By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

RESERVE – Reserve Christian basketball stretched East St. John in a rubber match Tuesday night in the ESJ gym, but the Wildcats tightened up on defense in the second half to take the second of three meetings between the two squads this season.

The 72-52 non-district win for ESJ exacted revenge on the Eagles, who defeated the Wildcats two weeks ago in the Brother Martin tournament with a 64-59 score.

In that win, Eddren McCain compiled 21 points, 14 rebounds and eight steals while Cedric Jenkins had 19 points and eight rebounds.

This time around, it looked as though Reserve Christian might once again have East St. John’s number with McCain and Jenkins leading the way. The Eagles were productive in the first half on both sides of the court, with a hustling defense that kept the majority of ESJ’s scorers outside of the lane and a sharp-shooting offense courtesy of Jenkins and McCain. But it was a tale of two halves for this bout between St. John Parish’s largest and smallest schools, as Trenton Marshall and Geohandre Dorsey stepped up to give the Wildcats their 24th victory in 32 games.

It all began with a quick start for Reserve Christian as Cedric Jenkins and Eddren McCain had the hot hand in the first quarter, combining to score all 15 of the Eagles points. Going into the second trailing by three, East St. John warmed up as Marshall gave the Wildcats a kick-start with a basket and a pair of back-to-back three pointers. Dorsey added a third three pointer, but the Eagles answered back with baskets by five different players including a three by Justin Bernard.

That series found the RCS squad ahead 29-27 going into halftime. But it was a completely different story in the third quarter when the Eagles came out of the locker room shooting cold from the field and the Wildcats went on an 18-6 run. This time it was ESJ who spread the scoring around with six different players adding to the offensive output, including a pair of three point plays by Jamaan Kenner. East St. John continued to pull away in the final period with Miguel Singleton leading the way with four baskets in the quarter. Free throws by Dorsey, Brandon Neal and Charles Gant iced this one at the 72-52 final.

Jenkins and McCain led all scorers with 19 points each. Justin Bernard also got six. Marshall, Singleton, Dorsey and Kenner all posted double digits, with Marshall’s 16 leading the way.

The win boosts East St. John’s season record to 24-8 while they stay at 2-1 on the season in district 5-5A play.

Reserve Christian moves to 20-13 on the year while they stay put at 1-0 in district 10-C play.