MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / January 4, 1999

RESERVE – The East St. John Lady Cats got a big one out of the wayTuesday night, extending its home and district winning streak with a 74- 49 victory over South Lafourche in the District 6-5A opener for both teams.

East St. John improved to 12-6 overall with the win. The Lady Cats havenot lost at home in coach Troy Giordano’s three years as coach and have not lost a district game since the 1996-97 season. East St. John went 14-0 in capturing its second straight district title last season.

Kinya Lennix led the way for the Lady Cats with a game-high 20 points.

Kovana Reese dominated inside, grabbing 17 rebounds to go with her 19 points. Ginina Louis came off the bench to pump in 11 points whileCourtney Drayton added eight points.

Sandy Guidry was the leading scorer for South Lafourche (12-9) with 11 points. Janita Gaspard and Brandi Reynolds each contributed eight pointswhile Beth Chiramie added seven.

Giordano expressed to his team before the game the importance of winning the first district game, especially on its home court.

“It was big,” Giordano said. “If you lose the first district game, you aregoing to be in trouble. You need to win, especially at home. Winning athome is a necessity to win district, at any level.”The Lady Cats came out attacking the basket, forcing South Lafourche to get into early foul trouble. East St. John took advantage, jumping out to a16-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Tarpons got the firstpoints of the game on a 3-pointer by Guidry from the right side but would not score again until Guidry took a steal in from midcourt with 27 seconds left in the quarter.

In the meantime, East St. John was going on a 14-0 run led by Lennix.Lennix opened the scoring for the Lady Cats with a drive from the left side and three possessions later, pumped in a short jumper from the left baseline and was fouled on the play. Lennix hit the free throw, giving theLady Cats the lead for good at 5-3.

After another drive by Lennix, Danielle Stemley bounced in a jumper from the top of the key to make it 9-3. A layup by Lennix and a 3-pointer byTenisha Williams made it 14-3 with just over a minute left in the opening quarter. Drayton closed out the scoring with two free throws.”Our game plan was to attack the goal,” Giordano said. “They got into foultrouble and we got some easy buckets and put backs.”East St. John continued to pull away as the second quarter opened. Lennixtook a pass from Stemley on the right baseline and was fouled for a three- point play. Reese then scored inside and added a put back to increase thelead to 23-7 with 4:33 left in the half.

After a timeout by South Lafourche, Louis grabbed a steal and passed cross court to Stemley. Drayton followed with a three-point play,increasing the lead to 28-7. A jump shot and two free throws by PamWinston was followed by a basket by Reynolds, making the score 36-11 at the half.

Louis took over in the early minutes of the third quarter, driving in from the right side for a score, then going outside for two 3-pointers from the right side to make it 45-13. Brett Stall hit two free throws and Reynoldshit a short jumper for the Lady Tarpons but Reese answered with a move inside and Lennix hit a jumper to make it 51-17.

After a jump shot by Gaspard, Reese scored on a three-point play and added a put back to give the Lady Cats a 58-24 lead. Lennix juked inside tomake it 60-25 at the end of the third quarter.

South Lafourche pulled to within 30 early in the fourth as Alasha Adams banked in a jumper and Guidry buried a 3-pointer from the right side. EastSt. John answered as Reese put back her own miss on a fast break andLennix took a pass underneath from Louis to make it 68-36.

Michelle Eymard scored twice to bring the Lady Tarpons to within 70-45.

But Louis took a deep pass off the inbounds in for a score and on the following possession, dove under the basket to make a save to Velinda Ard to give the Lady Cats a 74-45 lead.

East St. John went through a tough stretch in its pre-district schedule,facing a number of ranked teams and having to deal with a slew of injuries. Giordano said the team is starting to get everybody back andready to go after a third-straight district title.

“It helps that everybody is healthy,” Giordano said. “It is time to make arun for it. I think we are capable of winning this thing. We will do what wecan do.”

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