st. joseph — High-pressure defense was the name of the game for the Tensas High School girls basketball team this season.

Head coach Steve McClatchy said his team was undersized against a majority of its opponents and used a full-court man-to-man defense to negate the size differential.

That game plan led Tensas to a dream run that unified the St. Joseph community behind the Lady Panthers, McClatchy said.

“This year was great,” McClatchy said. “It was the best run we’ve made. We had super support from the community. It was unbelievable how much support we had.”

Tensas finished the season with a 33-2 record, and its championship run ended one game shy of bringing home the ultimate prize. The Lady Cougars lost in the LHSAA 1A state championship game to Louisiana New Tech — the same team that eliminated Tensas in the semi-finals last season.

McClatchy said Louisiana New Tech’s Dennisha Chambers netted 31 points in the contest, and Tensas was unable to keep pace.

“In the end, we just didn’t do a good job of containing Chambers,” he said.

Despite falling just short of the championship, McClatchy said the Lady Panthers still accomplished a great deal this season, including racking up 25 consecutive wins.

“We went 25-0 before we lost a district game to Oak Grove,” he said. “Having that run and going undefeated was something we really didn’t think about, but once we started playing and beat Rayville we started talking about having a good chance to have an undefeated season and be state champs.”

McClatchy said an undefeated season became the team’s goal, but a late-season loss to Oak Grove motivated the team even more.

“The loss helped us regroup and iron things out and get back together in unity,” he said. “They really worked, and were really hungry and confident. It was quite a run and fun to win that many ball games.”

McClatchy said the victory over Rayville was special, because it was the first time Tensas had beaten Rayville (a Class 3A team).

Junior Helena Hill and sophomore Cheyenne South fought for the title of the team’s leading scorer all season, with both players averaging approximately 15 points, McClatchy said. Hill was LHSAA District 3-1A MVP and also averaged eight rebounds during the regular season. South was the focal point of Tensas’ pressure defense and had 6.6 steals per game.

McClatchy said Tensas averaged more than 20 steals per game.

Junior point guard Mary Jones also made All-District for Tensas.

McClatchy also garnered honors for coaching the Lady Panthers this season as he was named Class 1A coach of the year.

“It’s kind of humbling and overwhelming,” McClatchy said. “I’m thankful, but it’s all about what the team was able to do. The better the team does the more individuals get recognized.”

Most of the Tensas players will have another shot at finally capturing a state title next season. The Lady Panthers will lose only three seniors, and McClatchy said six players that got a lot of playing time this year would return.

“Our goals for next year are to do more shooting,” he said. “We want to try to get our shooting percentage up, and work on our press to work out the kinks.”

McClatchy said he installed the full-court press defense last season, and he was told that it takes approximately three years to perfect. Next year will be the team’s third season playing that style of defense.