Do you know the answer to the following algebraic equation – up 3 with 2 to go = ……? Give up? While possibly seeming complex, the answer is really quite simple.

It is a District Championship!

That is what the Lady Wolverines basketball team from Quitman High School accomplished this past Friday when they demolished Doyline by the score of 55-11 to clinch the District 1B,  setting a new season best in point differential in the process. 

Back to the equation, here is the explanation. By virtue of their victory, Quitman improved their district record to a perfect 6-0 mark. With Weston being the next closest competitor at 4-3 and only two district games left in the regular season, the Lady Wolverines have clinched the 1B title for the 2024-25 season. 

How they accomplished the feat was not quite so simple though and at the beginning of the season thoughts of a district title, while being a goal of the team, looked more like a hope and a prayer than what became a reality.  

The Lady Wolverines, started the season slowly, dropping half of their first eight game that included lopsided losses to a pair of Class C schools, albeit good ones. Even up until the end of the 2024 calendar year, Quitman was sitting with only a 10-8 record. 

Then the calendar flipped to 2025 and with it the Lady Wolverines flipped their season around. From December 20th to January 3rd, Quitman took a 14 day hiatus from the schedule. While they didn’t play any regulation games, the girls didn’t quit playing during the Christmas break, but instead went to work to improve through rigorous practices.

The result was that when the calendar flipped to 2025 the Lady Wolverines flipped their season around. Quitman embarked on a four game winning streak, all against teams with a winning record, including a Class 5A school. A trip to another Class 5A school in Benton, who has won just one short of 20 games this season, resulted in a loss, the only loss absorbed in the new year. Four more straight one sided victories, all in District 1B play followed leading up to the convincing trouncing of Doyline that improved the Lady Wolverines overall record to 18-9 and bolstered their impressive climb up the power ratings where Quitman now sits at #5, the highest of any north Louisiana school in Class B.

QHS head coach, Kyle Leach, who in his always humble way refused to take credit for the incredible job he did in orchestrating the turnaround was quick to express his pride and pleasure in what his Lady Wolverine squad has accomplished this season. 

“The girls have have improved so much from the beginning of the year and have worked really hard to get to where they are,” beamed Leach. “We learned how to play with a level of physicality that we didn’t have early in the year and all credit goes to this group of girls who have been unselfish, great teammates and who simply love to compete. They make playing and coaching fun, which is how it should be. Winning district was one of our goals and April (Assistant Coach Simonelli) and I are so very proud of them for accomplishing one of the goals we set at the beginning of the year which was winning district. They have earned it!”

Quitman 55 Doyline 11: It was a classic case of the have’s vs the have nots and it didn’t take long to determine who was who. By the time hapless Doyline finally scored by hitting a single free throw, Quitman had exploded for 13 straight points that ballooned to a 21-2 first quarter advantage and an insurmountable 36-5 lead at the half. As has been the case virtually all season, the duo of Anna Leach and Cali Deal led the Lady Wolverines with 14 and 12 points respectively. Jaleigh Burns and Allie Robertson chipped in with 8 points each, while Emma Walker scored six, Hallie Kate Pullig finished with four and Brooklyn Brown tallied two. Braelyn Patton also added a free throw. 

Wolverines Stay Just One Back in Title Chase

The focus for head coach Mike Black and his band of Wolverines is now on the Thursday, February 13th rematch with Simsboro that will be played at Quitman High School. And well it should be. With a victory over the front running Tigers from Lincoln Parish, Quitman will have kept their hopes of winning at least a share of the District 1B championship alive. 

The Wolverines put themselves in this position by turning in their second best scoring performance of the season on Friday in the 84-74 victory over Doyline. It wasn’t easy, but in the end it was the balanced offensive attack that Black preaches that proved to be the catalyst leading to the impressive victory over the perineal small school power. A season best six Wolverines scored in double figures led by Taden Thomas, who entered the contest with a 7.3 points per game scoring average but exploded for a career high 18 points, bolstered by hitting three of six shots from the three point line. The two Brayden’s (Martin and Smith) also came up big with 16 points each with Gavyn Caskey checking in with 14 points and both Larsen Thomas and Noah Leach tallying ten points apiece. By virtue of the victory, Quitman secured their #4 ranking in Class B and improves to 22-4 on the year and 5-1 in district play while Doyline falls to 20-6 on the year and 2-3 in 1B play. 

JHHS and Weston win and lose in district play

The other two Jackson Parish schools, Jonesboro-Hodge and Weston High also saw success on Friday by taking victories in their respective district contests. The JHHS boys team and the Weston girls walked out of the gyms with smiles on their faces a contrast to the Lady Tigers and Wolves boys team that suffered defeats. 

JHHS 59 Plain Dealing 19 (boys): The Tigers haven’t been able to enjoy many nights like this one and as the old saying goes it was just what the doctor ordered to fix the ailments of the 2024-25 season. In the battle between district cellar dwellers, JHHS turned in their best performance of the season to gain their first 1-1A victory of the year in tremendously impressive fashion, scoring the second most points of the 2025 portion of the schedule and clamping down on defense to set a new season best points allowed mark. Channing Gray led the offensive attack for the Tigers by posting a new career high 19 points that included three bombs from behind the three point line, another career best. Ariy’un Bradford also had a big game, chipping in with 10 points while both Pierce Ulloa and Dylan Hayes scored six points apiece. Derrimie Malone finished with four and Tyson Burks, Samuel Combs, G. Howard and Skylar Stickland all tallied two points each. With the victory JHHS improved to 1-4 in district play and 6-18 on the year, doubling the amount of wins from last year in head coach Fred Hearne’s first season at the helm. Plain Dealing fell to 0-5 in 1-1A play and 0-19 on the season.

Weston 79 Castor 62 (girls) After Castor shocked the Lady Wolves on Thursday by a 62-59 score, Weston came back the next night to get back on the winning track and regain sole possession of second place in district 1B play. With the victory, Weston improved to 19-10 overall and 4-3 in district  while Castor came away from the back-to-back games at 14-13 on the year and 2-4 in 1B play. No individual scoring was available. 

Castor 53 Weston 48 (boys):  Nathin Wages scored 12 of his team high 15 points in the fourth quarter on Thursday but it wasn’t enough to stop Castor from keeping Weston winless in district 1B play. Lajavion Harris and Brody Tidwell also reached double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively while both Abram Toms and Dawson Clifton finished with five each. 

Castor 80 Weston 49 (boys): After playing the makeup game that was originally slated for January 21st but cancelled due to the inclement weather of the day, the two teams squared off again on Friday, with the result being the same. Castor took a second victory in two days, that dropped Weston to 7-22 on the year and 0-7 in district 1B play. Four players reached “double digits” in points scored for Weston led by 12 points from Nathin Wages and 11 points by Dawson Clifton with Daniel Williams and Brody Tidwell chipping in with 10 points each. Abram Toms, Aiden Faulkner and Aiden Dowd all scored two points apiece as well. 

Plain Dealing 45 JHHS 32 (girls) At the half, JHHS was seemingly in control as they took a 22-10 lead into the break. Then suddenly everything changed. JHHS scored only 10 points the entire second half while Plain Dealing exploded for 35 to send the Lady Tigers to the defeat that dropped their record to 2-3 in district play and 11-16 overall. Plain Dealing improved to 3-2 in 1-1A competition and 13-13 on the season. On the strength of three first half three pointers, Jaylena Jackson led JHHS in scoring with 11 points while both Sanaa Tatum and LaKayla McGuired finished with five each. Nesha Johnson and Tyya Davis scored four each and Angel Moss added a fourth quarter three pointer for the Lady Tigers.