By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

BATON ROUGE – A month ago on March 3, LSU head baseball coach Jay Johnson couldn’t stop smiling. The then-No. 2 Tigers had just won four games in five days in Houston including capturing the Astros Classic with victories over Texas, UL-Lafayette and Texas State.

“I hope to coach for a long time, but I will remember this week for a long time,” said Johnson, whose team never trailed in any of the wins to improve the Tigers’ record to 11-1.

Since then, LSU is 9-9, falling to 20-10 overall with a 2-7 start SEC play. It has plummeted in the polls — to No. 5 after losing its first conference series at Mississippi State, then to No. 8 after losing its second conference series to Florida in Alex Box Stadium and now sitting at No. 18 after being swept in its third league series at No. 1 Arkansas last weekend.

If that wasn’t enough decline, there was also the April Fool’s Day joke of the Tigers’ sleepwalking through a 12-7 non-conference home loss Monday night to crosstown rival Southern.

“We have to get better at everything, you know, relative to competitiveness, concentration,” Johnson said after the loss in which LSU had just four hits and committed three errors.

And now, in the first week of April, LSU finds itself at a critical crossroads, desperately needing an SEC series win as it hosts No. 7 Vanderbilt (23-6, 6-3 SEC) in Game 1 today at 6 p.m.

Next weekend, LSU plays at No. 4 Tennessee, completing the first half of SEC play against five ranked teams including four currently in the D1baseball.com top 7 (No. 1 Arkansas, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Florida and Vanderbilt).

LSU hasn’t lost its first four SEC series since 1969.  

“This is a good group of guys and they care deeply and they want to get it right, both individually and collectively,” Johnson said of his team, which lost seven position starters, its three-man starting pitching rotation and its best reliever off last year’s national championship team. “And I think they will. I really do.  

“It’s just not going to be easy. We’ve gone through a stretch where the teams on our conference schedule are all Omaha (College World Series) caliber. There’s very little margin for error, therefore, everything has to be done perfectly.”

LSU is on brink off falling over the cliff into a post-national title abyss like 2021 CWS winner Mississippi State did in its 26-30 (9 21 SEC) 2022 season or 2022 CWS winner Ole Miss did a year ago when it went 25-29 (6-24 SEC).

The Tigers offense is anemic in conference play ranking 13^th in the 14-team SEC in batting average (.243), runs scored (42) and runs batted in (39). LSU leads the league in a dubious distinction: grounding into double plays (8).

The only LSU players in the top 10 in any major offensive stat category are shortstop Michael Braswell III (No. 1 in on-base percentage at .541) and third baseman Tommy White (tied for No. 3 in home runs at 5).  

LSU’s pitching, which had a staff earned run average of 2.82 enroute to a 16-2 non-conference record, has an ERA in SEC play of 7.50. It leads the league with 53 walks issued.

The Tigers’ starting pitching rotation of Luke Holman and Gage Jump (3 SEC starts), Thatcher Hurd (2 SEC start) and Javen Coleman (1 start) have a combined league games-only ERA of 6.53.

The only shining hurler on the staff as of late has been reliever Griffin Herring, who’s third in conference action in ERA at 0.90.  

“Something profound said in our (coaching) staff meeting after the (Southern game) was `If your best players play good, a lot of issues go away’,” Johnson said. “Frankly, we need our best players to play good if we’re going to beat any of these teams that are on our schedule.”  

Johnson has battened down the concentration hatches to get his team is completely focused.  

“There’s not going to be any cell phones running around that locker room or clubhouse for a very long time,” Johnson said of banning the use of cell phones. “I want everything that they have while they are there.”  

Vanderbilt comes to Baton Rouge with a five-game win streak. The Commodores swept their season opening series at home vs. Auburn, then got swept at South Carolina and rebounded with a home sweep of Missouri.  

In his 22nd season as Vanderbilt’s head coach, Tim Corbin said he changed his recruiting philosophy after watching LSU win the national title by buying transfers like national Pitcher of the Year Paul Skenes from the Air Force Academy and national RBI leader third baseman Tommy White from North Carolina State.

