Destrehan is on the doorstep of history

The Wildcats girls basketball team is in Hammond today (March 2) for its semifinal game against Natchitoches Central.

If Destrehan wins, it’s on to Hammond again to compete for the Class 5A state championship Saturday.

Have we mentioned the fact the team is unbeaten? Were Destrehan to finish this season with two more wins, it would stand as a 35-0 state champion.

As storied an athletic history as the school boasts, that’s a difficult feat to match — and almost unthinkable, considering the Wildcats compete in Class 5A, the largest and most competitive classification in the state.

It’s something to take a step back and truly appreciate, because we may never see another area basketball team — boys or girls — match that mark.

Destrehan is ranked in MaxPreps National Top 25. Its top player, Cara Ursin, stands as perhaps a favorite to be the Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year, which would be her third straight season recognized as the state’s best player by the award’s selection committee.

Ursin is averaging 28 points and 14 rebounds, and as anyone who has seen her play can attest, she can do it all.

She’s far from alone. Destrehan boasts a number of key contributors — six seniors are big factors in the team’s success. Four of them — Ursin, Kiki Kenner, Jerlicia Morris and Brandi Mason — average in double-figures.

Always energetic coach Angi Butler has worn a bright smile all year long.

And why wouldn’t she?

Not only is this a team that wins, but it’s a team she is always keen to note does all the right things off the court as well as on it.

“I could open the gym up three times a day and they’re gonna show up,” Butler said. “That’s how bad they want to win that state ring. And they deserve it. They’ve put in the time, the effort … they do what they need to do, stay late, and sweat and grind. Blood, sweat, tears, guts, whatever it is, whatever it takes, this team does it.”

With two more wins, the team can cement an everlasting legacy.

Will you be there to see it?

 

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