By LARRY HYMEL, Journal Sports
HAMMOND — Parkway took a big step to a three-peat and a youthful Haughton team set the stage for the future Thursday night in the LHSAA Marsh Madness girls basketball state tournament.
After a close first half, Parkway locked down defensively and pulled away, prevailing 51-32 over Haughton to advance to Saturday’s 8 o’clock finale against Zachary in the Non-Select Division I bracket at Southeastern Louisiana’s University Center.
It will be the fourth straight state championship game for Parkway (29-4), winner of the last two LHSAA crowns after losing a triple overtime finale four years ago.
Seniors Dakota Howard and Savannah Wilson led the way Thursday night, scoring most of the team’s 20 points in the fourth period as the Lady Panthers stretched a 31-24 third quarter lead.
Shaniya Perkins with 13 points and Skylar Branch with 11 led the Buccaneers (29-6), making their first-ever semifinal appearance.
Howard, who spent her freshman year at Haughton and then transferred to Parkway, led the way with 19 points. Wilson chipped in with 11 and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Parkway coach Gloria Williams, whose team had gone 15 miles to Haughton and posted a 69-42 victory Jan. 31 in the only meeting of the nearby District 1-5A rivals, had a simple message for her team midway through the rematch.
“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up,” she recalled. “We knew it was going to be a different atmosphere. It’s their first time here, so they’re going to be a little (extra) hungry, and we can’t be complacent because we’ve been here. We have to go out and execute.
“The first half we didn’t have things going. The second half we got it going, a little bit,” she said.
Williams was unsurprised by a much tougher game this time around. But she didn’t accept it.
“Haughton had a good game plan, but we were able to make the necessary change,” she said.
Williams acknowledged despite Parkway’s extended reign, the pressure of being the No. 1 seed has impact. “You would think not, but it is there. Our schedule helped us ease some of the pressure of going to the finals again,” he said.
She also cited her senior leaders as tone setters all season, and that was evident when Thursday’s outcome was shaky.
Said Wilson: “this is my fourth year and Dakota’s third so we knew people would be gunning for us, but we know what we had to do.”
Haughton coach Jenna Bolin chose not to participate in the postgame press conference. Her team’s valiant effort spoke loudly, however.
For Haughton, with only one senior on the team, getting to Hammond and hanging tough was a big step forward. Disregarding that blowout homecourt loss five weeks earlier, Haughton gave the Lady Panthers all they could handle for two periods.
The Buccaneers only trailed Parkway 13-10 at the end of the first eight minutes and just 22-19 at halftime. However, burdened by 11 second-half turnovers, Haughton did not score for over four minutes opening the third quarter. The Lady Bucs’ defense kept Parkway in hailing distance.
Then Howard and Wilson took over. Howard had eight points and Wilson six in the final frame as Parkway outscored Haughton by 12 and extended its lead to the final 19-point difference.
Howard gave Hammond-area fans a taste of the future. She has signed with Southeastern and was playing in her future home arena.
She gets another chance in the last game of Marsh Madness Saturday night.
Contact Larry at sports@journalservicesllc.com