MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / December 6, 1999

RESERVE – With the Belaire Tournament this weekend and games against Mt. Carmel and St. Amant on tap, the East St. John Lady Cats needed anopportunity to work on their game.

They got that opportunity Monday night, cruising to a 55-21 victory over Grace King in the 1999-2000 home opener.

The win improved the Lady Cats to 7-3 overall and kept them undefeated at home in coach Troy Giordano’s three-plus years with the team. GraceKing fell to 1-7 overall.

East St. John trailed just once, at 3-2, and led 38-13 at halftime. EveryLady Cat that played scored, led by Danielle Stemley with 14 points.

Kavonna Reese added 10 points while Lakreshia Walker contributed seven points. Stacy Ledoux and Aisha Moss had six points apiece to led the LadyIrish.

“We were able to get everybody in,” Giordano said. “Everybody played andeverybody scored. We got to see some things. This was the game weneeded. We needed to work on some things on offense and we got everybodyplaying time.”Moss gave Grace King its only lead with a 3-pointer from the right side on the Lady Irish’s second possession. Kinya Lennix answered with a layup onthe Lady Cats’ ensuing possession to put East St. John up for good. Thatbasket opened a 18-0 run for the Lady Cats.

Stemley scored on a jumper and a put back and Reese contributed a layup and a put back, increasing the lead to 12-3 with 3:54 left in the first quarter.

After a layup by Reese off a rebound by Ashley Wolfe and a pass by Stemley, Stemley scored six straight points to make it 20-3. Ledoux gotthe Lady Irish back on the scoreboard with 50 seconds left by taking a pass from Tracy Puleo inside, making it 20-5 at the end of the first quarter.

East St. John opened the second quarter with a 6-0 run. Reese opened therun by grabbing a steal and passing to Stemley who found Tenesha Williams downcourt. Stemley then grabbed a steal and drove in, grabbedanother steal and found Lennix driving in from the left side to make it 26- 5.

Wolfe built the lead to 36-10 with a jumper and a put back. Yoshiko Taylorlater grabbed a steal and took it in, making it a 28-point game. Puleoclosed out the scoring in the first half with a 3-pointer from the right side, making it 38-13 at the break.

Both teams slowed down the pace in the second half. Koy Magee had fourpoints in the third quarter on two free throws and a drive off a steal while Pam Winston added three points.

Moss had the Lady’s Irish’s only points of the quarter with a bank in off a drive in the lane. East St. John led 49-15 heading into the fourth quarter.Reyoung Jasper and Walker each had three points for the Lady Cats in the final eight minutes. The Lady Irish were scoreless until the 4:45 markwhen Jedawn Brown drove in for a layup.

East St. John faces two stiff challenges to its home winning streak thisweek when it hosts Mt. Carmel Tuesday and St. Amant Thursday.

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