MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / November 24, 2000

WESTWEGO – The Battle on the Bayou was a tale of two games for the East St. John Lady Cats against two of the top five teams in the area.Tuesday, East St. John held Mt. Carmel in check, running away to a 48-29victory to advance to the final four of the tournament. But Wednesday, thetables were turned as it was Dominican jumping out to a 33-18 halftime lead on its way to a 65-38 win.

East St. John, which opened the tournament at the Alario Center with winsover Istrouma and Bonnabel, finished it at 7-1. Dominican (7-1) went on towin the championship Wednesday night with a 57-48 win over Raymond (Miss.).Hahnville also had a successful tournament competing in the silver bracket, defeating Westminster, 52-37, Tuesday as Toyelle Rickson and Cashmere White had 14 points apiece. The Lady Tigers fell to Ursuline, 35-31, laterthat evening despite 27 points by Rickson.

Dominican never trailed against East St. John, taking a 11-0 lead with 3:30left behind a 3-pointer by Stephanie Hill and a pass inside from Stasi Bernard to Jessica Helgeson.

East St. John got on the scoreboard with 3:01 left in the opening period asKojovana Hamilton converted a three-point play after putting back a shot.

But Dominican answered as Shenique Harris found Jamie DeBarbieris and Helgeson inside on consecutive possessions for a 15-3 lead. After a jumperby Kinya Lennix, Helgeson again scored inside to make it 17-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Dominican kept it up as the second quarter opened as Bernard drained a 3- pointer and Hill drove in for a 20-6 lead with 6:37 left. A pass from AshleeBenoit to Rachel Truax inside gave Dominican its biggest lead of the half at 28-11.

East St. John began to chip into the deficit as Erin Keller buried a 3-pointerfrom the top of the key on the Lady Cats’ next possession. Lennix thengrabbed a steal and was fouled, converting both free throws to cut the deficit to 28-16.

But again Dominican responded with a 3-pointer by Bernard on the next possession. With time running out in the half, Harris grabbed a miss by theLady Cats, tossed to Joelle Bordelon who found Helgeson underneath as the buzzer sounded, making it 33-18 at halftime.

East St. John closed the gap to 35-22 early in the third quarter behind twofree throws by Courtney Drayton and a drive by Lennix. But Dominicanrefused to let the Lady Cats make a run, taking a 44-22 lead as Bordelon converted a three-point play off a steal by Lindsay Jeanfreau. Bordelonadded a 3-pointer from the left corner before Lennix closed out the scoring in the quarter to make it 47-24.

East St. John got the deficit back down to 19 with 6:04 left in the gamebehind 3-pointers by Danielle Stemley and Lennix. But Dominican then pulledaway as a 3-pointer by Bordelon hit another 3-pointer to make it 59-34 with 3:03 left.

“You had a good tournament,” East St. John head coach Troy Giordano toldhis team after the game. “You came within one game of playing for thechampionship. You loss one game. Throw that out. Keep the positives.”Lennix had 11 points to lead the Lady Cats. Stemley had nine and Hamiltonand Keller six apiece. Dominican was led by Hill and DeBarbieris, both with 11points. Helgeson finished with 10 points.The story was different the day before as the Lady Cats completely controlled Mount Carmel with their best defensive effort of the season. EastSt. John jumped out to a 6-2 lead with 2:21 left in the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Keller. Mount Carmel closed the gap to 6-5 by the end of thequarter on a drive by Maria Rodriguez, then took the lead with 7:46 left in the half on a jumper by Jenni George.

But East St. John came back two possessions later to take the lead for goodon a 3-pointer from the left side by Keller. Keller later found Drayton inside,then took a steal in to make it 14-7 with 5:16 left in the first half. She wouldfinish with 11 points in the half. Lennix buried a jumper in the lane to make it19-7 going into halftime.

George found Denise Daly driving on Mount Carmel’s first possession of the second half to pull to within 10 but that would be as close as the Cubs would get. Lennix answered with a three-point play, then hit a jumper from the leftarc. Hamilton scored on a put back to make it 28-11. With time running downin the quarter, Stemley drained a 3-pointer from the left side, then scored off a rebound by Keller to make it 35-15.

Megan Kiefer drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to bring Mount Carmel to within 35-20 early in the third quarter. But Whitnee Chatmananswered with a put back and Raeonda Jasper hit a 3-pointer to make it 42- 20 with 4:10 left.

“I’m very proud of the effort I saw tonight,” Giordano told the team afterwards. “You took one of the top five teams in the area and shut themdown.”Lennix had 17 points in the game to lead the Lady Cats. Keller and Stemleyhad nine points apiece.

Kiefer had a team-high seven points for Mount Carmel.

East St. John opened the tournament with a 56-48 victory over IstroumaSunday behind 16 points by Lennix and 13 by Stemley. The next night, theLady Cats defeated Bonnabel, 58-45, behind 17 points by Lennix and 16 by Keller.

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