Lady Dogs make short work of St. Edmund in season opener

With the Iota Lady Bulldogs’ volleyball team making a run to the state tournament, coach Meghann LeJeune’s basketball squad got off to a late start.
In fact, their first official team practice was Monday, just four days before their season and home opener against St. Edmund’s Lady Jays.
Any worries of a sluggish start for the Lady Dogs, however, were put to rest early.
LeJeune’s squad, led by senior All-Stater Avery Young, bolted out to a 21-3 lead in the opening frame and they cruised from there to a dominating 66-36 victory.
“We didn’t get our volleyball girls back until late because they made a deep run; but for only a few days of practice all together, I am very excited about the way we played tonight,” said LeJeune. “You know, everyone knows about Avery and they are gunning for her. She had a great game, but I was very excited to also see everyone around her also step up their game.”
Young led a group of eight Iota Lady Dogs in the scoring column with 26 points. Brinna Hebert also scored in double figures with 12 points and Leah Hebert had nine.
Young’s stat line also included an impressive seven steals, five assists and four rebounds.
“Avery did everything that she was supposed to do, she didn’t leave anything out there,” said LeJeune of Young, who played just a few minutes in the third quarter before exiting for the night. “Honestly, if I would have kept her in there, who knows what she would have had.”
The sharp-shooting guard got the Lady Dogs going early with 11-first quarter points, including two shots from beyond the arc. Her long ball at the buzzer put the Lady Dogs up 21-3.
Hebert also knocked down a trifecta in the opening frame. She tallied four steals, five rebounds and one assist.
Although Young played sparingly in the second frame, she still made a huge impact with two more 3-pointers and a driving layup.
Brinna and Leah Hebert each scored two points in the frame as did Molly Mitchell and Ella Jabush and the lead ballooned to 37-11 at the break.
Young played just the first few minutes of the third quarter, but she made them count with another 3-pointer, her fifth of the night, and two more layups off steals.
Brinna Hebert added two buckets in the lane and a free throw and Chloe Cooley, Jabusch and Laiken Vige each scored two to help push the lead to 41 (57-16).
The Lady Jays found some success in the final frame with LeJeune rotating in the reserves and St. Edmund went on a 21-9 run to end the game.
Iota’s defense limited the Lady Jays to just 16 points in the first three quarters and they forced over 20 turnovers, which was very pleasing to LeJeune.
“Defensively, I thought we were super hungry and aggressive,” said LeJeune. “It was obviously sloppy at some points (fourth quarter) but Leah is just so dang quick on the ball and Avery was out there defending. It was just something to watch.”
In addition to the leaders, offensively, Laiken Vige came off the bench and poured in seven points over the final two frames after scoring nearly 30 in the jayvee game.
Jabusch added four points and was the rebound leader with six boards, and Cooley had four points. Sage Wimberly and Mitchell rounded out the scoring with two points each. Wimberly also pulled down five rebounds.
“It’s really exciting to see the other ones step up and be scorers,” said LeJeune. “In the past, we’ve had just one or two scorers so it was nice to see them all contribute and play well.”
The Lady Dogs return to action Monday when they begin play in the North Vermilion Tournament when they take on Hanson at 5:20 p.m.
Iota will also play Comeaux at 5:20 p.m. on Tuesday and close out tournament play on Wednesday with another 5:20 p.m. game against Southside.