That duo teamed with returning junior centerfielder Dylan Crews, won the Golden Spikes Award as the best player in college baseball, to formal a lethal trio.  

“The difference makers. . .those guys show up on campus and when they show up on campus, there’s a reason why their teams get to where they do,” Corbin said told The Tennessean newspaper before this season started. “Last year for LSU was Skenes and Crews.”  

Last September, Vanderbilt’s entire baseball team signed an NIL deal with the Anchor Impact Fund, the university’s NIL collective, to ensure ensure all its players, and not just a handful, earn money.  

No. 7 VANDERBILT (23-6, 6-3 SEC) at No. 18 LSU (20-10, 2-7 SEC)

Game 1: Thursday, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

Game 2: Friday, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

Game 3: Saturday, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)

No starting pitcher matchups for either team have been announced.

LSU-VANDERBILT SERIES

Vandy has won eight of the past 10 regular-season series between the schools. LSU swept three games from the Commodores when the teams last met on May 19-21, 2022, in Nashville. Vanderbilt posted a three-game sweep over the Tigers in the Commodores’ most recent visit to Baton Rouge in 2021.

A LOOK AT LSU

Junior right-hander Luke Holman is No. 1 in the SEC in ERA with a 1.38 mark, and he’s No. 2 in the league in strikeouts (61), innings pitched (39.0) and wins (5). Junior shortstop Michael Braswell III is hitting .438 (7-for-16) in LSU’s last five games, including .500 (5-for-10) in last weekend’s Arkansas series. He’s the Tigers’ top hitter in SEC games, batting .393 (11-for-28) with three doubles, two RBI and four runs.

A LOOK AT VANDERBILT

Vanderbilt is No. 5 in the SEC in team batting average (.300) with 66 doubles, eight triples, 29 homers and 59 steals in 66 attempts. Sophomore utility player RJ Austin is hitting a team-best .351 with five doubles, two homers, 29 RBI, 28 runs and 16 steals in 19 attempts. The Commodores are No. 3 in the SEC in team ERA (3.61).

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

If you hunt or fish, you’ll find there are some activities that are more highly revered than others, at least they are by zealots of the sport. Take quail hunting, for example. While quail in our part of the country have basically gone the way of the Studebaker, there are those who still keep a brace of pointers and seek out those widely scattered pockets of cover that may hold a covey or two. Why? Because quail hunting is so special to them; they just can’t entertain thoughts that quail numbers continue to shrink.

Then there are the fly fishermen. The average angler heads for the lake or the creek bank armed with rods and reels, or a cane pole and bucket of worms. While some rod and reelers and cane polers have perfected their craft to a fine edge, the average fisherman just wants to catch supper, and the gear he selects is what he feels will allow him to do that most effectively.

Ah, but the fly fisherman is a far different creature. He’s probably more of a purist; a perfectionist, than any other sportsman. He talks in almost reverential tones of tippets and Royal Coachmen and such. He ties his own flies; builds his own rods. It’s as if the process of preparing to fly fish is an end in itself.

I once tried fly fishing, but I soon learned that I lack something in the “purist” category. I purchased my outfit years ago at the local discount store for $29.95. No, that was not the price of the fly line; that was the package price for rod, reel, line, leader and a box of flies. I took my purchase to a local pond where I’d located a bed of bluegills in the shallows. I managed to catch a few fish but I spent an inordinate amount of time getting my popping bug untangled from the myrtle bush behind me.

I also noticed a lack of dexterity when it came to making “the cast.” I almost threw out my shoulder trying to emulate the fly fishers I’d watched on TV.  While they made it look so easy, I spent most of my fishing time tripping over line wrapped around my ankles and getting a half-hitch from around my ear.

While on a turkey hunting trip to South Dakota several years ago, I spent some time with Dick Leir, owner of Dakota Angler and Outfitter, and as he drove me alongside the sparkling-clear streams in the Black Hills, he talked about his favorite sport, fly fishing.

