MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / Febuary 3, 1999

EDGARD – Coming off games in which his team had scored 25 and 58 points, West St. John coach Antoine Edwards wanted to get off to a quickstart and control the tempo of Tuesday’s game against St. CharlesCatholic.

The Rams did just that, jumping out to a 20-10 first quarter lead on their way to a 92-70 victory in District 9-2A play.

West St. John remained a game back of district leader Ridgewood,improving to 13-5 overall and 3-1 in district. St. Charles Catholic fell to3-2 in district play and 10-14 overall.

West St. John lost to Ridgewood, 32-25, last Tuesday and beat St.Martin’s, 58-40, Friday as both the Eagles and Saints played a stall game.

But the Rams were able to dictate the tempo of the game Tuesday, getting into transition quickly after grabbing some early defensive rebounds. WestSt. John won the battle in the paint as Marlon Jackson converted a put backinto a three-point play and Donriel Louis scored inside to give the Rams an early 10-4 lead.

That lead grew to 16-6 as Ray Edwards scored on a put back. Jamar Baileythen intercepted a pass in the backcourt and took it in, making it 18-6. Aput back by Edwards gave the Rams a 20-10 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Rams pulled out to a 30-15 lead midway through the second quarter as Elijah Jasmin buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Comets cutthe deficit to 12 on two free throws by Nick Monica and a steal and layup by Credere Joseph. West St. John came right back with a 3-pointer fromthe left side by Jasmin to make it 35-20. Carl Gauthier added the Rams’fourth 3-pointer of the quarter from the left corner to make it 42-24 at the half.

West St. John continued to pull away as the second half opened, scoring onits first three possessions. Jackson’s put back made it 48-24 before St.Charles Catholic used a timeout with 6:49 left in the third quarter. Abehind-the-back pass from Jackson to Jeremy Lumar along the baseline built the lead to 52-26.

Bailey was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two of the three free throws to give the Rams their biggest lead at 61-30. St. Charles Catholicstarted chipping into the lead on its next possession as Joseph drove in for a layup.

John Mitchell followed with a jumper and a put back and Julian Ward scored off a long pass from Joseph to cut the deficit to 62-38. AfterGauthier broke the string by driving in from the left side, Courtney Bonura scored inside and was fouled, hitting the foul shot to make it 64-41 going into the fourth quarter.

The Comets continued to cut into the deficit early in the fourth quarter as Mitchell took a pass inside from Brandon Broussard and Mitchell scored on a layup. A drive by Mike Mustian along the right baseline cut the deficit to66-47 with 7:10 remaining.

West St. John responded with a 7-2 run to build the lead back to 24. Louisdrove the lane to dunk a missed free throw by Bailey and two possessions later converted a three-point play to make it 73-49. A drive by TravisJack gave the Rams an 85-57 lead with just over three minutes left.

Joseph started another Comet run by burying a 3-pointer from the left corner. A 3-pointer by Bonura from the top of the key made it 85-65 with2:22 left. Courtney Baloney scored on a wrap-around pass by Monica andJoseph knocked down a 3-pointer from the left side to bring the Comets to within 85-70. West St. John responded by scoring the final seven points ofthe game, four coming on two baskets by Lumar.

Jasmin had a team-high 17 points for the Rams. Jackson tossed in 15points while Louis added 13 and Lumar 10.

Joseph led the Comets with 17 points. Mitchell contributed 14 points andBonura added 11.

“I thought overall we did everything I asked the kids to do,” Edwards said.

“I didn’t want to get into a stall game like Ridgewood. Part of the gameplan was to try to get the ball off the boards, get a transition going and wear them down and I thought we did that pretty well.”St. Charles Catholic coach Philip Cavell said his team missed someopportunities early at the free throw lineto stay in the game. The Cometsmade 11 of 20 free throws in the game.

“We tried to switch the defense and controlled the tempo,” Cavell said.

“But we got into a situation where we had to play their tempo and style and with the athletes and talent they have, they were able to take advantage of it.”

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