By RYAN ARENA
Sports Editor

St. Charles Coach Nolan Louque sees a different Comets team on the court these days than the one that began play in November. Friday’s clash with West St. John was as solid an example as any.

The Comets avenged an early season home loss to the Rams by taking a 50-37 victory in Edgard in the SCC’s final pre-district game on Friday night.

Brooke Becker led all scorers with 30 points.

The Comets outscored West St. John 12-3 in the fourth quarter, a period in which the Rams’ top three scorers – Kyla Morris, Jailyn Gordon and Shantell Pablo – all fouled out of the game.

“We just kept on attacking them, and it resulted in them getting into serious foul trouble,” said Louque.

Unlike the first game between the teams on Dec. 2, where West St. John (6-3) built a big first half lead, the game was close throughout. St. Charles led 13-11 after a quarter, while West St. John took a 26-25 lead at halftime.

SCC led by four entering the final period, but West St. John couldn’t sustain the loss of its triple threat.

“In close games, you can’t afford to turn it over as much as we did, or to have your best people foul out,” said West St. John Coach Lester Smith.

Louque says a major difference in the two games between the teams was the play of his youngest starters. Freshmen Emily Picciola and Kaci Braud, and sophomore Jaymie Remondet have earned a lot of experience since then, and it’s showing.

“Those girls didn’t have game experience. But we’ve probably played up to 20 games since then. They’ve grown up a little bit.”

But at the end of the game, Louque says, he wants the ball in the hands of his two veterans, Becker and Dominique DiCarlo.

Aside from her scoring, Becker was consistently able to draw fouls and get to the line.

“You can’t keep putting a good foul shooter on the line, and she made us pay for it,” Smith said.

After coming off of preseason surgery, DiCarlo has stepped up in a big way as the Comets’ point guard.

“Especially over the last month, she’s been really running things well at the point,” Louque said.

He estimates that at the season’s beginning, his inexperienced team turned the ball over 20-25 times a night. That, he says, has been cut down to as low as seven to eight times a night.

“That gives us more shots, and it also gives us a chance to set our defense if we miss,” he says. “That’s a huge difference.”

Braud and Picciola each scored six for St. Charles.

Morris and Gordon each scored 13 to lead West St. John. Pablo added six.