Sophomore duo assists West St. Mary girls in opening-round playoff win

Wolfpack get a combined 52 points from guards Kaitlyn Blake and Garylon Brown

By Mike Coppage 

BALDWIN, La. - Sophomore guards Kaitlyn Blake and Garylon Brown combined for 52 points in West St. Mary's Division III non-select first round playoff game against 25th-seeded Kinder on Thursday.

Blake scored 25 points and Brown had a game-high 27 as the eighth-seeded Wolfpack eliminated the Yellow Jackets, 74-57. Senior post Kaitlin Druilhet (nine points) and junior wing Jaci Doucettte (eight) were factors as well.

Brown, who averages 20 points per game, got more effective as the game went on, connecting on 5-of-6 field goals in the second half. She also eclipsed the 500-point mark for the season.

Garylon Brown 

Blake, a left-handed shooter, scored 17 points in the second half - 10 in the fourth quarter.

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"They can score, but (Thursday) wasn't their best," WSM head coach Connie Moore said of her sophomore tandem. "That's the scary part. It wasn't their best.

"I don't know if it was nerves or tension, what with this being the first playoff game of the year. I think it was a combination of things."

The Yellow Jackets (10-17) came out of District 3-3A, which is headlined by Division II powers St. Louis Catholic (24-6) and South Beauregard (22-7).

Reagan Bryant led Kinder with 17 points. Megan Fuselier added 15 for Kinder, which didn't play like an underdog in the first quarter.

The Yellow Jackets took a 10-2 lead at the 3:30 mark of the quarter as West St. Mary made just one of its first nine field goal attempts.

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"We came out flat," Moore said. "We went out there expecting to just jump ahead. We weren't focused on what we needed to do.

"I told them before the game that you can't just go by the seeding; we have to play our game. We didn't come out playing our game. Kinder was very aggressive, and they hustled."

The Wolfpack (18-7), winners of 13 straight games, have excelled all season at forcing turnovers with their full-court pressure. Kinder, with its press, was able to give the Wolfpack a taste of its own medicine in the early going with its press.

"Once we called a time out, we told the girls that we have to start playing our game," Moore said. "We weren't playing our style of defense. We made some adjustments."

West St. Mary shook off the slow start with a 15-2 run that extended into the second quarter and eventually built a 24-14 lead on a follow by Brown with 5:25 left in the first half.

Kinder cut it to four, 26-22, on a steal and lay-up by Ava Fontenot, who finished with seven points. In the last minute of the first half, the Wolfpack moved ahead, 33-22, on a 3-pointer from the right corner by junior Areanna St. Julien.

West St. Mary led by 13, 35-22, at the half. The lead swelled to 19 points midway through the third quarter on Brown's transition bucket.

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Kinder kept plugging away, however, and sliced the deficit to 55-45 early in the fourth quarter.

"I don't know if we were thinking ahead to the next round," Moore said. "We have to go out there next time from beginning to end and play our style of ball.

"We can't be lackadaisical. We need to jump on them early, not let up, keep pressing and force the other team to turn the ball over."

Moore brought back the entire roster from last year's squad that reached the quarterfinals for the first time in school history. She also brought on assistant coach Angel Dennis, who won back-to-back state championships as a player at Franklin Senior High.

Ironically, Franklin is West St. Mary's arch-rival, with the two schools separated by only a few miles.

West St. Mary coach Connie Moore (left) and assistant coach Angel Dennis

"I don't look at Angel as an assistant coach," Moore said. "We're both coaches. We both know our role. She's younger. Of course, she brings more energy; she communicates well with the girls, they tune into her. They listen to what she has to say.

"Coach Angel has that experience. She knows what it takes to get there, to have a championship team. She's a wonderful coach."

West St. Mary will host ninth-seeded Pine, a 58-27 winner against No. 24 Port Barre, in the regional round on Monday.