MICHAEL KIRAL

EDGARD – West St. John rebounded literally and figuratively from an earlier loss at Riverside with a 67-41 victory Tuesday night. West St. John tied Riverside for third place in District 9-2A at 5-4 while improving to 12-8 overall. Riverside fell to 14-12 overall. West St. John’s Dwayne Bastain led all scorers with 23 points. Devin Herbert helped out with 12 points and Josh Lumar with eight. Scottey Manson had a team-high nine points for Riverside. Craig Tearney had eight and Shawn Klibert and Michael Schoen six apiece. West St. John, which had lost 58-57 at Riverside last month, jumped out to a 6-4 lead Tuesday on a dunk by Bastain off an alley-oop pass by Kermit Bethancourt. Riverside came back to take the lead at 7-6 as Manson converted a three-point play. Klibert then drove in, giving the Rebels a three-point lead at the 3:38 mark. West St. John came back to tie the game at nine on a drive by Devin Farnell. Farnell then took a steal in to give the Rams the lead. After Tearney tied it up again with two free throws, Bastain scored on a put back to give the Rams a 13-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Herbert opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it a five-point game. After Schoen buried a 3-pointer a possession later, Bastian put in two jumpers to make it 20-14. Riverside pulled to within one with six minutes left on a 3-pointer by Damian Melancon and a drive by Tim Brignac. But the Rams came back with a 17-4 run behind a jumper by Aaron Sylvain and a drive by Lumar. After free throws by Tearney, Bastain scored inside and Herbert took a steal in, building the lead to 31-21 with 1:53 left. Manson got the Rebels back on the scoreboard with a jumper. But Bastain came back with a put back and Herbert drove in, giving the Rams a 37-23 lead at halftime. West St. John kept it up as the second half opened, scoring the first six points of the third quarter. Lionel Howard and Lumar scored on put backs to make it 43-23. Schoen scored Riverside’s first points of the half on a 3-pointer from the left side. The Rams answered with a put back and a drive by Bastain and a jumper by Bethancourt to take a 49-26 lead with 2:11 left. Jack Harris and Klibert scored inside in the final minute but Farnell drove in to make it 55-30 heading into the fourth quarter. Manson scored on a drive and Tearney took a steal in in the first minute of the fourth quarter. But drives by Herbert and Lumar and a three-point play by Bastain gave the Rams a 63-36 lead. West St. John played host to Redeemer-Seton last night and travels to Buras and Fisher next week to close out the regular season. Riverside traveled to Newman last night and hosts Ridgewood Tuesday in the regular season finale.