MICHAEL KIRAL

PHOTO: WEST ST. JOHN’S DWAYNE BASTAIN drives in against Jackson’s Kenyonn Jones in the first quarter Friday night. (Staff Photo by Michael Kiral) EDGARD – Jackson used an early fourth quarter run to pull away to a 74-59 victory at West St. John in the Class 2A regionals Friday night. Jackson (15-16) advances to the quarterfinals where the Chiefs will host Ferriday. West St. John, the defending Class 2A state champions, finished its season at 17-8. It is the first time since 1997 that the Rams have not advanced to the quarterfinals. “The things we got beat on were the things we’ve stressed on the last two weeks,” West St. John head coach Antoine Edwards said. “If we were going to be around in the playoffs, we had to do them. Our defense wasn’t effective tonight and we got beat on the boards.” Free throws also played a factor. Jackson hit 18-of-24 from the line while the Rams were 6-of-24. “I felt if we made free throws somewhere down the stretch, it would have kept us in the game,” Edwards said. West St. John was in the game early in the fourth quarter, pulling to within 49-43 on a put back by Lionel Howard. But Jackson came back with two free throws and a jumper by Kenyonn Jones. Ramon Dyer then took a steal in for a dunk, giving the Chiefs a 55-43 lead with 6:50 left in the game. Dwayne Bastain came back with a drive but Dyer followed with a jumper from the left baseline. A put back by DeAndre Ford made it 59-45 with 4:33 left. A dunk by Bastain made it 61-49 with 4:03 left but that would be as close as the Rams could get. A three-point play by Dyer gave Jackson its biggest lead at 74-57 in the final minute. Jackson took a 40-33 lead into halftime and made it 42-33 on a jumper by Ford with 6:19 to play in the third quarter. West St. John came right back as Bastain hit two free throws and Devin Herbert scored off a steal by Howard. Herbert then took another steal in, making it 42-39 with 4:24 left. A 3-pointer from the right corner by Justin Smith pushed the lead back to 45-39 with 3:37 left. Herbert came back with a tip-in but Jamie Hills scored off a steal to make it 47-41 at the end of the third quarter. Jackson had jumped out to a 6-2 lead on a drive by Jones. West St. John went ahead 7-6 with 4:38 on a pass from Kermit Bethancourt to Bastain. A pass from Josh Lumar to Bastain made it 9-6. Dyer regained the lead for the Chiefs with a 3-pointer from the left side with 3:31 left. A dunk by Hills and two free throws by Jones made it 16-11. But Bastain answered with a drive along the left baseline and followed with a dunk off a pass from Herbert to give the Rams a 17-16 lead at the end of the first quarter. A 3-pointer by Smith from the left side gave the Chiefs a 19-17 lead early in the second quarter. Howard tied it with a put back but a 3-pointer by Dyer from the top of the key gave the Chiefs the lead at 25-22. A 3-pointer by Bethancourt tied the game again at 33 but Jones answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. A drive by Jones helped the Chiefs take a 40-33 lead into the half. Bastain led the Rams with 23 points. Herbert contributed 18 and Bethancourt eight.