Doing things the Vandy way

With a sparkling 19-4 record, the Vandebilt girls’ basketball team is at it again, primed for another run at the state championship.

Those looking at the program from the outside like to boast the Terriers have success because of their vast array of talent.

Others say it’s because of longtime coach Kathy Luke.

The reality is that it’s probably a combination of both.

But those inside Vandebilt’s locker room insist there’s more to the story.

Luke and her team’s players opened up this week about what it’s like to be associated with one of the most prestigious prep basketball programs in Louisiana.

Some answers varied, but one theme remained the same n faith n a strong ingredient in what is an overriding message across this school’s girls’ basketball landscape.

It is truly the Vandebilt way.

“There’s just something about us,” Vandebilt junior Shakira Harding said. “Even when we’re down, it seems like we always find momentum or Coach Luke calls a play or something. It just seems like we’re this miracle team or something like that. Things always seem to go our way. We just always find a way. That’s the Vandebilt way.”

Toughness and size n Luke’s recipe for on-court success

The sound of the basketball pounding the hardwood floor is echoing throughout Vandebilt Catholic’s entire campus.

The Lady Terriers’ Thursday afternoon practice is just getting heated up.

Most teams scrimmage one another. Because of a lack of depth, the Vandebilt girls are taking on the school’s freshman boys’ team.

“When you play your own players in practice, you sort of hold back,” Harding said. “With the boys, they are always ready for everything and are always intense.”

On this day, the Lady Terriers are having their way with their male counterparts, especially inside where Vandebilt is scoring at will with its interior 1-2 punch of senior center Leah Washington and junior forward D’Arcy Draper.

Luke doesn’t feel like her team is facing realistic game conditions.

She takes matters into her own hands to level the playing field after Draper makes a layup virtually uncontested.

“Do you see a referee here, son?” the coach asks one of the boys before a possession.

The player shakes his head to say no.

“Then I don’t either,” Luke spouts back. “I don’t care if you pull her jersey, slap her wrists n do whatever you’ve got to do. Don’t let her get open.”

The freshman player does just that the remainder of the practice, bending the rules to keep Vandebilt offense sputtering.

“That’s the way it’ll be in the game,” Luke says.

Sure enough, the next day, Draper and the Lady Terriers see the same situation in their road tilt with Morgan City. Because they were bullied in practice, they persevered in the game and scored at will in the paint to score a blowout win.

“Coach Luke always gets us prepared,” Washington said. “We know that if we listen to the things she tells us, we’ll be ready to play.”

Toughness is something the Lady Terriers pride themselves on n it’s something the coach has instilled in her players for decades.

The same can be said for her two-post offense n another staple of the coach’s tenure with the team.

In today’s changing basketball landscape where teams have almost universally become more guard-oriented, Luke continues to build her teams from the post.

“I’ve always believed in 26 years of coaching here that you win from the inside out,” Luke said. “I’ve always had a two post offense. … We’ll always have a two-post offense. And we work hard to teach our big kids how to play the post position.

“I’m not criticizing anyone. But I’m just saying we truly do take a lot of time and dedicate it to teaching the post position and how it’s supposed to be played in our offense.”

This is a good year to have that philosophy at Vandebilt n the pupils the coach is grooming are elite.

Draper and Washington are both among the best in the area individually. Collectively, they are clearly the best paint tandem in the Tri-parishes.

“D’Arcy is more the finesse, shooting the ball from mid-range type,” Vandebilt assistant coach Kellan Carter said. “Leah is more a power post – more that strong body, who is a load in the middle type. Together, they are a perfect complement to one another.”

“It’s so much easier having them there,” Lady Terriers guard Abby Knight said. “A lot of teams don’t have one player on the post. We’re blessed with two.”

“They are great,” guard Sade Murrell added. “I wouldn’t want to have to guard them. They make everyone else better.”

Practice has been over now for approximately 30 minutes on this Thursday afternoon.

Luke is now comfortably sitting in her office chair, fielding questions about her team.

The always-focused coach catches something out of the corner of her eye, stopping mid-sentence to address what her eyes now see n Draper, timidly waiting in the hall to see her coach.

“D’Arcy, come on in,” Luke says to her junior Australian-born center. “It’s OK. You’re not interrupting.”

“I just wanted to say bye, Coach” the Australian-born Draper says back, waving her hands at her coach in the universal symbol for goodbye.

