Meet The Advocate Star of Stars girls team of the year: from also-ran to state champion

In 2021, Parkview Baptist won just seven games and missed the playoffs.

In 2022, the Eagles won 30 games and the LHSAA Division III select state title.

And they did it with a nearly brand-new team. Parkview returned only three players — Addyson Bernhard, Hannah Hebert and Norah Frank. Transfers, eighth-graders and new freshmen made up the rest of coach Brett Shelton’s roster.

Working with a blank slate, he chose to utilize a stifling full-court press. On nearly every possession, two Eagles pressured the backcourt, denying the inbound pass and trapping the opposing guard on the catch.

The result: Over their final two games of the year, against Isidore Newman in the semifinals and Episcopal in the title game, the Eagles forced a combined 48 turnovers.

“It’s an aggressive style,” Shelton said. “We try to really pressure the basketball full-court. To me, it puts a lot of pressure on that first pass, and we get a lot of turnovers from that.”

Freshman Anna Richerson led Parkview on the offensive end with her shooting and ballhandling. Sara Authement and Emma Shoaf took on the toughest defensive assignments. And Lauren Beebe caught fire in the championship, scoring the the Eagles’ first 12 points and finishing with 17.

But Parkview’s leader is Bernhard, the junior point guard who initiates the action on offense and sets the tone on the other end.

“(Bernhard is) probably one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached,” Shelton said. “She’s self-motivated, and she pushes her teammates. Her competitiveness rubs off on all these girls.

“She plays the way that I would want everybody on my team to play. She plays with emotion, and she’s scrappy. She takes charges. She sacrifices herself. She’s kind of the ideal player I’d want to have leading my team.”