Lake Arthur ended a 45-year state title drought last March, then lost three key players to graduation.

But the new-look Tigers are back and ready to defend their Class 2A state title at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association girls basketball state tournament in Hammond at Southeastern Louisiana University.

“I am proud of these kids,” Lake Arthur head coach Vickie Sketoe said. “We have three seniors, but only one (Kali Hornsby) is a returning starter and Vivian (Sketoe) started last year. Everyone else was not starters last year.

“They have just got better throughout the year. They have worked really hard to get where we are at.

“A lot of people didn’t think we would get where we are at. Then others say on social media don’t sleep on Lake Arthur. They proved it throughout the year that we deserve a spot as well as anybody else.”

Sketoe (18ppg) and seniors Kali Hornsby (16ppg) and Darrah Broussard (12ppg) have helped fill the gaps left after Deonna Brister, Brooke Daboval and Katherine Leonard, last year’s state championship game MVP, graduated.

Their opponent will be a familiar one in No. 1 Amite (30-2) led by senior Jalencia Pierre (25.6ppg, 9apg, 7.2spg) plus a rising sophomore in Hai’ley Brumfield (17.5ppg). Lake Arthur (26-6) has knocked the Warriors out of the playoffs three times since 2018, including 71-57 in the semifinals last year.

The two teams will face off at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

“They are seasoned,” Sketoe said. “They are No. 1 for a reason.

“(Jalencia Pierre) is a phenomenal player. Then you have a couple of younger guards that have improved. They just have a lot of speed and a lot of athleticism. I don’t know if it is going to be tougher. I know we are going to have to play well because they didn’t lose anybody last year where we did.”

The Warriors have won 19 consecutive games behind a high-scoring offense and averaged 92.3 points through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

“We are going to have to try to slow them down,” Sketoe said. “They are going to try to get down the court in transition, so we are going to have to play a good fundamental basketball game.

“We just can’t get in a hurry. We have to hit the boards well.”

The other key is that the Tigers cannot allow themselves to get flustered by the Warriors’ full-court press.

“We have to handle their full-court pressure,” Sketoe said. “A lot of their high-scoring games have been because of their full-court pressure.”

The first Southwest Louisiana teams to take the court in Hammond will be Merryville and Fairview today.

Class 1A No. 4 Merryville will make its sixth appearance at the state tournament in seven years and get a rematch with No. 1 Northwood-Lena today at 2 p.m.

Northwood has won 25 consecutive games and was the state runner-up last year, beating Merryville 46-39 in the semifinals.

At 7 p.m., two-time defending Class B state champion and second-ranked Fairview will get a rematch, as well, with No. 3 Florien. The Panthers (34-5) beat the Blackcats (36-2) in the semifinals in 2021 and 2020.

After stunning No. 2 Lakeview 51-48 in the quarterfinals last week, Class 2A No. 7 Rosepine returns to the state tournament for the first time since 2018.

The Eagles, led by a trio of sophomores in Neveah Rivera, Addison Fruge and Kelly Norris, will play No. 3 Rayville at noon on Wednesday.