By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD – West St. John scored two key district victories this week to move into second place in District 8-1A, topping host St. John-Plaquemine 58-43 on Thursday night, and hosting and defeating White Castle 44-42 on Tuesday in Edgard.

Tuesday’s win came down to the wire for the Lady Rams, who led 27-23 at halftime.

White Castle had climbed ahead by three with a minute left, but West St. John rallied back to tie things up with little time remaining.

Kyla Morris put WSJ (10-7, 4-1) ahead 43-42 when she made one of two foul shots, and Jaelyn Gordon did the same to extend the lead to two with 1.8 seconds left.

It was a much needed win at home for the Rams, who sought to do some damage in district home games before a rough stretch of road games that begins this Friday night at Ascension Catholic.

“We played about as well as we could play,” said West St. John coach Lester Smith. “That’s one of the better team’s we’ll see. Getting a win in district over them is a pretty good thing for us.”

Morris scored 11 to lead WSJ in a balanced effort. Ambria Major and Deja Feist each scored 10. Gordon added nine.

Things weren’t as close on Thursday as West St. John got off to an ideal start, outscoring St. John-Plaquemine 21-12 in the first quarter.

“We were able to pressure their ballhandlers into mistakes,” said Smith. “We didn’t look back after a great start.”

West St. John pushed its lead to double figures in the second half and never allowed the Eagles to climb back within single digits.

Gordon led all scorers with 21, while Morris scored 17.

This week marked the first action of the season for Gordon, an eighth grader who made a big impact for the Rams a season ago as a scorer.

“It’s a plus to have her back,” said Smith. “We looked forward to having her back, but we weren’t sure how well she’d play after the layoff. She did real well for herself.”