Feb 23, 2021
The Woodlawn Panther Basketball program was notified of its playoff seeding Monday, February 23rd, and the opponent is extremely familiar.
The Panthers will travel to face fellow District 5-5A member East Ascension. The Spartans received the #13 seed in the LHSAA Class 5A Playoff Bracket, meaning Woodlawn is the #20 seed. This is the third year that the Panthers have travelled in the first round of the playoffs. The 2018-2019 team was the 25th seed, and the 2019-2020 team was the 21st seed.
Given the obstacles that the season presented, Coach Voight and the Panthers are excited about the opportunity.
“Considering that seven or eight months ago, we were not sure if we would even have a season, we are extremely excited about the playoffs,” said Coach Voight. “We were unable to have summer league, our preseason workouts were pushed back, and we had to deal with quarantines. We are just grateful that we are in the position we are in.”
Despite being the higher ranked team, East Ascension comes into the contest with an 11-12 record. Coach Voight has already warned his team not to underestimate the Spartans based on this.
“Our players have already been cautioned about EA. They have some quality losses. Their losses have come to teams in the top-five, and top-ten, of their classifications. They have also beaten some quality teams, notably White Castle and Alexandria, who are both top ten teams.”
The Panthers and Spartans will be facing each other for the first time this season. The teams were scheduled to play on January 28th, but a Covid-19 quarantine postponed that game. The two coaching staffs discussed a makeup date, but weather and ice cancelled the last week of the season for both teams. This adds adversity for both programs, as each team will have been off for at least 13 days.
Coach Voight points to making shots and valuing possessions as keys to the game.
“I look for this game to be a grind, and we will need to hit some shots,” said Coach Voight. “We haven’t been able to do that during district. We have to keep them out of transition as much as possible, so we must limit turnovers.”
The Panthers and Spartans will tip-off on Friday, February 26th, 7 pm on the East Ascension campus. Tickets must be purchased on-line using a link that will be provided by East Ascension on Friday morning.
Feb 9, 2021
Despite a shortened season, the Lady Panther basketball team improved their season win total from 5 wins during the 2019-2020 season to 12 wins this season. The Lady Panthers finished the season with a 12-7 record, just falling short of the LHSAA Class 5A Playoffs.
The Lady Panthers were led by five underclassmen this season. Brianna Johnson, who is the Lady Panthers only senior, will be missed; however, the Lady Panthers will continue to build with the returning underclassmen.
“I am very excited about the future of this program,” explained Coach Kohn. “We are only losing Brianna Johnson. I am hoping we can build on the success we enjoyed this season and have an even better season next year.”
Sophomore forward Regan McDowell averaged a double-double for the Lady Panthers this season, averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds a game. Junior Quaindra Bell and sophomore Celine Thomas, along with the freshman duo of Ra’Nya Smith and Tralyn Riley, all helped to lead a balanced offensive attack for the Lady Panthers.
“We have five underclassmen who led us this year,” added Kohn. “We finished the season with eleven girls in the program, and we hope to continue to build with those girls.”
Included in the Lady Panthers 12 wins were two overtime wins. The Lady Panthers defeated Family Christian and Catholic-Point Coupee in games that showed Coach Kohn and the Lady Panthers that they were learning to win.
Dec 15, 2020
Different sport. Unfortunately, same story.
The Panther basketball team, like too many other programs on Woodlawn’s campus and around the state of Louisiana, have already been affected by COVID-19.
After a season opening 73-49 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas, the Panthers got the phone call that their season would be paused for two weeks. Because of the timing of the shut-down, Woodlawn has not been able to see their complete team on the practice court together.
“The football players were able to return to us the weekend before we played our first game,” said second year Head Coach Brad Voight.
“We received the call the day after our game, and we have not been able to practice as a collective team!”
The Panthers return a solid core from their team that finished the 2019-2020 season with a 24-11 record. Senior Guards Bryan Sledge, Ja’Viya Williams, and Jackson Howard are all returning to lead Coach Voight’s squad.