“Fly fishing can be frustrating, but once you get over the initial aggravation, it is a calming sport,” Leir explained. “There is an evolution that takes place in the life of a fly fisher. At first, his goal is to catch ‘a’ fish. Once he accomplishes this, he wants to catch a ‘lot’ of fish. Then he progresses to wanting to catch a ‘big’ fish; then a ‘lot of big’ fish. He arrives as a genuine fly fisher when his consuming desire is to catch ‘that’ fish.

“Fly fishing is unique in that it is one of the few do-it-yourself sports. Anglers get a lot of satisfaction from painstakingly building their own rods and becoming adept at tying their own flies. To catch ‘that’ fish on a rod you have built with a fly you have tied offers the utmost satisfaction,” said Leir.

According to Leir, trout fishermen don’t go to a stream with the purpose of catching fish to eat.

“The object is not to catch ‘supper.’ Wild trout are much too valuable for that. A legendary fly fisherman, the late Lee Wulfe once said, ‘a trout is too valuable a commodity to catch only once,’” recalled Leir.

While wild trout are the number one quarry of most fly fishers, practically any species of fish can be caught on a flyrod. We don’t have trout in Louisiana, but there are other fish that can provide great sport for the flyrodder. Bedded bluegills, like I attempted to catch, bass and crappie are all amenable to being caught on fly tackle.

As advanced age has caught up with me, I have laid aside my fly rod and casting rod and settled for a seat in a comfortable chair on the bank of a pond with bedded bluegills swirling the water just off shore. Skewering on a cricket and lobbing it into the mass of bream, I’m as happy as a fly fisherman wading a clear mountain stream for trout. 

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

April 2

Robert Kingan, 46, Pitkin — firearm with drugs, firearm possession by convicted felon, possession, tail lamps violation, $4,600 bail. 

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

April 2

Juan Lechuga, 66, Forest Hill — aggravated battery, $10,000 bail;

Sharmane Sampson, 28, Alexandria — domestic abuse aggravated assault child endangerment, aggravated arson 7 counts, $40,000 bail;

Brooke White, 38, Alexandria — aggravated assault, $10,000 bail. 

This date: 24 arrests, 9 of which included at least one contempt count. 

Arrests are accusations, not convictions.

April 2

Kadarius Johnson, 33, Alexandria — possession with intent 2 counts, unlawful use/possession of body armor, $402,000 bail;

Stephanie Lachney, 50, Alexandria — possession 2 counts, contraband/penal facility, parole violation, $3,000 bail;

Chevelle Traylor, 56, Forest Hill — possession 3 counts, paraphernalia, probation violation, $15,500 bail;

Jeremy Williams, 30, Alexandria — possession with intent 2 counts, unlawful use/possession of body armor, $402,000 bail.

It is high drama mutiny at my house when I make any cookie other than traditional chocolate chip, but I managed to make these delicious little bites last week.  This recipe is a great one for satisfying a chocolate/peanut butter/crunchy/cookie craving.  It will cure any desire!  And I love anything with Heath toffee bits in it.  I use a small scoop for these so there are lots and lots to enjoy! 

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• ½ cup toffee bits

Directions

Preheat oven or grill to 350 degrees.  Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.  Set aside.  Using a mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla.  Mix in peanut butter.  Reduce mixer speed to low.  Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.  Fold in chocolate chips and toffee bits.  Use a small scoop to drop onto baking sheet.  Bake 10 minutes.

Ashley Madden Rowton is a wife, mom and published cookbook author who lives in Minden, La.

By JIM BUTLER

Pineville has notified residents of significant wastewater pretreatment violations by two system users over the past year.

According to the city, Eclectric Products on Willamette Road and Calvary Industries on Remount Drive did not meet BOD limits on several occasions.

Eclectric’s self-monitoring on three instances in first half of 2023 showed the chemical additives facility exceeded allowances.

Non-compliance discharge notices were subsequently followed by monitoring that showed the firm in compliance.

Calvary self-monitoring detected below-standard discharge in January and November.

Notices were issued and subsequent testing confirmed compliance at the industrial chemical plant.

The BOD measurement is vital for proper operation of the wastewater collection/treatment system.

The city’s notification mentions no penalties or fines in these instances.

