By ROBERT L. LEE

VACHERIE – The St. James Wildcats made their third consecutive trip to the Top 28 tournament in Lafayette last night. The Wildcats first opponent of the single-elimination tournament was the Carroll Bulldogs, who entered the game with a 32-8 record. The Bulldogs run similar styles of aggressive offense and defense and have the physical size to enforce it. St. James coach Lionell Ezidore said the biggest threat will be overcoming the Bulldogs’ large front line of players standing 6-foot-3, 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-9.

Although the Wildcats landed the state championship three years ago and the runner-up honors on the second visit, the Wildcats are determined not to rest on their laurels.

“We set goals at the beginning of the year. Now our only goal left is the championship,” said Ezidore. “And they like going to the Cajundome.”

Ezidore said the Wildcats are going to continue on the same track of teamwork that has taken them this far and will only want the team to “just do it all better.” Ezidore said the team’s top two priorities this season have been the belief in the team concept and a strong defense.

After their 21 wins and seven losses, the Wildcats couldn’t have had a more dramatic entrance into the Top 28, than their one-point victory over Brusly Friday in overtime.

“I think the kids learned a lot against Brusly,” Ezidore continued. “If we have the same determination as with them in our next game, I think we will do good.”

The scene was set in the Wildcats’ home gym. The 28-7 Panthers held the five-point lead at halftime, then tied the score at 70 at the close of the fourth quarter.

With 22 seconds remaining in overtime and the score tied at 75, the Panthers threatened to close the game with a lay up, but the ball handler was called for charging. Possession was passed to the Wildcats and Levar Joseph. As Joseph set up for a shot at the determining basket, the Panthers decided they would rather take their chances with him at the foul line and possibly push the game into a second overtime. Joseph stepped up to the line, eyed the first shot and missed. Playing on a common strategy in such intense moments, Brusly called a timeout to stall Joseph at the line. The officials blew their whistles to signify the end of the timeout and Joseph scored his free throw, signifying the end of the game.

“It came down to determination, we refused to lose,” explained an excited Ezidore. “We work on free throws every day. We knew one day it could decide an important win. They called a timeout to freeze him (Joseph), but it worked out great for us.”

The Wildcats finished with four players in the double digits. Senior Derrick Jones led with 23 points, junior Desi Steib dropped in 16 and seniors Erron Hickerson and Joseph accounted for 13 and 11 points.