BY GEORGE MAHL

BOUTTE – Going into Tuesday night’s basketball action, both the boys and girls game between Hahnville High School and East St. John High School figured to competitive battles.

It did not turn out like that, however. Behind Kojavona Hamilton’s 22 points, the East St. John Lady Cats upended the Hahnville Lady Tigers 58-41. On the boys side, the Tigers destroyed the Wildcats 103-74. The victory snapped ESJ’s four game winning streak. Hahnville starter Courtnie McCoy led all scorers with 36 points.

East St. John versus Hahnville (Girls)

Usually when a team has a lot of turnovers, it is a sure sign of trouble.

The Hahnville girls basketball team was put into a deep hole early by committing 21 turnovers in the first half. Their turnovers resulted in the Lady Tigers scoring only 10 points in the first half.

The Lady Cats jumped out to a 14-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In addition, Hamilton had nine points in the first quarter. Her steal and layup made the score 10-3 with 3:21 gone by in the game. Not only did the turnovers hurt HHS, but so did their shot selection.

At times it seemed as if the Lady Tigers rushed their shot, leaving them with no second chance opportunities. Hamilton’s jumper made the score 20-5 ESJ with about two minutes left until halftime. Later, Whitney Chapman’s easy put-back made the score 24-10 with under 40 seconds left until halftime.

In the third quarter, the Lady Tigers offense appeared to show some life. They started off the second half with a 6-0 spurt to close the gap to nine, 25-16. After Kia Gray’s 3-point play cut the Lady Cats lead to eight, East St. John (21-2, 3-0 district) went on an 8-0 run to open up a 43-25 lead near the end of the third.

Ashley Porter’s 3-point shot put the visiting team behind by 18 points. The final period saw both teams trade baskets on a more frequent basis. Second chance points was probably the main reason ESJ pulled away at the end of the third or at the beginning of the fourth.

The Lady Cats did a better job on the boards than the Lady Tigers did throughout the game. The loss dropped Hahnville to 13-7 (2-1 district). Leading scorers for East St. John included Nakita Robertson (8 points) and Erin Keller, who contributed six. Hahnville was led by Flora Brown (10 points) and Whitney Scott (10 points). Cashmir White, a Tulane University signee, was held to eight points.

East St. John versus Hahnville (Boys)

Hahnville starter Courtnie McCoy has been a consistent player for the Tigers all year. He showed why Tuesday night.

McCoy’s 36 points lifted the Tigers to a 103-74 thumping of East St. John before a large, raucous crowd at the Hahnville gym.

“We played as a team tonight. The guys are starting to come together on the court and work hard,” said Hahnville head coach Brian Lumar.

The Tigers got off to a flying start in the first quarter. Behind McCoy’s 12 first quarter points, the Tigers jumped out to a 19-9 lead with 3:28 left in the opening quarter.

However, Wildcat sophomore Ryan Perrilloux came right back and scored four straight points to cut the Tigers lead to 19-13. McCoy continued his dominance against ESJ in the second quarter. He routinely made easy baskets by simply banking the ball off the backboard.

An additional 10 points in the second quarter brought McCoy’s half total to 22.

“I thought tonight was his (McCoy’s) type of game. East St. John tried to press, but I thought our guards were able to break it and give us easy baskets,” explained Lumar.

Hahnville had a 47-31 halftime lead. Six straight points from McCoy led to the Tigers claiming a 68-48 lead with 2:10 left in the third quarter.

The highlight of the second half for the HHS fans occurred when Tigers starter Joey Comardelle stole the ball from Perrilloux and did a thunderous dunk, thus causing the Hahnville fans to go into a frenzy with about four minutes remaining. Leading scorers for East St. John were Perrilloux (22 points) and Willie Lago (14 points). For Hahnville, Al Mott added 17 points, while Brett Naquin finished with 14 points.