Vandy, Morgan City unbeaten in Classic

In the tournaments that kick off each high school basketball season, most coaches have the same objectives – find out what works, what does not and toughen up their squads before district play begins.

That was the case for the local girl’s teams that competed last weekend in the 20th annual Vandebilt Catholic Terrier Classic at the Brother Alfred Kolb Center.

Host Vandebilt and District 7-5A rival Morgan City both went 3-0 in the three-day tournament. Terrebonne finished 1-2 and South Terrebonne suffered a 0-3 mark.

Coaches garnered valuable information about their teams over the weekend.

For 22-year Lady Terrier head coach Kathy Luke, it was that her squad could overcome the loss of a key starter and continue to play well.

“Considering we lost our point guard (junior Shikera Ross), I think our kids are handling the adjustment,” she said. “Our defense is ahead of our offense up to this point, which is pretty normal. We’re giving teams only one shot, blocking out and controlling the boards.”

The Vandebilt (8-2) defense was particular impressive Saturday against the St. James Lady Wildcats. Vandebilt conquered an 11-point third quarter deficit and outscored St. James 19-6 in the fourth quarter for a 62-53 victory.

Juniors Therese Plaisance and Sybil Washington controlled the post on both ends of the court during the three-game run.

Luke hopes to have the point guard position settled by the time district games start in a month. For now seniors Allison Crosby and Amanda Graham are sharing the duties.

“Our execution will come along. We’ll learn our reads,” she said. “When you’re doing it with kids who never ran the point, it’s going to take a little time.”

Team unity is the strength of the early success of the Lady Terriers, according to Luke. The players are working hard and committed to the team concept.

However, she believes they can improve offensively by understanding their roles better.

“Only the gifted can be true offensive stars and kids have to realize that,” she said. “This is not a situation where everybody has the green light to shoot. So they need to know who we’re looking for on each possession and stay within the system.”

The Vandebilt Catholic Terrier Classic began in 1989 as a fundraiser to generate money for the girls’ program. Having the support of parents and alumni has provided the tournament’s longevity.

“We don’t make a ton of money but, more importantly, it gives us a chance to bring our community together – play some home games in front of our home crowd.”

Despite going 19-8 last season, the Morgan City Lady Tigers did not make the postseason. Third-year head coach Maris Richard hopes playing in such a prestigious tournament will help her squad perform better in the tough District 8-4A action

“You see quality teams. It helps prepare you for what’s to come in district and the playoffs,” she said. “You want to play quality teams to see what your weaknesses are. You want to put on a good showing in these tournaments.”

That they did winning their first two games by 18 points each (versus L.W. Higgins and South Terrebonne) and a one-point nail biter over St. James 55-54 on Saturday.

“That was the best we have played so far,” Richard said. “The defense was a lot better. We like to fast break on the offense, but we haven’t done a good job rebounding until tonight, which has limited our offense. We haven’t been running our half-set offense well until tonight.”

Having lost her top two scorers and rebounders from last year’s team, Richard is counting on her three returning starters, particularly Sabrina Allen and Jessica Johnson, to carry the offensive load until the newcomers catch up.

“We need to operate our half court offense better and be more consistent, rebound, play defense first, worry about the steal second,” she said. “We get out of position a lot of times when we go for the steal first. We’ve been fortunate teams haven’t made us pay for it.”

Richard also hopes a new playoff seeding formula, similar to the power rankings used for football and volleyball, will propel the Lady Tigers (7-1) to the postseason.

Last year, the top three teams in each district automatically made it and two fourth-place teams were picked as wild cards. This year, the top two teams will go automatically and the rest of the teams will be picked based on rankings.

“Had they done this last year, we would have made it based on the strength of our schedule,” Richard said. “A lot of teams with worse records from weaker districts made it. We’re in a district with Ellender, Vandebilt and Helen Cox. Those are some of the best teams in the state. Every game is going to be a battle. It’s just a hard district to compete in.”

Ninth-year head coach Greg Knox led the Terrebonne Lady Tigers (4-4) to the playoffs last year.

But with only six of his eight-member roster available for the tournament, it was difficult to assess where his team is stands right now.

“We could be in better shape, both physically and mentally,” Knox said. “Our biggest problem is we’re undermanned. We have to play smarter than everybody else. We have to take our time, run our set offense, and play some good defense.”

The lack of depth has even changed the way the team plays in the court.

“We started off a fast break team, but with the numbers we have, we didn’t last that long,” Knox said. “We could run all day, but I can’t sub in and give people a break. So we have to slow the ball down. We don’t want to, but we don’t have a choice. I can’t take Alaina (Verdin) out, give her a breather and get some water in her system. I can’t take Sierra (Lyons) out and give her a break.”

When Terrebonne makes outside shots, like they did Saturday in a 56-43 win over Higgins, they look like the team that tied for the district title last season, Knox said. When they do not, like Friday’s 50-27 loss to Vandebilt, his squad gets easily frustrated.

However, Knox said both extremes will be worthwhile when the Lady Tigers are battling its district rivals for the top three automatic spots in the playoffs.

“It looks bad when you lose by 23 points, but it’s helping us to grow,” he said. “Playing against quality teams like Vandebilt and St. James, that’s going to help us out in the long run. By the time district rolls around, we should be better off. We should know how good players play and how to defend them.”