By JIM BUTLER

The Alexandria City Council’s Finance Committee meets at 10 today and Thursday for review of the administration’s budget proposal for the year beginning May 1.

While details of Mayor Jacques Roy’s proposal have yet to be shared, or posted on the city’s website, he did in his March briefing session make reference to it.

He essentially said another year of fiscal uncertainty is ahead as the city, like local and state government everywhere, adjusts to operating with dwindling post-pandemic largesse.

And he noted the administration again proposes dipping into accrued fund balances to accomplish all that is proposed on the operating side.

By ordinance, the city is required to have a General Fund balance annually of 7 percent of total revenue.

Utility Fund transfer to the General Fund is similarly capped, at 5 percent of gross revenues.

Roy did note the proposal would include pay adjustments of 4.25 percent for employees outside the fire and police systems, which have separate pay plans.

The budget, including the five-year Capital Outlay projections, likely envisions use of about $250 million.

Arrests are accusations, not convictions.

April 1

Corey Bingham, 29, Alexandria — firearm with drugs, possession 2 counts, $7,500 bail.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Kim Mulkey had lived this moment before.

To be exact, the 18 times her teams had their seasons ended with an NCAA tournament loss.

That includes seven times one victory shy of advancing to the Final Four, as her 2024 LSU squad did Monday night in a 94-87 loss to Iowa in the Albany Regional 2 finals.

“Only one team finishes the season happy, and boy, we got to do that last year,” said Mulkey, the Tigers’ third-year head coach who won the fourth national championship of her career last season in a 17-point title game victory over Iowa. “Somebody will get to do it this year. But everybody else is going to come up here and be sad. You know, there’s nothing wrong with being sad. If you’re not sad, that means you didn’t invest much. So those tears are tears of investment.”

So was the Tigers’ blood and sweat equity they provided in overcoming obstacle after obstacle – some admittedly self-inflicted – to put together a 31-6 season in the glare of the greatest one-year growth of popularity ever in women’s college basketball.

Since April 2021 when Louisiana homegirl Mulkey was announced as LSU’s new head coach after 21 seasons at Baylor, she has repeatedly said how hard it is to win a national championship.

The 2023 Tigers made it look easy when they captured their first national title ever.

They dodged serious injuries. They were initially viewed nationally as no threat to advance far in the NCAA tourney because of their weak non-conference schedule.

The general basketball public saw the Tigers as a fun team to watch, one full of big personalities led by a coach who has always been a show by herself.

In the eyes of the media, the Tigers were “a good story” for how quickly Mulkey turned a program.

That is, until LSU won the national championship, benefiting from Iowa upsetting No, 1 ranked South Carolina in the semifinals.

And when LSU All-American forward Angel Reese gave Iowa star Caitlin Clark some of her own medicine with some taunts as the clock was winding down on LSU’s championship game victory, the narrative toward the Tigers flipped overnight.

They were immediately branded by the social media racists as “classless thugs” coached by that angry maniac wearing loud clothes.

And as the summer progressed, the hate grew worse.

Mulkey stacked the deck by signing Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow, the top two players nationally in the transfer portal.

Reese stayed in the spotlight by appearing in commercials and on several magazine covers including the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.

There was early season drama with a four-game absence by Reese, apparently an unspoken suspension issued by Mulkey who refused to offer any explanation.

While Reese was absent, sophomore center Sa’Myah Smith sustained a season-ending knee injury in November. The loss was a blow to LSU’s razor-thin depth.

Then, Mulkey, again with no explanation, tossed returning guard Kateri Poole off the team in early December. It was yet another uppercut to the Tigers’ depth.

Yet, as Reese returned and settled into a role different than a year ago – suddenly now she was surrounded by better players and didn’t have to score as much – LSU fell into a rhythm.

Despite a brief dip of three straight SEC losses, the Tigers improved.

Van Lith had her ups and downs as she transformed into a point guard after playing as a shooting guard previously for Louisville. Returning sophomore guard Flau’jae Johnson emerged as the team’s best overall player, a bubbly blend of enthusiasm and athleticism.

