By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

The one constant in West St. John’s six victories this season has been a good defensive effort.

So when the Rams needed to rebound from a tough district loss, it knew where to turn.

Host West St. John held White Castle to under 10 points in each quarter Friday night as the Rams defeated the Bulldogs, 39-30, in a District 9-1A game on Friday night.

“For us to win, we must play good defensively,” said West St. John coach Lester Smith. “The kids buy into it.”

And that defensive effort allowed West St. John to stay in the game even after a sluggish offensive start. White Castle led 14-9 at halftime, but was outscored 30-16 in the second half.

“Any time you can hold someone to under 10 points in four quarters, you did a pretty good job,” Smith said.

Tranell Mitchell led the Rams with 12 points. Kayla Morris scored 11 for the Rams.

Smith said that his team had decent looks at the basket in the first half, but that they just weren’t going down.

“Being down 14-9 at the half, we knew we were better than that,” Smith said.

In the second half, the Rams played like it, and established control of the game after outscoring White Castle 17-7 in the third quarter.

“I told the kids that they just had to relax and be patient on offense,” said Smith. “We were rushing in the first half.”

West St. John is currently in second place in District 9-1A, behind first place North Iberville (14-2, 2-0).

It returns to district play on Friday night with a matchup against that Bears team, which is ranked No. 6 in Class 1A.

The Bears defeated West St. John 79-41 in their first meeting on Jan. 8.