The first time the Parkway Lady Panthers and the Haughton Lady Bucs played this season it was a blowout victory for the Lady Panthers.
Parkway Head Coach Gloria Williams didn’t expect a repeat in the semifinals of the non-select Division I playoffs at Southeastern University’s University Center Thursday night at the state tournament in Hammond.
“We knew that it was going to be a different atmosphere,” Williams said. “It’s their first time here and we knew they were going to be a little hungry and we can’t be complacent because we’ve been here.
“We still have to go out and execute and I think in the first half we didn’t have things going. In the second half I think we got it going a little bit.”
Indeed they did. Leading 21-18 at the half, the Lady Panthers began to pull away in the third quarter. Parkway dominated the fourth en route to a 51-32 victory.
“I think Haughton had a really well-executed game plan,” Williams said. “I’m just thankful we were able to overcome. We knew that they were going to switch up some things on us and we just needed to handle adversity when it hit and I think we did.”
Parkway (29-4) is in the championship game for the fourth straight year. There will be no rematch of last year’s semifinal against Walker won on Chloe Larry’s halfcourt shot at the buzzer in overtime, though.
The No. 2 seed Lady Wildcats were upset by No. 4 Zachary 50-48 in the other semifinal Thursday night. Two-time defending champion Parkway, the No. 1 seed, and Zachary (25-4) will face off Saturday at 8 for the title.
Haughton finished its historic season 28-6. The Lady Bucs’ top three players — Shaniya Perkins, Skylar Branch and Bella Hammond — are only juniors, so it won’t be a surprise if they return to Hammond next season.
“They already said in the locker room they want to come back,” Haughton Head Coach Jenna Bolin said. “It’s fun. Lot of experience. I think they belong here. They’re good enough to be here.”
Senior Dakota Howard led Parkway with 19 points, including two 3-pointers. She was 7-of-15 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. She also had five steals, four assists and four rebounds.
Senior post player Savannah Wilson had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Khia Thomas hit both 3-pointers she attempted and had eight points. Jasmyne Hendrix added six points and Zara Baker-Scanlon five.
Parkway was 5-of-10 from behind the arc. Haughton was 1-of-5.
Turnovers were a key factor. The Lady Panthers had eight. The Lady Bucs had 15. Parkway scored 12 points off the turnovers. Haughton only scored two.
“That’s been money in the bank for us since I’ve been at Parkway,” Williams said of the stout defense. “We know if we’re not scoring the ball offensively we turn our defense up and we’re going to get things rolling.”
Perkins and Branch led Haughton with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Senior Kamyra Turner had six.
Perkins also had nine rebounds.