The return of football players to the basketball court gave the Panthers a significant boost, as returning Sophomore Rickie Collins was named to the first team All-District team last season. Coach Voight is also excited to see if some of the other two-sport athletes can be contributors this season.
“This should be a fun and exciting team to watch. Although we are in a different type of year with the pandemic, we still have players that have taken steps to become better players and more coachable athletes. Our depth should be better, but we will find that out for sure once we get an opportunity to put everything together on the practice floor.
When the Panthers return, they will hit the court at a full sprint, with an extremely busy schedule. Woodlawn will play four games between December 17th and December 22nd, before taking a short break for the Christmas holidays.
Woodlawn High will then face Tara in the first round of the EBR Parish Tournament on December 26th at 11 am at Scotlandville High. The Panthers were named the eighth seed in the parish tournament despite only having one game played.
Once the EBR Parish Tournament concludes, the Panthers are looking forward to District 5-5A play, which will begin on January 22nd with a game at Dutchtown High.
Coach Voight pointed out that each game the Panthers get to play this season is a blessing, because of the constant possibility of the program being shut down. He also spoke about the two goals that the program set for this season.
“The first goal is making the playoffs. You cannot win a state championship if you are not invited to state tournament! Second, we set the goal back in October to have a team GPA of a 3.0 this year. We feel that this is an attainable goal that our program can reach.”
Dec 9, 2020
In his second year as the Head Coach of the Woodlawn Lady Panther basketball team, Coach Jonathan Kohn expects to improve.
“My expectations are to improve, as both individuals and as a team, every practice and every game. I want this to be a fun experience for my players while at the same time striving towards the goals we set forth for ourselves. Whether we win or whether we lose, it is always my goal to be playing better at the end of the season than at the beginning of the season.”
Kohn will lean on returning Sophomore Forward Regan McDowell, who was recognized as an All-District Honorable Mention player last season. Kohn will also look for leadership from returning Senior Forward Brianna Johnson, as well as Guards Quiandra Bell and Celine Thomas.
Newcomers Trinity Spears, Tralyn Riley, and Qiana Dotch are also expected to help the Lady Panthers improve from last year’s 5-22 record.
Kohn will be joined by assistant Coach Brandy Robinson-Moore, who is in her first season as an assistant at Woodlawn, and Coach Nelson Malpica, who brings years of coaching experience to the team.
Coach Kohn says that he is excited about the way the season has started for the Lady Panthers, and relishes the opportunity to compete Through seven games played this season, the Lady Panthers have nearly reached last year’s win total, notching three victories to date.
“I look forward to competing in every contest regardless of the opponent. Each team that we play this year is different and offers a new set of challenges every time we step on the court. The greatest part about basketball is that there are so many ways to be successful as a team. I am looking forward to a fun and exciting season! We have a great group of girls on this years team.”
Female students interested in joining the Lady Panther basketball team are encouraged to see Coach Kohn in the gym, or reach out to him at [email protected].
Mar 4, 2020
Senior Mya Alford continues to accumulate awards, honors, and recognitions. The Lady Panther basketballer, who was also named Homecoming Queen during the fall semester, has recently been on quite the hot streak.
Mya competed against students from Baton Rouge Magnet High School and Scotlandville Magnet High School to win the Junior Achievement Trust Your Crazy Idea Contest. Mya presented her idea, a microwave Klean Kit, in front of a panel of judges at BRCC. Mya’ idea, which includes a cleaning solution, splatter dome, and bonnet covers, was picked as the best idea in Baton Rouge. Mya was awarded with a $5,000 scholarship and the chance to compete at the state level in Lafayette. The winner of the state contest will be awarded with an additional $10,000 scholarship.
More recently, Mya earned the DECA Emerging Leader Honor Award. This National DECA Honor recognizes DECA members studying marketing, finance, hospitality and management while also being an academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, experienced leader through their participation in DECA.
Mya, who currently ranks in the top 10% of Woodlawn High School’s Class of 2020, plans to attend LSU in the fall. She plans on majoring in Mass Communication. Mya is active in the school’s DECA chapter, participating in recent Adopt a Road programs while serving as the Vice President of Communications for the chapter.
