Ville Platte slips past Lady Dogs in regional round

VILLE PLATTE – The Iota Lady Bulldogs gave No. 2 seed Ville Platte all they could handle Wednesday in a Class 3A  regional playoff tilt.
The Lady Dogs went toe-to-to with the favorites and even led for the better part of the first half before eventually falling just short, 53-51, in front of a raucous standing room only crowed that heavily favored the hosts.
“We played with a lot of heart, a lot of pride and a lot of intensity tonight and you can’t ask for more than that because that’s one thing that I can’t take credit for. You either have it or you don’t and every single one of my girls played that way tonight,” said Iota coach Meghann LeJeune. “I was proud of their effort and their willingness to fight the good fight and not give up. We had every opportunity to crumble and we didn’t.”
The Lady Dogs and Ville Platte went back and fourth in the fourth quarter in a frame that saw two lead changes and three ties.
Madeline Gatte’s jumper in the lane tied the game at 49-49 with just over a minute to go before Ville Platte hit four free throws over the next 45 seconds. Mallory Faul then cut the lead to two (53-51) with a pair of free throws of her how with 25 seconds remaining.
Ville Platte then went cold from the charity stripe and missed a pair of free throws with 14 seconds remaining and Iota got the rebound.
The tide turned quickly though as the Lady Dogs turned the ball over in transition.
“What we wanted to do was get across half court and call the time out and we were just a little too anxious there,” said LeJeune. “But this game is all about the little things and regardless of what happened in the last 23 seconds, if we do the little things like make our free throws, we aren’t in that position.”
Iota had one final chance with six seconds remaining when Ville Platte missed two more free throws but the Lady Dogs were unable to come down with the rebound.
“It was a possession to possession game there at the end and they (Ville Platte) made the plays,” said LeJeune. “We had a couple turnovers and a few missed rebounds that could have helped us get a shot there at the end to maybe tie it or take the lead and it just didn’t happen.”
For the Lady Dogs, things didn’t go quite as expected early in the game. Ville Platte went on a 7-0 run that had the fans in an uproar to start the game.
The Lady Dogs withstood the storm, however, and went on a 14-5 run over the final six minutes of the first quarter to take a 14-12 advantage.
“It would have been easy for us fold from the beginning when they jumped on us,” said LeJeune. “And in their atmosphere, it’s just something that our girls aren’t used to. It’s a small gym, it was obviously packed and it was chaotic.”
The second quarter couldn’t have started any better for the Lady Dogs when Mallory Faul canned a 3-pointer from the corner to extend the lead to five (15-12).
Things quickly changed from there though.
The Lady Dogs committed eight turnovers after that and Ville Platte star guard Deja McKinney poured in six of her game-high 25 points in the frame as the hosts rallied to take a 25-22 lead into the half.
“The eight turnovers hurt us in the second quarter but even with that, we went into halftime down three against Ville Platte, that’s pretty good,” said LeJeune. “
Ville Platte pushed the lead to 10 (35-25) early in the third quarter before Whitney Landry and Madeline Gatte sparked a rally. Landry drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the frame and Gatte added another late in the frame that cut the lead to 35-31.
“Honestly, we were trying to slow it down in the third quarter but Whitney was hot so I told her if she had it, shoot it,” said LeJeune. “Those 3-pointers got us back in it.”
The fourth quarter saw Ville Platte take a seven-point lead (42-35) with just over three minutes remaining.
From there, Landry and Gatte drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to 42-41 before Landry added a jumper from the block to give the Lady Dogs their only lead of the fourth quarter, 43-42.
McKinney hit another 3-pointer to regain the lead for Ville Platte before Becca Fantroy’s floater in the lane tied the game again. Faul had a putback with 1:10 remaining that tied the game again with just under a minute to go.
McKinney and Brianna Pete combined for 17 of Ville Platte’s 18 points in the fourth quarter. Pete finished with 17 points on the night.
Landry and Gatte paced the Lady Dogs with 18 and 12 points, respectively. Landry also added six rebounds while Gatte had seven boards.
“Whitney shot the heck out of the ball,” said LeJeune of Landry who connected on four 3-pointers. “She is a good shooter and they left her open. She had some opportunities and she wasn’t afraid to take them. And inside, she made a couple great moves and she also rebounds the heck out of the ball.
“And Madeline was big tonight. She stepped up and took big shots that some people wouldn’t take and she knocked them down.”
Faul was also a key contributor with 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Taylor DeVille followed with seven points, 10 rebounds and two blocks while Fantroy had three pints.
“My girls didn’t realize that they weren’t supposed to play with that team and they did and I’m just so proud of them for that,” said LeJeune. “Our motto is to play with heart and play with pride and give it everything you have and I think we did that tonight.”