Cameron, East St. John topple Griffins in Reserve
Published 12:00 am Monday, February 16, 2009
By RYAN ARENA
Sports Editor
Ask East St. John coach Yussef Jasmine about his 6’8 center Kelth Cameron, and he doesn’t hesitate to give praise. Cameron, he says, has owned the paint over the past few games.
Tuesday night was no exception.
Cameron scored a game-high 22 points to lead East St. John as it improved its record to 5-2 within District 6-5A with a 58-49 victory over Dutchtown in Reserve on Tuesday.
“He dominated the game,” Jasmine said of Cameron. “We kept going inside, and Dutchtown couldn’t stop our bigs.”
East St. John (15-14, 5-2) remains tied for first place in the district with Hahnville, which won 74-58 at East Ascension on Tuesday. At press time, each team was scheduled to compete last night. The two teams will face off at East St. John on Tuesday in a game that’s certain to have major district title implications.
Dutchtown (14-13, 2-5) led 20-16 after a quarter, but the Wildcats took control on the back of their calling card, the defense. The Griffins only mustered seven second quarter points, and it took the entire second half for Dutchtown to best its first quarter production – the Griffins scored 22 after halftime.
“It’s been a total team effort at the defensive end,” said Jasmine. “We always plan to try and shut down the other team’s best guy, and this time it was their point guard (Earl Warren). He scored 13, but he had to work hard for all of them.”
Kaylon Placide scored 10 for the Wildcats. Malcom Lago and Lucas Martin each scored nine.
East St. John led by double figures in the third quarter, but Dutchtown made a run and cut the lead to one.
But the Wildcats wouldn’t relinquish the lead. The Wildcats led 42-39 after three quarters, and they reestablished control of the game in the fourth quarter.
It was a strong performance for the Wildcats coming off of a 20-point loss at St. Amant on Friday night.
Jasmine says his current group has the mental makeup to answer such losses and maintain confidence.
“The thing about my kids, they follow my lead, one hundred percent,” Jasmine said. “They see the confidence that I have in them, and it allows them to have confidence in themselves.
“I’ve been telling them that this is a good team all along. Now, they finally see it for themselves.”
He also says his team knows just what is at stake over the next two district games.
“They can taste it,” he said. ꆱ