Parkview Baptist (Louisiana) girls successfully met higher expectations, resulting in a title repeat: Buck's Ballpark

Lady Eagles pay back University Lab with 11-point win for Division III select championship

HAMMOND, LOUISIANA - A year ago, they came out of nowhere to win state after not having made the playoffs the season before. 

Friday night, the Parkview Baptist girls basketball team made their triumphant return to the University Center and got to accept another championship trophy. While the expectations naturally got higher for the Lady Eagles all season, Friday’s outcome in the Division III select championship game may have still come as a surprise.

More than a month ago, the Lady Eagles may have had their lowest point of the season in a 58-45 loss to University Lab.

“I think that was a turning point for us. … It was a busy week, it was a back-to-back game and I thought we played really poorly,” Lady Eagle coach Brett Shelton said.

So Shelton helped get the players refocused, in particular guard Addyson Bernhard, one of two seniors on the Parkview Baptist roster.

“We had a little meeting with Addy, and I felt like that was kind of the turning point of our season really after that loss,” Shelton said.

The two ended up sitting side-by-side in the postgame press conference Friday night, rejoicing after the Lady Eagles successfully repeated as state champs. Their vanquished foe - no other than University Lab.

This time, the Lady Eagles dictated the pace, starting with a dominant first quarter in which they built a 13-4 lead. They kept the Cubs at arm’s length the rest of the way to prevail, 49-38.

Parkview Baptist defeats University Lab: Live updates, score of Louisiana (LHSAA) girls basketball Division III select state championship (3/1/2024)

“You still had the nervous jitters that you have when you’re playing in a championship game, but I feel like we settled in quicker than they did because we had been there before and we knew what to do,” Bernhard said.

Shelton had a feeling that once the Lady Eagles made it back to Hammond, they had a good chance of going out there and repeating. Again, having had the experience of winning it all last year helped.

“I would think it’s probably huge,” Shelton said. “I know all week, we felt like our players were loose, it was like this moment wasn’t too big, and as (assistant) Coach Katie (Shoaf) and I watched them, we were like, ‘This is where we want to be; we don’t want them to feel all this pressure.’

“So I think we had some good practices and I think they were ready to go. I like them when they play loose and relaxed, and I think they did that.”

The Lady Eagles also got a strong performance from sophomore guard Anna Richerson, who had a game-high 18 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double. She had 14 of those points in the first half.

Full disclosure from her, however. Richerson wasn’t 100 percent going into the game, or the week, for that matter.

“I sprained my ankle a week ago (Friday) and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to play (this week), but I’ve got some trainers at Peak (Performance Physical Therapy in Baton Rouge) and at Parkview getting me ready for everything,” Richerson said.

Late in the game, Bernhard collided with a University Lab player and went to the sidelines. Moments later, she came back to the court, getting a rousing ovation from the Parkview Baptist faithful.

No way she was not going to spend the final moments of her last game as a Lady Eagle on the bench.

Parkview Baptist senior Addyson Bernhard holds the title trophy after the Lady Eagles repeated as Division III select state champions March 1, 2024

“The competitiveness I would say comes from my parents; both my parents played college basketball and are super-competitive, so I grew up doing everything competitively no matter what it was, so that mindset has been instilled in me since I was very young,” said Bernhard, who scored nine points in the win. “I’m glad that I got to step into a program that is competitive and we compete with each other every day and make each other better every day.”

And she got to savor her final game as a Lady Eagle with her younger sister Ansley, an eighth-grader. Ansley had seven points.

“This game was one of my favorite that I’ve ever played in; getting to score the ball, getting to watch (Richerson) be a star, she was out of this world,” Addyson Bernhard said. “And to get to watch my sister score.”

But as a senior, Addyson Bernhard suddenly faced the bittersweet reality that the finality was here for her career as a Lady Eagle. She and center Sara Authement are the lone two seniors on the Lady Eagle roster.

“I would say especially being a senior, getting to win (state) my junior and senior year and going out with a win, it’s like extremely special,” Bernhard said. “Being able to do it with pretty much the same group of girls, the whole same group, is so special. I felt like we’ve all gotten so close that I’m really sad I have to leave them, but I think they can go get another one.”

Division III select state champion Parkview Baptist 

Before the Lady Eagles’ run of back-to-back titles, Shelton disclosed after last season’s championship that when his players convened prior to that season to write down their goals, only one wrote down winning state.

So, the question was posed to Shelton on Friday - how many of them wrote down winning state going into this season?

“Hey, I think almost all of them. … The expectations were a lot tougher this year,” Shelton said.

“I thought we did a good job. … The scheduling helped, we scheduled a lot of tough teams, and so it prepared us and I kind of prepared our parents early on that our record might not look the same, but the team should be better, and it did. We played 10 or 11 5A schools, and we’ve played good teams; the Walkers and the Denham Springs, so I think that helped us.”

No surprises on Friday. The Lady Eagles played like they really belong at this elite level. And with two seniors graduating and the bulk of the team back for next season, don’t be surprised to see them possibly getting a “three-peat.”

You can bet that will be a goal the players will be writing down come this fall.

Photo of Parkview Baptist's Anna Richerson (left) and Addyson Bernhard 

-- Buck Ringgold | buck@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveLA