Lady Wolves qualify for state tournament

SHREVEPORT - Yes, they were out-sized. Yes, they were out-shined by college signees. Yes, they unsually trailed early on in first few minutes of the contest.
But, the No. 6-ranked Rayne High Lady Wolves overcame all those obstacles and more Thursday to claim a 57-50 quarterfinal victory over No. 16 Fair Park.
The win qualifies the Lady Wolves in the 2016 Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA Girls’ Top 28 Basketball Tournament, their first time in 26 years when basketball fans remember the 1990 Lady Wolves taking home the 3A state championship trophy.
Now in 4A, Rayne will meet No. 2-ranked St. Michael in the second of the two semi-final games slated on Thursday, March 3, at the University Center (SLU) in Hammond. The Warriors of St. Michael defeated No. 7 Warren Easton 53-48 for their advancement to the state tournament.
“We played hard, fast and agressive like we usually do,” stated Rayne High Head Coach Chester Randell of Thursday’s win over Fair Park. “But, coming into tonight’s game, I knew we had to speed things up and push our game up against a big and strong team.”
Fair Park jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes of the ballgame. But, when the Rayne offense began working off their defiant defense, they gained a slight 13-12 first quarter lead late in the first quarter and never lost the lead again.
The Lady Wolves controlled the second quarter outscoring the Lady Indians 14-8, led by highscorer Charlesha Dugas who converted three of her dribble drives off the stingy Rayne press. Teams entered the lockerrooms as Rayne held a 27-20 lead, but things were about to get heated up.
Fair Park opened the third quarter with a couple quick scores, while Dugas and a couple Rayne players saw foul calls, all leading towards the Lady Indians outscoring Rayne 11-10. But, the Lady Wolves still held a slight 37-34 lead heading into final quarter of action.
Rayne’s Tajane Butler hit a trey and Keysuana Moore converted a three-point shot and freethrow and get the Rayne momentum going once again in the fourth for a 51-39 lead with the final two minutes remaining.
Fair Park made a run in the final two minutes closing in at 53-48 as two 3-pointers were hit from the top of the key. But, the Lady Wolves’ lead and continued pressure was enough for the Rayne 57-30 win.
Rayne’s Dugas led all scorers at 24 points on the night, in addition to four steals, three rebounds and a block.
Teammates Tajane Butler and Whitley Larry each scored nine points, apiece. Butler recorded a trey, three rebounds and a steal, while Larry led the team once again with six blocks, seven rebounds and four steals.
Keysuana Moore recorded seven points, six by Amari Collins, and Devin Sias had a bucket to wrap up the Rayne scoring on the night.
The Lady Indians were led by Brittney Myles and Dominque Johnson with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Myles is a recent UL-Lafayette roundball signee.
“We’ve come up short for the past four years,” noted Randell of the playoffs. “We finally made it to the tournament, the final four. We are so happy right right, but we still have some playing to do.”
The Rayne-St. Michael semi-final contest is set to begin at 2:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon. With a win, Rayne will move into the finals late Saturday evening against the winner of the Edna Karr-Ursuline Academy semifinal contest.