Morrow proved to be a great double-double sidekick for Reese. Former Bossier City Parkway star Mikaylah Williams was on her way to being named SEC Freshman of the Year.

The Tigers set attendance records at almost every visiting arena. They were the bullseye for every opposing team, yet had the grace win or lose to sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans after games.

Through it all, the social media hate for Reese, Mulkey and the rest of the team rarely subsided. Almost anything said by Reese or Mulkey, even if they were complimenting opposing teams or players, got twisted by the hater keyboard warriors.

The spewing venom hit an all-time high Saturday when Los Angeles Times writer Ben Bolch referred to LSU players as “dirty debutantes,” which is a category in porn videos. Bolch issued an apology Monday on his Twitter account.

It wasn’t until after Monday’s season-ending loss in which SEC Player of the Year Reese had 17 points and 20 rebounds that she could no longer hold her emotions.

“I don’t really get to speak out on things because I just ignore,” Reese said as she battled the tears that began to flow. “I just try to stand strong.

“I’ve been through so much. I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times, death threats, I’ve been sexualized, I’ve been threatened, I’ve been through so many things, and I’ve stood strong every single time.

“I just try to stand strong for my teammates because I don’t want them to see me down and not be there for them. I just want to always know, I’m still a human. All this has happened since the national championship.

“It sucks, but I still wouldn’t change. I wouldn’t change anything, and I would still sit here and say I’m unapologetically me. I’m going to always leave that mark and be who I am and stand on that.

“And hopefully, the little girls that look up to me, and hopefully I give them some type of inspiration that know hopefully it’s not this hard and all the things that come at you, but keep being who you are, keep waking up every day, keep being motivated, staying who you are, stand ten toes, don’t back down, and just be confident.”

Reese and Van Lith, who both have the option of playing one more college season, now have to decide whether they’ll enter the WNBA Draft or return.

Without them, Mulkey will have to reload her team built around Johnson, Morrow and Williams.

Smith is on her way to making a full recovery from surgery. Center Alayah Del Rosario and guard Janae Kent are expected to take increased roles as sophomores.

Mulkey has already tapped into the transfer portal by signing Arkansas 6-5 forward Jersey Wolfenbarger, a former McDonald’s All-America and SEC All-Freshman team honoree.

As for now, Mulkey is proud of how her 2024 team fought its way to the brink of a second straight Final Four trip.

“I’m going to think of the little things that we overcame, that put us in an Elite 8,” Mulkey said. “You’re one game away from going back to the Final Four. I’m going to eventually think `How did we get here? What did we do as a team and as a staff to get to this moment?’

“So basically, I guess what I’m telling you is you learn. You learn. I learn every day as a coach. I look at the stat sheet, and I just put a lot of little notes down there, and I’ll file it away and think about it when the emotion of the loss goes away.”

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

April 1

Kelvin Craig Sr., 55, Pineville — burglary, contempt 8 counts, $41,000 bail;

Candance Frank, 39, Alexandria — false imprisonment, domestic abuse battery, $2,000 bail;

Chad Pruitt, 51, Boyce — hit & run 2 counts, switched NVI, suspension/revocation, careless operation, contempt 11 counts, $26,900 bail;

Otha Tatum Sr., 49, Alexandria — aggravated resisting with force or violence, assault, $1,000 bail;

Kirstine Thompson, 29, Alexandria — home invasion, battery, $20,500 bail. 

This date: 13 arrests, 6 of which involve at least one count of contempt.

Arrests are accusations, not convictions. 

April 1

Joseph Smith, 34, Ball — possession, $2,500 bail;

Daryl White, 37, Alexandria — possession, contempt, $7,500 bail.

February 13, 1960 – March 25, 2024

Sgt. 1st Class David Leon McKenith, USA, Retired, age 64, of Alexandria, Louisiana passed on Monday, March 25, 2024 at Rapides Regional Medical Center.

A service honoring his life and legacy along with his wife Barbara McKenith will be held on Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at Christian Worship Center-Pineville, 624 Main Street, Pineville, LA 71360.

