By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

West St. John rode a hot start Wednesday night all the way to a 59-45 victory over Lehigh on Thursday at the Runnels Round Robin tournament.

Kayla Morris led all scorers with 27 points. Tranell Mitchell scored 17, and Destani Comminie scored 10.

West St. John (3-1) outscored Lehigh 29-16 in the first half and Lehigh was not able to overcome the deficit.

“We ran our offense well in the first half,” said West St. John Coach Lester Smith. “We took care of the ball.”

The win will be the only tournament game that the Rams partake in at the Runnels Round Robin tourney, due to the West St. John football team having played in the 1A state semifinals on Friday night.

Unlike in the Rams’ previous outing at Higgins, the Rams did not wear down in the fourth quarter. While the only sustained offense Lehigh was able to produce came in the fourth, where it scored 19 points, West St. John was up to the challenge, scoring 21.

Smith credited Mitchell and Morris for not only being major forces on the offensive side of the court, but also defensively.

“Both are playing very good defense for us,” said Smith.

Smith is pleased with his team’s progress so far this season, saying the Rams have exceeded his expectations so far.

“I did not expect to be 3-1 at this point,” said Smith. “We’re playing pretty well right now.”