By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

Wildcat basketball is going strong these days as the boys moved to 12-1 this week and the girls went to 11-4.

The boys squad played host in a Tuesday game to East Ascension where Trenton Marshall led all scorers in the game with 21.

This one was contentious for the first half as the ESJ squad went into the break down by one. But the eventual 76-53 final gave the Wildcats their sixth consecutive victory.

It started with a 15-12 run in the first quarter for E. Ascension to push the Wildcats going into the second.

There, the Cats stepped up their offense to close the gap with a 16-14 advanage.

Alex Singleton added 12 points in the effort while Jamaan Kenner posted 12.

It came down to the third quarter when ESJ started to take control, cruising to a seven point lead by the fourth en route to a 74-51 finish.

In the girls game, the LadyCats bested Ponchatoula.

East St. John’s girl’s squad moved to 10-3 on the season last week with a 52-46 win over Ponchatoula.

The LadyCats opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run which was sparked by a three-pointer by Keyona Nelson to bring it to 30-23. Crystal Fleming sank a pair of free throws and Nelson drove in for a layup on ESJ’s next possession to make it 34-25.

Ponchatoula managed to pull back to within four points late in the game, but Thomas helped ice the game as the final minutes wound down with four straight free throws to make it 51-44. From there, Nelson added one more point from the line and Fleming secured the win with a defensive reb ound.