Public viewing and visitation will begin at 10:00 am. and continue until the start of service at 11:00 am.

Final Committal Rites will follow in the Central Louisiana Veterans Cemetery, 3348 University Pkwy., Leesville, LA 71446.

Please keep the McKenith Family in prayer.

Louisiana State Police Troop E responded to a two-vehicle crash on Louisiana Highway 28 West at St. Clair Road on March 30 around 9:45 a.m. This crash claimed the life of 68-year-old Emma Parsons of Shreveport.  

The initial investigation revealed that a 2021 Ford Escape, driven by 73-year-old Charles Chandler Jr. of Nashville, AR, was preparing to cross Louisiana Highway 28 West from the median crossover.  For reasons still under investigation, Chandler began crossing the eastbound travel lanes, but failed to yield to an eastbound 2018 Chevrolet Malibu. As a result, Chandler’s vehicle was struck by the Malibu.   

Chandler, who was restrained, sustained moderate injuries and was transported to a local hospital. Parsons, who was a passenger in the Escape and who was restrained, sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver and a passenger in the Malibu, who also were restrained, sustained moderate injuries and were transported to a local hospital. Routine toxicology samples were obtained and submitted for analysis.

While the cause of this crash remains under investigation, distracted and inattentive driving continues to be a leading cause of crashes in our state.  Louisiana State Police urges all motorists to stay alert while driving.  A lapse in one’s awareness can have deadly consequences. 

Editor’s Note: Please see the Preliminary 28 Intersect Improvement attached below (an R-Cut).  This project was developed out of the necessity to address the high number of right angle crashes that continue to occur at this intersection.  This plan was presented at a meeting in 2023 at the Westside Library in Alexandria.

Easter Sunday, shortly after noon, people arriving home after crowded church services, ready to eat, then hide and hunt those eggs, again.

A gunshot, instead, shatters the festive atmosphere on Hill Street, near Lee.

These times don’t produce the shock and dismay such as shook the nation in the wake of gunshots on a similar late-March Easter 49 years ago, but the violence rattled a neighborhood nonetheless.

Derrick Ford Jr., 23, of Alexandria was taken to a hospital after responding city officers found he had been shot. He died there.

Several hours later Reginald Pullins, 21, who lives on Hill, turned himself in. He’s charged with second-degree murder and held under $1,000,000 bail.

Investigators through Monday night had released no information relative to the circumstances of the shooting.

Pullins has no arrest record in the parish dating to 2018.

Ford was charged in February 2021 with attempted murder related to a shooting at Mason & Fenner streets, coincidentally a short walk from where he was shot.

Ford was re-booked in May 2021 on battery 2nd degree charges. Records indicate he was released from Department of Corrections custody on January 23 this year.

Alexandria detectives are also working a fatal shooting that occurred on Pisciotta Street in the wee hours Easter morning.

Police said Jessie Tatum III, 49, was the victim. His killer was at-large as of Monday night.

Tatum had Rapides arrests accusing him of possession with intent to distribute and possession, in 2020 and 2023.

Back to 1975 – anyone on duty near an Associated Press teletype machine that Easter remembers the flash bulletin – “11 Ohio family members shot to death.”

If interested, Google James Ruppert.

By JIM BUTLER

Having endured a maelstrom of vituperation during a public hearing on the subject, the City Council is expected to vote today, after hearing public comment, on a proposed reapportioning of three previously reapportioned election districts.

District 4 member Lizzie Felter cites altruistic motives in seeking to streamline boundaries and consolidate split neighborhoods.

The problem with that, in the view of its opponents, is she lives at an address currently shifting with the next election to a different district.

They contend the proposed re-realignment is political self-preservation, Felter not wanting to run in District 3, if even eligible to do so under city charter provisions.

As now drawn, the line between 3 and 4 runs down the middle of Polk, the Garden District street on which she lives. District 4 stretches west, 3 to the east.

Council President and at-large member Jim Villard apparently asked the Rapides Area Planning Commission last year to take another look at the 2020 Census-based districts adopted in the Fall of 2022.

Whether that was at Felter’s request is unknown.

