ESJ survives against Terrebonne, 71-70

Published 12:00 am Monday, January 31, 2005

BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

Finally the East St. John boys had a close game.

They pulled out the victory too.

Behind 25 points from Ryan Perrilloux, including a jumper with under 10 seconds to give his team the lead, the Wildcats defeated Terrebone 71-70.

Jamal Breaux also had 15 points and Ricardo Porter had 13. Ryan Stipe added 12 in the East St. John victory.

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 23-7 on the season and 8-2 in district play.

Trailing heading into the fourth quarter, the story of the game was the Wildcats play in the final period.

Thanks to their depth on the bench and a pressuring defense, East St. John outscored Terrebone 29-17 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

“It was a great ballgame,” East St. John head coach Charles Julian said. “Terrebone came out and they had implemented a very good defense. We tried to come out and control the tempo, but they were just a little too quick for us.

“They have good shooters, but towards the end our team just refused to lose. Down the stretch we forced them to turn the ball over. I think our depth really wore on them because we played 8-9 people.”

In the end, the Wildcat bench was the difference.

“I just think the biggest difference of the game was that we had more depth than they did,” Julian said. “They are a good team. They played us very tough. They have always been a problem for us.”