Three Times a Charm? No. 1 Parkway fields another formidable team that eyes a three-peat
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Don’t drop the ball.
That’s become the refrain of the non-senior members of the Parkway High’s girls basketball team and this year’s no different.
Parkway finds itself with the top seed in the Division I non-select bracket, opening postseason play at home Monday against No. 17 Thibodaux in regional action.
The Lady Panthers (24-2) will put their 12-game winning streak on the line with hopes of a return trip to the state tournament in Hammond where they’ve won the program’s first two state championships.
Discussion of a three-peat began as early as the team’s summer workouts when coach Gloria Williams began looking at piecing together her team for another state championship run.
“We discussed it,” said Williams, the Class 5A Coach of the Year the past two seasons. “We try to get away from it and not focus on it too much. You don’t want to put too much pressure on the kids at this age. At the end of the day, it’s something the coaching staff wants and it’s something the kids want.
“But we can’t want it more than them,” William said. “I think they’ve been working towards that and have a really good shot as long as we can stick together and play together. Basketball’s a game of runs and you have to be able to handle adversity when it hits.”
The challenge facing the previous two teams was simple: Replacing two of the school’s greatest players in order to keep Parkway atop the mountain in the state’s highest class.
Two years ago, the Lady Panthers had a breakthrough moment behind two-time Miss Louisiana Basketball and two-time Class 5A Outstanding Player Mikaylah Williams, now a star at LSU, and won their second state title behind the play of Class 5A first-team All-State selection Chloe Larry, a now a standout at Tennessee Tech.
“It’s more of a competitive thing for each group,” Williams said. “They don’t want to be the group that drops the ball. They come in with that on their mind, that determination, and that mindset. It’s been a beautiful thing to watch. After we won it with Mikaylah, we talked about them having the winningest career at Parkway. Chloe and that group had the winningest career.
“At this point, this senior group (87-8 over past three years) has the winningest record,” Williams said. “They were a part of that, and it’s kept building. Savannah’s (Wilson) group can go out and have a chance to compete for a three-peat or a third time’s a charm. It’s pretty special.”
Parkway left quite an impression with its repeat performance in 2023-24.
Without a generational talent such as Mikaylah Williams, who was the No. 1 ranked player in the country by some recruiting services, the Lady Panthers found a way to get back to the finish last year.
Larry was at the heart of a team that went 33-6 and delivered one of the more memorable shots in state tournament history.
Parkway trailed top-seeded Walker by 15 points in the third quarter, staging a comeback for the ages, when Larry pulled up from beyond midcourt to make a 3-point shot at the buzzer for a scintillating 64-63 semifinal overtime victory.
The state championship game, a 57-29 triumph over Denham Springs, was seemingly anti-climactic after the team’s heroics three days earlier.
Finding the pieces to the puzzle
Coach Williams allowed her team to decompress from another state championship season, giving her returning players involved in other sports time to compete and help their respective teams.
For the basketball-only players, individual skill work began until the school year was complete, and the 2024-25 team could convene for lifting conditioning, and a summer league schedule of 15-20 games.
“We try and give them time off just to get away from it so they can get a break,” Williams said. “I’m learning that in these years there’s no such thing as a break. Because we have had them for so long, we try to be too overbearing and allow them to go to their second sport after basketball’s over with. This past summer, the kids gelled together, and the kids figured out a way to get the ball through the hole and defend.”
Parkway opened this season with nine straight wins until a 41-31 loss at Wossman, the No. 1 rated non-select team in Division II. Just over a week later the Lady Panthers dropped 55-52 non-district encounter with Huntington on Dec. 17.
Parkway traveled to Duncanville, Texas for the 74th Annual Sandra Meadows Classic – one of the nation’s premier tournaments. The results were mixed with two wins and two losses, but Williams is a firm believer in the tournament’s reputation among the country’s best.
“It’s great competition,” she said. “If you have kids that you feel should be on whatever level, get in one of those kinds of tournaments and test them.”
Because out-of-state results don’t count towards a team’s record, Parkway began District 1-5A competition with a 15-2 nark after consecutive wins over Neville, J.S. Clark Leadership Academy, and Southwood.
In a rematch with Huntington, last year’s Division I select semifinalist, the Lady Panthers avenged their earlier defeat with a 60-47 road victory.
They were just getting started.
Parkway plowed its way through the district unblemished, winning the league title by an average of 33.5 points – capped by a 66-32 triumph against Captain Shreve.
“It was more of the mental aspect,” Williams said. “We felt physically we were there. But getting kids to be mentally focused on the task at hand. Sometimes with teenagers, that’s hard to do. Once they saw that this could be done physically and mentally, we just had to focus and concentrate on what we were doing. That was the key.”
Experienced team ready to make its mark
Parkway may not have a player the caliber of Mikaylah Williams or Larry, the latter of which averaged 19.4 points last season, but the Lady Panthers – the state’s No. 1 team according to MaxPreps – are plenty talented and experienced.
Senior forward Dakota Howard, an all-tournament selection in the Duncanville tournament, averaged a double-double and earned second team Class 5A All-State honors a year ago. Her 20.4 points and 10 rebounds lead the team and is a testament to her improvement over last season when she averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds.
“When you’re in the spotlight with other kids in the spotlight you know how to shoot the ball,” Williams said of Howard, a Southeastern Louisiana signee. “She knows when to go get a bucket. Sometimes I have to get on her for sharing a little too much.
“She can get a bucket if we need it or when she needs to,” Williams said. “Her shooting’s improved and her defensive skill, she’s all over the place. She’s going to be a great fit for Southeastern.”
Forward Savannah Wilson is another big part of the team’s six-member senior class with 12.8 points and 8 rebounds per game.
Williams credited the production of her junior class with helping solidify this year’s team and providing for a bright future.
Guard Zara Baker scores 7 points, point guard Khia Thomas 6 points and guards Jasmine Hendrix 4 and Kenadie Loche 3 points each.
“The junior class has really stepped up,” Williams said. “They don’t have a lot of size, but they have a lot of fight and a lot of heart. Once they get going it’s kind of tough to stop. Khia gets going and is laser-focused, and Jasmine is feisty. I wouldn’t want her defending me. I’ve been extremely proud of them.
“The junior class has been to Hammond for two years,” Williams said. “They know what to expect and they’re stepping up because it’s their time. They don’t want to be the one that drops the ball for these seniors.”
By the time Parkway begins postseason play, it will have been 10 days since the Lady Panthers last played a game with their 34-point triumph over Captain Shreve.
They’ve been back on the practice floor, fine-tuning aspects of their game and cleaning up a few areas that will serve them well for the long haul.
“We’re 0-0,” Williams said. “It’s all about who wants it. You have to put aside the record and get it done. These kids are resilient. They’re going to do their best to accomplish that goal.”
And not drop the ball.