By Michael Kiral / L’Observateur / February 16, 1998

RESERVE – The Riverside Lady Rebels clinched at least a tie for second place in District 9-2A with a 75-37 victory over West St. John Tuesdayevening.

Riverside, 15-12 overall and 6-3 in District 9-2A, could have clinched second place in the district with a victory at home against St. CharlesCatholic last night. A Lady Comets’ victory could have forced a three-waytie for second depending on the outcome of St. Martin’s game against EcoleClassique last night.

West St. John fell to 10-11 overall and 1-8 in district play.Melissa Martin and Jennifer Guidry had 20 points apiece to lead the Lady Rebels. Michelle Millet tossed in 16 points, while Ashley Bourgeoiscontributed eight points.

Hillary Howard paced the Lady Rams with 12 points. Kenyatta Boudointossed in an additional nine points.

Riverside jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the early minutes on jump shots by Michelle Millet and Bourgeois. West St. John rallied to take a 11-10 leadon layups by Crystal Stipe, Boudoin and Howard. But Martin answered witha 3-pointer from the right corner, giving the Lady Rebels the lead for good at 13-11. Martin and Guidry added jump shots as the Lady Rebels grabbed a17-13 lead after the first quarter of play.

West St. John kept the game close in the first minute of the secondquarter, pulling to within 19-15 on a put back by Howard. But the LadyRebels then stepped up the defense pressure as Hannah Hobdy grabbed consecutive steals. Guidry scored on the first one and Hobdy took thelatter in herself to increase the lead to 24-15 with 6:10 remaining.

Riverside kept up the pressure, causing the Lady Rams to turn over the ball seven of their next eight possessions. The Lady Rebels failed to capitalizeon the turnovers until Martin buried a 3-pointer from the right side with 4:16 remaining.

After Boudoin broke a 3:26 scoreless spell for West St. John with a putback, Bourgeois hit a short jumper and Amanda Roussel drove in for a layup to build the Lady Rebels’ lead to 37-20. Jarita Julien closed out thescoring in the first half with a put back at the buzzer.

West St. John made a run early in the second half, using a 3-pointer byKita Harry and a put back by Howard to pull to within 39-27. But theRiverside defense then shut down the Lady Rams and the Lady Rebels closed out the quarter with a 14-0 run to take a 26-point lead.

Pressure defense and crisp passing helped key the run. Millet grabbed asteal and passed downcourt to Martin. Martin dribbled in and found Guidrycutting in from the left for the layup. Bourgeois then drilled a pass toMartin in the lane for a short jumper and Martin reciprocated on the following possession to give the Lady Rebels a 50-27 lead. Guidry thennailed a jumper from the free throw line to give the Lady Rebels a 53-27 lead heading into the final quarter.

Angela Howard got the Lady Rams back on the scoreboard with a put back on their first possession of the quarter. The teams traded baskets untilMillet scored on a three-point play to give the Lady Rebels a 65-31 lead.

“I thought we pressed the best we have this year,” Riverside coach John McMillan said. “We stepped it up a little bit and we were able to convertturnovers into points.”

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