Girls Trip: Plain Dealing handles lengthy journey, South Plaquemines
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Plain Dealing girls basketball coach Robby Lockwood woke up at 5 a.m. Friday to get his children ready to leave with his wife for school.
Lockwood went back to sleep for a couple of hours before making his way to campus at 10:30 a.m., while his players were allowed to arrive by 1 o’clock.
It was the least the school could do for the team considering the challenge they faced in Thursday’s first-round Division IV non-select state playoff game.
No. 19 Plain Dealing embarked on a road trip to No. 14 South Plaquemines that took more than 800 miles, several stops in between to complete what was a 19-hour odyssey.
The Lady Lions overcame an anticipated sluggish start, a six-point deficit in the first quarter, and played from ahead the rest of the way for a 42-27 victory.
“That’s a long ride,” Lockwood understated.
Not only did Plain Dealing (16-14) win its first playoff game in five years, but the Lady Lions will also only have to travel 45 minutes for Monday’s regional against District 1-1A foe, Arcadia, at 6 p.m.
“The good thing was that the girls traveled well,” Lockwood said. “We took nine, played seven, with four of them not leaving the court. They’re going to be tired.”
Without the resources to secure a charter bus, Lockwood said the parish provided one of its nicer buses with overhead compartments and USB ports that enabled players to plug in and charge their phones.
Transporting the team safely from 10 miles south of the Arkansas border to the depths of south Louisiana was also a team effort with Lockwood and Latarla Haskins, a bus driver and mother of one of the boys’ basketball players.
A sendoff at the school, complete with goodie bags for the team, began the team’s journey at 7:45 that morning. They returned at 2:47 a.m. and, appreciative of the trip, they’ll probably never forget.
“When they’re 40 years old and have kids, they’ll talk about this long trip,” Lockwood said. “I’ve lived in Louisiana most of my entire life and never have been south of New Orleans. You have to have a reason to head in that direction.
“Some of the girls hadn’t traveled a whole lot,” Lockwood said. “I had to explain the houses on stilts as we’re driving in. The school’s way up (off the ground) because of the low, lying area that people in south Louisiana are used to seeing. Our country girls aren’t used to seeing that. They don’t see that every day.”
Sanaa Lyles, the team’s point guard, was part of Plain Dealing’s softball team that made the same exact trip to South Plaquemines last April. The Lady Lions picked up a 17-13 first-round victory and stayed the night before returning home.
This was different.
Lockwood, in his third season with the girls, coupled with his duty as an assistant with the boys, initially believed his team was headed to District 1-1A opponent Logansport, after looking at power ratings on Friday.
Without any games on Saturday, the Lady Lions could turn an eye toward a second game with the Lady Tigers, whom they faced on Feb. 3.
A phone call from North Webster athletic director Christopher Wilson changed all that. He alerted Lockwood that the power rating of North Webster, whom Plain Dealing defeated twice, was not accurate and would affect the Lady Lions’ power rating, thus dropping them in the seedings process.
“Everybody’s tracking these things, and I’m pretty good about figuring out the numbers,” Lockwood said. “Then after Friday’s game, things kind of flopped.”
Instead of an 80-mile drive to Logansport, which would have taken approximately 90 minutes, Lockwood learned his team would be in it for the long haul.
“That’s a long trip,” he said.
The team’s two longest trips of the regular season were to Pickering – a combined 292 miles and 5 hours – and Jonesboro-Hodge – a combined 180 miles and 3 hours.
“Everywhere we go, it’s going to be an hour, hour-and-a-half,” Lockwood said.
With few options on the school’s coaching staff with a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), Lockwood was able to convince Haskins to help take on the trip.
Lockwood got the team to Alexandria before Haskins took over until Opelousas, where the team took an hour for lunch and got gas.
They stopped for gas in Port Allen, where Lockwood took over, and drove the remainder of the way.
“I drove to the end of the earth,” he said.
On the return trip, Lockwood drove the team to LaPlace for food. They stopped once again in Port Allen, switched drivers, with Haskins getting the team home following one final stop for gas in Opelousas.
“It was a long one,” Lockwood said.
Plain Dealing, a school with three state championships, was third in the district with a record of 5-2 behind Acadia (7-0) and Cedar Creek (6-1).
The Lady Lions picked up steam over the latter stages of the regular season, winning six of their seven games and four straight.
“Plain Dealing’s girls basketball has a lot of history,” Lockwood said. “There’s a lot of banners in the gym, but it’s been 10-12 years since they’ve been a team that’s been two, three rounds in the playoffs.”
Six-foot-two junior Jakayla Douglas has been the team’s centerpiece throughout the season, averaging 27 points and 18 rebounds per game.
“She’s our best player and should be a D1 kid,” Lockwood said of Jakayla. “She’ll play this summer on the same AAU team with Caroline Bradley of Oak Grove. She’s double and triple-teamed every night out. I think about Shaq (LSU All-American Shaquille O’Neal) from back in the day. She’s super talented.
“Her sister, Janiya, missed some games this year, and when she came back for the start of district play, we’ve been pretty good,” Lockwood said. “It’s also playoff basketball, and none of the kids had won a playoff game.”
Lockwood was able to show the team on video that their matchup with South Plaquemines was favorable.
“They knew if they came ready to play and could get over the travel, on paper, we were the better basketball team,” he said. “We told them we would be fine. Had we had everyone all year, we would have won five to six more games and would have been at home. It is what it is.”
Aside from the Douglas sisters and Lyles, the Lady Lions also feature a roster with three seventh graders – one starter and two others on the bench.
The length of the trip showed in South Plaquemine, grabbing a hold of a 10-4 lead.
The Lady Lions were just getting started.
Jakayla Douglas scored 12 of her game-high 29 points in the second quarter, and Plain Dealing took a 14-10 halftime lead, an edge they wouldn’t relinquish.
Lyles, who scored eight points, finished the third quarter with a half-court, 3-pointer for a 25-16 advantage, and the Lady Lions outscored the Lady Hurricanes, 17-11, in the final quarter to wrap up the victory. Janiya Douglas was the team’s other double-digit scorer with 11.
“We came out and pressed,” Lockwood said. “We don’t have the depth to press for four quarters, and kind of stretched it out. We played good defense in the second half. Teams in South Louisiana are a little different. A lot more aggressive. We hung in there, and kind of got out of there.”