Luke, her heart clearly warmed by her player’s kindness, smiles and responds.

“Thanks D’Arcy,” the coach says, still smiling. “See you later, gator!”

“What?” Draper says back, clearly confused at the coach’s figure of speech.

“Don’t worry about it, D’Arcy,” Luke says with a subtle laugh. “That’s a Louisiana thing. Not an Australian thing.”

Luke truly loves her players.

And the feeling is mutual.

But it wasn’t always that way.

Luke admits she has loosened the reins on her intense demeanor and has learned to “live a little” in this now seasoned stage of her career.

The coach said that transition came after she soul searched following the 2007 season n a year that ended in a heartbreaking postseason loss to Glen Oaks n deciding change was necessary if she wanted to continue successfully in the profession.

“It really tells you something when kids pile 10 of themselves into an assistant coach’s car when the other coach n the head coach’s car is empty,” Luke said following the team’s state championship win in 2010. “That tells you a little bit. So I had to back off a little bit and make it a little bit of fun for them, because this is not a life or death deal.”

Luke’s idea of fun comes from her energetic demeanor.

In practice, the coach is constantly bouncing around, watching from different angles of the floor.

Off it, she’s just as energetic.

She attributes that fire to her love for her players and the game, saying that she will have an easy indication of when it’s time to retire.

“I’ve been asked that a lot lately. I don’t know if it’s because I’m looking older lately or what,” Luke said with a laugh. “But when I wake up in the morning and I don’t look forward to coming to work, I’m done. Finished. It’ll be easy for me. When I don’t have that energy and when I don’t love what I do, I’m out. It’ll be time to hit the golf course somewhere or to do something else.”

The passion isn’t lost on her players.

They love their coach, too.

Former Vandebilt Catholic standout and current LSU forward Theresa Plaisance has said joking with her coach is her most missed memory from Vandebilt.

Current players wouldn’t go that far, but Luke joked with several players in the team’s locker room following practice, speaking to a bunch of smiling faces.

“She’s hard on us, but off the court, we know she cares,” Murrell said.

“She’s a great coach,” Knight added. “She inspires us.”

Without inspiration, Vandebilt could have easily crumbled this season.

The Lady Terriers lost two of their best players (Jasmine Howard and Laci LeBlanc) to injury before the season started.

That forced freshmen like Jewel Triggs and Cassidy Barrios into the lineup.

Add to the mix that Vandebilt plays a brutal schedule, things looked even bleaker.

“We definitely thought it’d take a while,” Harding said.

“We knew we were in line to have a good season,” Carter said. “But with the schedule we had and the teams we were playing, we honestly thought it’d be tough even with health.

“The odds certainly weren’t in our favor early.”

But in the face of adversity, Vandebilt called on an old friend for help leveling the stakes n faith.

The Lady Terriers’ experienced players say they rebounded emotionally from the injuries and immediately shifted their focus to grooming the freshmen for battle.

“They are always willing to learn,” Harding said.

“It worked out well because being freshmen, they didn’t have any egos or anything,” Draper said. “They were willing to do whatever to help our team.”

Those tutoring efforts, combined with faith in one another, has fueled the team.

A little outside motivation helps, too.

“We know they are all out there saying that this is the year to get Vandebilt because they have injuries and are weak,” Washington said. “But we don’t care about any of that. We know it’s not up to what other people say. It’s up to us.

“We have no other options this year. I don’t have another chance. This is my last year. I want to win it all.”

Luke agreed and said every day is a challenge with such a young team, but the goal remains the same n state title or bust.

The coach added that injuries can test your depth chart, but faith should be never-ending.

“We might be beat up and we might be this or that, but let me tell you something, we’re working hard every day, getting ready to win another state championship,” Luke said. “If the man upstairs says it’s your turn to win one, it doesn’t matter who you have on the floor, it’s hard to fight Him.”

Talent, toughness, laughter, faith, intensity n one can see it all spending a day with the Lady Terriers.

It’s the Vandebilt way.

It’s not a coincidence that these girls are again strong contenders to win a state championship.

Vandebilt Catholic girls’ basketball coach Kathy Luke cuts down the net with her son Deuce. The Lady Terriers are an annual contender in Class 4A. They said their success is a combination of game planning, effort, toughness and faith. FILE PHOTO