RAPC returned its findings and maps of re-revised districts in March.

The garboil began immediately.

By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

ALBANY, N.Y. – With LSU’s dreams of repeating as the NCAA national champions wrecked by Iowa senior guard Caitlin Clark, Tigers’ head coach Kim Mulkey’s postgame handshake congratulatory remarks to Clark fit the occasion.

“I’m glad you’re leaving,” Mulkey told Clark. “Girl, you something else. Never seen anything like it.”

True dat, as they say in south Louisiana.

Clark, the all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball history, had a hand in almost 70 percent of her team’s points by scoring 41 points and dealing 12 assists in a 94-87 victory in the Albany Regional 2 finals in sold-out MVP Arena.

“Every team we play throws multiple defenders at us,” said Clark, who’ll play in her second consecutive Final Four on Friday in Cleveland vs. Connecticut. “I don’t see one person for 40 minutes. And that’s what they (LSU) did. Honestly, no matter what they threw at me, I thought we always had a good answer.”

The Tigers fell apart after No. 1 seed Iowa (33-4) and No. 3 seed LSU (31-6) battled to a 45-45 halftime tie. They were outscored 24-13 in the third quarter when they missed 21 of its 26 field goal attempts including 9 of its game-total 21 missed layups.

“We always tell our players basketball is usually a game of momentum swings,” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. “You’ve got to make yours ride as long as you can and hang on during theirs.

“We ended up being tied (at halftime). They (her players) were very locked in at halftime. There was a lot of belief in that locker room. There really was.”

Iowa headed into the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead, never allowed LSU to get closer than 6 points and led by as many as 14 points in the final minute.

“That third quarter (we) kind of went under, never came back up per se,” said Tigers’ sophomore guard Flau’jae Johnson, who finished with a team-high 23 points. “But it was small mistakes. Those everyday things we do in practice – a bad pass here, turnover here, defense, missed execution, transition.”

LSU junior forward Angel Reese, possibly in her final college game if she turns pro, had 17 points and 20 rebounds. Despite having a decided height advantage inside, she made just 7 of 21 field goals.

She missed 12 of her last 14 shots after hurting her ankle while stumbling into the baseline row of photographers with 8:01 left in the second quarter after fouling a driving Clark.

“I did roll my ankle on one of the cameras,” Reese said. “This (an ankle injury) is something that has been going on for a little while now. But I’m tough. I played through it, and I’m not going to make that excuse for the rest of my play for the game.”

It was a wild ride to the halftime tie.

LSU had no one who could stop Clark, who scored 19 first-half points on 3 3-pointers, 4 layups and a free throw.

“There’s not a whole lot you can do about some of the threes she hit,” said LSU grad student guard Hailey Van Lith who had a tough night defending Clark as did reserve junior guard Last-Tear Poa.

Iowa had no one who could match Reese, who scored 13 first-half points on 6 layups (half of them when surrounded by defenders) and a free throw.

After Iowa came out blazing, hitting its first 9 of 11 shots with Clark scoring or assisting on 6 buckets, the Tigers’ defense reeled the Hawkeyes back in.

A 10-0 LSU spurt in the final 3:16 of the first quarter, keyed by two Reese steals, flipped the Tigers’ 26-21 deficit to a 31-26 lead at the end of the quarter.

The next two quarters proved fatal for LSU when Iowa outscored the Tigers by a combined 43-27. It simply didn’t have the offense firepower – mostly Clark’s ridiculous 27 to 30-feet 3-point daggers – to slow Iowa.

In the second and third quarters, LSU shot a combined 22.7 percent (10 of 44) from the field including 11.1 percent (1 of 9) in 3-pointers. Iowa hit 41.7 percent (15 of 36) from the field including 40 percent from 3s (6 of 15) with Clark accounting for 5 of 10 3s.

LSU had no answer for that. Not with Johnson or freshman guard Mikaylah Williams contributing 18 points and 7 rebounds or junior forward Aneesah Morrow adding 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Almost every time Iowa needed a critical basket, Clark delivered whether it was long-distance bombs or a laser beam passes to a teammate for a fast break basket through LSU’s napping defense.

