Jack LeBlanc is in his 12th year as athletic director and second season as girls basketball coach at North Vermilion High School.
While the Patriots have reached the quarterfinals during his stint at the school, the current group could have the ingredients to go further.
"The goal at the beginning of the year was to be in position to reach the quarterfinals," said LeBlanc, whose team is 15-6 overall and 1-0 in District 4-4A.
"It's been going pretty solid. I made the schedule a little tougher knowing our level of senior leadership."
In nondistrict play, the Patriots' highlights included wins at Iota and Lake Arthur, as well as victories at home against Highland Baptist and Central Catholic.
"Anytime you can go to Iota and Lake Arthur and beat those traditionally great programs on the road, those are big wins," LeBlanc said. "Then the wins at home against the two small-school powers were also big."
North Vermilion returned four starters from last year's team that reached the regionals. All five of his starters are seniors, and the leading scorer frequently changes.
Le'asia Brown, Ja'nisha Campbell, Kennedy Kelly, Jade Lewis and Jennah Gibson each score between 7-11 points per game.
The 5-foot-7 Campbell pulls down nearly 10 rebounds per game. In one game, Campbell scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
The 5-9 Kelly, an all-around athlete who plays shortstop in softball, leads the team in assists and blocks. Lewis, at 5-9, is the team's best defender. Gibson (5-10) is the tallest player. Brown (5-2) is the floor general and top scorer at 10.2 points per game.
"Ja'nisha and Jade provide a lot of energy," LeBlanc said. "I call them my motors. Jennah is the most vocal leader. Our strengths are our speed, athleticism and our half-court defense. We do a lot of variations with pressing where we usually pick up our opponent on 80% of the court."
Lilly Denais, a junior, is the sixth man. Her younger sister, Ava Denais, is the next player off the bench. There isn't much depth after that, LeBlanc said.
"Foul trouble hasn't cost us any games, knock on wood," LeBlanc said. "But it could pose a problem because of how aggressive we are."
The Patriots defeated David Thibodaux in the district opener. Upcoming 4-4A opponents include Division I select No. 2 St. Thomas More and Division II select No. 1 Lafayette Christian, No. 5 Northside and No. 10 Teurlings Catholic.
"It's like in football," LeBlanc said. "Winning our district is harder than winning state."
North Vermilion, which is No. 7 in the Division II nonselect power ratings, competes in a different playoff bracket than the aforementioned opponents.
"We want to take a page out of our football program's playbook and elevate our level of play after we run this gauntlet in our district," LeBlanc said.
The Patriots recorded two upsets of higher-seeded programs to reach the football quarterfinals. In the basketball playoffs, it's possible that North Vermilion will be the favorite in each of the first two rounds.
First, LeBlanc wants to secure some district wins.
"Our girls know how good LCA, STM and Northside are," he said. "We'll need to find a way to knock down outside shots because we haven't done a great job of shooting from the perimeter."