By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

West St. John entered Wednesday’s home game with Jewel Sumner with a winless record through three games and needed something to spark their season.

They found it in the first quarter.

The Rams left the game’s final verdict all but a formality as they outscored the Cowboys 19-0 in the opening frame and scored the first 21 points in all during a 47-28 rout.

“Without a doubt, we felt like we needed this game,” said West St. John coach Antoine Edwards. “At 0-3, we had to get a win. The intensity was there from the beginning.”

Austin Terry got the Rams started by scoring six of the first 10 points. A JaJuan Green 3-point jumper from the top of the key made it 13-0, and a pretty up-and-under inside move by Dontre Turner made it 15-0. Terry capped off the run by scoring three consecutive baskets inside, including the first of the second quarter.

“Coach just talks about running the offense and taking the shots as they come to us,” said Terry. “I guess tonight was just my night to get them.”

Sumner finally got going after Leroy Lampton put his team’s first points on the board via a layup. The Cowboys went on a quick 6-0 run before Lawrence Williams canned a 3-pointer to make it 24-6. That kick started a 9-0 run the rest of the half that saw scoring plays by Terry, Turner and Green to cap things off.

The Cowboys never were able to solve the Ram defense in the first half. The shows Sumner did get were often from the outside, and the Cowboys never found their range.

“We switched up man and zone on them,” said Terry. “We just wanted to give them different looks to throw them off.”

Sumner never climbed closer than 17 the rest of the way.

Edwards said that his team fell a little flat after a stellar first half in the third quarter, but he found little else to argue with.

“Thankfully, we had a substantial lead,” said Edwards.