By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

After a crushing loss to White Castle, West St. John had an open date last Tuesday and used it to regroup.

That time paid off, as the Rams slipped by North Iberville on Friday night to notch a much-needed district victory, 67-65 at North Iberville.

The victory keeps West St. John (8-12, 2-1) tied with Ascension Catholic for second place in District 9-1A. White Castle is the district’s lone undefeated team.

“I think the time off helped us,” said West St. John coach Antoine Edwards. “We really needed the extra practice. Thankfully, we won the game.”

Alton Joseph scored 27 points to lead the Rams. Kaliff Gastreal scored 19, while Dray Joseph added 12.

North Iberville (5-18, 0-3) had a chance to tie the game at the foul line with under a minute left in the fourth quarter. The Bears missed both shots, though, and WSJ regained control of the ball to run out the clock.

“It wasn’t our best game,” said West St. John Coach Antoine Edwards. “But we want to win as many of these district games as possible, and this was a win.”

North Iberville climbed out to a six point lead in the first quarter, and maintained a steady lead for much of the first half.

“We struggled,” said Edwards. “It was really a see-saw type of game, but we had to play from behind. I’m happy we were able to fight back and win it.”

Edwards said that defense down the stretch keyed the victory.

“We pressed them a little bit, but mostly it was just tough man to man defense,” Edwards said. “We forced them to do some things they weren’t prepared for.”