by RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

West St. John suffered its second district loss on Tuesday night, falling at East Iberville 51-49.

The Rams’ Ambria Major attempted to force overtime, but had two shots fall short in the final five seconds, allowing the Lady Tigers to secure the win.

West St. John (5-6, 1-2) trailed by six with 1:20 remaining in the contest, but was able to cut the deficit to two before its final possession.

“We played well a lot of the night, but we turned it over too many times down the stretch,” said West St. John Coach Lester Smith. “The kids never stopped playing hard, even when they got down.”

Tranell Mitchell led West St. John with 15 points. Kayla Morris scored 13. Destani Comminie added 11.

Tamisha Cummings and Dionickka Calloway each scored 16 to lead East Iberville. East Iberville (2-9, 1-1) led 23-19 at halftime. West St. John outscored East Iberville 14-10 in the third quarter to tie the game at 33.

Smith said that the outcome might have been different with a little better execution at times.

“(East Iberville) played zone, they didn’t really do anything we weren’t expecting,” said Smith. “We missed a few easy shots.”

The loss comes on the heels of West St. John’s win at home last Friday against Ascension Catholic its first in district. It put West St. John into what Smith called a “must-win” game against district foe White Castle last night at home.

“If you have any shot of making the playoffs, you really want to be 2-2 after the first round of district,” Smith said.

But the one positive Smith draws is that his team was in position to win on the road, late in the game.

“I told my kids that they played hard, but that you have to be able to play on the road, where you don’t always get the calls,” he said. “But on the road, you want to be in a position to win the game late. We were. It’s all you can ask for. We had our chances.”