“You’ve got to guard her,” Mulkey said. “Nobody else seems to be able to guard her. We didn’t even guard her last year when we beat them. She’s just a generational player, and she just makes everybody around her better. That’s what the great ones do.”

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

Notes after a busy Easter weekend:

If you happened to hear or read about a rookie getting a home run in his first major league at-bat on Opening Day last week, it was almost right.

Braden Shewmake, who was an All-American baseball player for Texas A&M, began his rookie season with the Chicago White Sox by making his first big league hit a home run. He did this against Detroit starter Kenta Maeda on Opening Day last Thursday at Detroit’s Comerica Park. On the first pitch.

But it wasn’t his first at-bat in the majors. In a “cup-of-coffee” stint in the major leagues last year with the Atlanta Braves, Shewmake, who was selected by the Braves with the 21^st pick in the MLB draft in 2019, went 0-for-4.

Making this more interesting for Rapides Parish Journal readers, Shewmake, 26, is the son-in-law of Ashley Polk Hart, a native of Alexandria.  Her sister, Kristi Polk Kaspar, related the local connections to me. A lifelong resident of Alexandria until 1991, Kristi and her husband, former Louisiana College basketball player Rod Kasper, moved in ’91 to Texas.

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Shewmake, who made several fine fielding plays at shortstop on Opening Day, was born and raised in Wylie, Texas. Braden married Ashley’s daughter, Emily Bates. Braden and Emily met at A&M, where he was the stud player for the baseball team and she was a legendary player for the women’s soccer team.

Kristi, incidentally, is also the aunt of former LSU pitcher Alden Cartwright, who finished a three-year stint as a Tiger after a season-ending injury that required Tommy John surgery in 2016. …

Fast growing Lakeland, possible path for Alexandria?

We returned last week from a visit to Lakeland, Florida, which is in Polk County. Census data shows Polk County led the nation for new residents in 2023. A veteran realtor there says property taxes are generally more affordable there, and it’s an attractive, well-run, clean area with job opportunities and two colleges and many top-notch parks and beautiful lakes.

It’s also the home of spring training for the Detroit Tigers, and housing is more affordable than nearby Tampa or Orlando, where more job opportunities are.

True, the blessing of such attractiveness has also been a curse in that traffic, for example, can be horribly congested at times. 

But it got me to wondering that possibilities for growth might exist in Alexandria that haven’t been fully explored. There was an area in Lakeland that languished and was forgotten by most Lakeland folks for nearly 40 years. A group of community developers and investors, led by the heiress to the Publix Grocery founder George Jenkins, got together to repurpose the historic site of the old railyards. The nearly century old railyard, once the largest in Florida, closed in the 1980s.

Carol Jenkins Barnett and her husband and others purchased the railyard and acquired more than a dozen adjoining properties. The group, with help from master planners and the word-renowned architectural and park planning group Sasaki, repurposed the 168 acres into beautiful Bonnet Spring Park, which opened in October of 2022.

It’s not a city park but a private investment for the public. In addition to that, the city’s parks and recreation and cultural arts department boasts more than 70 venues for activities ranging from pickleball to spray pads to zip lines. The City of Alexandria may be smaller than Lakeland, but it has room for growth. For example, it has only two venues for pickleball, with city tennis courts that could be designed to accommodate – and promote – perhaps the fastest-growing sport in America. …

Big league ’54 attraction, big day for a Cubbie from Boyce

Seventy years ago on this day in 1954, the Baltimore Orioles played the Chicago Cubs before almost 3,000 fans in a 2:30 p.m. exhibition game at Alexandria’s Bringhurst Field. The day before, the Orioles beat the Cubs, 6-1, in Shreveport. Ernie Banks, “Mister Cub,” was at shortstop for Chicago, and teammate Ralph Kiner belted a home run over the center field fence, but “the greatest applause of the day,” according to the Town Talk, went to Cubs pitcher Jim Willis, a Boyce native and former pitcher for the Alexandria Aces, when he went to the mound in relief in the sixth inning.