Willie Lago free throws finish off Lions in comeback victory for Wildcats

By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

RESERVE– With a ten-point comeback in the fourth quarter to force overtime, the Wildcats made things exciting for fans at ESJ on Monday when they iced Terrebone in the sudden death period on a pair of clutch free throws by Willie Lago that made it a 68-64 final.

The see-saw battle saw the lead often exchanging hands for the first half where the Wildcats matched-up evenly with the Lions, and went into the mid-way point tied up at 31-31.

A difficult third quarter for ESJ, where Terrebone took a six point lead, carried into the fourth where the Lion’s Gerald Brown brought it to 46-54 with a basket and a free throw just under halfway through the period. But a 14-4 run was capped off by a two-pointer and a fould shot by Vincent Stewart to tie it up with 3:17 left in regulation.

Play began to get frantic with under a minute to go as Brown gave Terrebone a two-point lead. But the Wildcat’s Brandon Neal sank a tying basket with :20 remaining. Unable to get off a decent shot before the buzzer, the teams went into overtime at 60-60.

Cleveland Bingham made it a Lion lead with two-points to open the four-minute period. ESJ’s Trenton Marshall answered back with a pair of baskets to pull ahead 64-62. Stewart extended that lead with a two-pointer, but was short on a free throw which gave Terrebone some life still. But the Lions could manage to pull only to within two before Lago sank back-to-back foul shots to ice Terrebone by a final score of 68-64.

The win moves East St. John to 10-5 on the season. The Wildcats are scheduled to host St. Charles tomorrow with a 7 p.m. tip-off. They will return to action after Christmas in the East Ascension Tournament which kicks off December 26.