in finals with close win over St. MIchael

HAMMOND - It was the tale of two halves Thursday for the Rayne Lady Wolves.
Taking on No. 2-seeded St. Michael in a Class 4A semifinal of the Top 28 State Tournament, the Lady Wolves struggled offensively in the first half, making just four of 15 shot attempts and turning the ball over seven times.
Fortunately, the second half was much better for Chester Randall’s No. 6-seeded Lady Wolves.
In contrast to the first half, the Lady Wolves found their rhythm thanks in large part to the play of standout guard Charlesha Dugas and they rallied from a 10-point deficit to upend the Lady Warriors, 48-44.
The victory sent the Lady Wolves to the state title game last night against Ursuline Academy. Ursuline, the No. 8 seed, defeated No. 4 Edna Karr, 58-50, in the first semifinal game Thursday.
“The first half, I didn’t feel like we played very well and I think we just let our nerves get the best of us,” said Randall, whose team improved to 31-2 and went into last night’s game seeking its school’s first girls title since 1990. “We just weren’t making the plays and the things that we normally have done well, we weren’t doing well.”
With his team trailing 29-19 at the break, Randall had just a few words for his team during the intermission.
“When we lost in the quarterfinals three years ago, I told the girls it just wasn’t our time,” said Randall. “Our motto this year is ‘It’s our time, now. So I reminded them of that. It’s one thing to say it’s our time, but we weren’t playing like it was our time. In the second half, we played like it was our time.
“I challenged them to go out there and start playing like I know they were capable of playing.”
Challenge accepted.
The Lady Wolves came out in the second half on a mission and went on a 9-0 run to start the third quarter, cutting the deficit to one (29-28). Tajane Butler hit two shots in the lane; Dugas added a layup and Keysuana Moore hit a 3-pointer during the run.
The Lady Warriors pushed the lead back to six (36-30) with just over a minute to go in the frame before Dugas took over. The senior guard went coast-to-coast on an inbounds play, hitting a layup before converting the 3-point play with a free throw after being fouled.
She added two more free throws down the stretch and Ti’esha Young dropped in a jumper just before the end of the frame to give the Lady Wolves a 37-36 advantage. It was their first lead since the 2:42 mark of the first quarter when Dugas’ 3-pointer gave Rayne a 9-7 edge.
“We sucked up a 10-point lead and we went into the fourth quarter up one,” said Randall. “At that point, I felt pretty good.”
What he especially liked was the play of Dugas, who scored seven of her game-high 21 points in the third quarter outburst.
“No. 5 (Dugas) kind of put us on her back,” said Randall. “When I saw that, I started calling plays for her with the ball still in her hand and we were setting screens for her.”
Rayne’s defensive play in the third quarter was crucial as well. The Lady Wolves forced nine turnovers in the frame. Butler picked up three of her six steals during the span and Dugas had two.
In all, the Lady Wolves forced 13 turnovers in the second half.
“I think our pressure did wear on them (St. Michael) and they just got tired of dealing with it,” said Randall. “We didn’t really turn them over like we would have liked, but it frustrated them.
“The thing about the press, even though it doesn’t turn you over, it wears you out mentally. It just aggravates you and if you are aggravated, you don’t play well.”
The game was deadlocked at 44-44 with just 2:40 remaining, but the Lady Wolves were able to close out the game at the free throw line by sinking four of their eight attempts in the final minutes.
They wound up outscoring the Lady Warriors 29-15 in the second half.
It was the total opposite in the first half when St. Michael scored 29 points while Rayne struggled to get much going. The Lady Wolves scored nine points in the opening frame and trailed 15-9 before posting 10 points in the second frame.
The sluggish first half for the Lady Wolves was due also to St. Michael’s defense and partly due to the fact that Randall’s team just went away from the game plan.
“We were just doing uncharacteristic things in the first half,” said Randall. “We’re the type of team that likes to get up and down the court . But we also come down and have sets that we run against certain defenses. If you noticed, we were just coming down and shooting and we weren’t running any sets.”
The Lady Warriors defensive pressure gave the Lady Wolves trouble the entire first half as they picked up seven steals and turned the bulk of those into points.
Tyler Morrison had four takeaways of her own in the first two frames to go along with eight points, 10 rebound and three assists.
The Lady Warriors hit nine of their 23 shots from the floor, including three of their seven 3-points attempts in the half.
Jordan Schexnayder and Essa Badon paced the Lady Warriors with 12 and 11 points, respectively while Morrison finished with 10.
Whitley Larry followed Dugas with nine points and also had six rebounds and three blocks. Butler added eight points and six steals, Moore scored five points and Young had three.
Amari Collins added just three points, but was the rebounding leader, clearing the glass for a game-high 14 boards.