MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / December 8, 1999

METAIRIE – Destrehan jumped out to a 9-0 lead and didn’t look back, defeating McDonogh, 74-48, for seventh place in the Adidas Elite Eight Tournament at East Jefferson Saturday afternoon.

Destrehan, which had lost to Newman and McDonogh 35 earlier in the tournament, improved to 4-5 on the season. McDonogh fell to 1-5.John Ehret defeated East Jefferson, 78-39, for the tournament title.

Scott Simon opened the scoring for Destrehn with a 3-pointer from the right side. Jeremy Parquet scored inside and Fred Smith knocked down twojumpers to make it 9-0 with 5:30 left in the first quarter. McDonogh gotits first points of the game on a 3-pointer from the left side by Devon Perkins.

But Destrehan continued to build on its lead as Parquet scored twice and Smith took a steal in and was fouled for a three-point play. After arebound by Parquet, Mark Stewart nailed a 3-pointer from the left side, making it 21-7 at the 2:12 mark of the first period.

McDonogh closed to within 23-11 at the end of the quarter on a drive by Kenneth Dykes. Two jumpers by Herbert Broussard brought the Trojans towithin eight early in the second quarter. But Wendel Walker answered forthe Wildcats by taking a pass from Parquet inside, opening a 10-1 run by Destrehan. Simon scored on a put back and then grabbed a steal, passing toStewart who found Lionel Turner for the layup. Stewart then took a stealin, increasing Destrehan’s lead to 33-16 with 2:35 remaining. A 3-pointerfrom the right side by Simon made it 42-21 at the half.

Parquet took a pass inside from Simon for a three-point play early in the third quarter. After a steal by Simon, Travis Wilright tossed an alley-oopto Smith for a layup, making it 50-23. A steal by Wilright and a pass toSimon gave the Wildcats a 29-point lead. Herman Jones made it 56-32with a jumper in the lane before Turner bounced in a jumper to give Destrehan a 61-35 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Cedrick Thomas hit two jumpers and Perkins found Marquez Doucette inside off a steal to cut the deficit to 65-47 midway through the fourth quarter. But Destrehan outscored the Trojans 9-1 the rest of the way withSimon tipping a shot in and Damien Richard scoring off a steal by Wilright.

Simon and Parquet each had 14 points for the Wildcats. Smith added 13points and was credited by Destrehan coach Mike McNamara for helping jump starting the offense.

“The kids played hard,” McNamara said. “They have been playing hard all thetime but we’ve made little mistakes. Today, Freddie Smith played up. Hestepped up for us.”Doucette led McDonogh with 15 points.

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