Tuesday, Mar. 9
March 9, 2010
Sheriff’s ranges give public a new target
March 11, 2010
It took Vandebilt Catholic girls’ basketball coach Kathy Luke more than two decades, but she now finally has her gold ball.
Riding the waves of a dominant first quarter, Vandebilt cruised to an early lead and never looked back Saturday night against Jennings, earning a 70-51 win in the Class 4A State Championship Game.
The win was the first basketball state championship for the school and the first for Luke, who had scored more than 600 career victories without a title in her 24 seasons as the Lady Terriers’ coach.
“It’s everything I thought it would be,” Luke said following the game when asked what it would feel like to finally win the state title.
Following the game, the coach hugged every player and assistant coach on the roster and thanked them for their contributions to the team throughout the season. The coach said as the final buzzer sounded, she thought about all of the players who suited up for the program during her time as coach.
“It’s been a lot of hard work and effort, but tonight is the big payoff,” Luke said. “I’m just so proud of Vandebilt and our whole community right now.”
Senior Theresa Plaisance said after losing in the state finals last year, the team wanted to win one for their coach.
“All of us were dedicated to Coach Luke, and we wanted this for her,” Plaisance said. “She’s been here so long, and we wanted to win this one for her.”
Senior Sybil Washington added to Plaisance’s thoughts and said the win was not just for the 2009-10 Lady Terriers, but for everyone who has ever been a Vandebilt basketball player.
“We have great fans and great school spirit,” Washington said. “The ex-players, they tried and they came close and they couldn’t do it, but we got it for them.”
The win is a long-time coming for Luke as she changed her coaching philosophy following Vandebilt’s 58-31 loss to Glen Oaks in the 2007 State Semifinals.
“That loss was the defining moment for me in my career,” Luke said. “I didn’t know if we were doing things right or wrong, but we had to decide if we were going to make changes and what changes needed to be made.”
So instead of being critical of those around her, the always fiery competitor shifted the attention to herself and revamped the way she approached coaching.
“I think the changes that were made actually came from me,” Luke said. “I’m a work-a-holic and I push kids a little hard at times. And it really tells you something when kids pile 10 of themselves into an assistant coach’s car when the other coach’s car is empty. That tells you a little bit. So I had to had to back off a little bit and make it a little bit of fun for them, because this is not a life or death deal.”
And never did the Lady Terriers have more fun than they did on Saturday night as the team jumped out to a 25-11 lead in the first quarter and never relinquished that lead.
Like she’s done all season, Plaisance was a force in the paint for the Lady Terriers.
The 6-foot-5-inch All-American fulfilled a promise she made to her coach before the game and dominated Jennings to the tune of 24 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and three assists.
The LSU signee was 7-of-10 from the field and 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
“She was so tough tonight,” Luke said. “They never had an answer for her … She told me she was going to go out of here with a bang and she did.”
The win is the final chapter on Plaisance’s two-year career in Houma.
The center moved to Vandebilt at the beginning of her junior season after spending the beginning of her prep career at Ursuline Academy in New Orleans.
Luke said the transition to the Lady Terriers’ program was not always easy for the star center.
“She told me in November of her junior year, ‘I don’t know if I can take this,'” Luke said. “I was a little bit too demanding and she wasn’t used to it and she didn’t like me.”
But as Plaisance evolved in the program, she became an answer to her coach’s prayers – literally.
“For 24 years, I’ve been complaining to God about not having a big kid,” Luke said. “So he said last year, ‘Poof! Now shut up and do something with it. 6-foot-5 is here, so do something with it, Luke.’ We feel blessed that she’s in our program.”
The win also marks the end of the careers of three other seniors in the Lady Terriers’ program – Taylor Crosby, Shikera Ross and Washington.
And while Luke said the state title will last forever, she hopes the lessons learned over the past four seasons will also remain in her players’ minds throughout the rest of their lives.
“The gold ball is going to be in our locker room and our facility for years to come,” Luke said. “These kids are going to leave and we want them to leave with good qualities. I always tell them that it’s not what you leave for people, but what you leave in people and I hope we send these girls off with character and work ethic and things that they can teach to their children. And they’ve taught me a lot, too.”
Vandebilt senior center Theresa Plaisance celebrates the team’s state championship victory on Saturday by hugging Lady Terriers coach Kathy Luke. Luke called the All-American a driving force behind the team’s season. * Photo by CASEY GISCLAIR
