By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

METAIRIE — East St. John went 3-1 in the Grace King tournament this past weekend, ultimately falling in the finals to John Ehret.

The Wildcats (7-4) began tournament play with a pair of lopsided victories. First, on Thursday, East St. John felled Lakeshore 67-20. Brishane Hayes led East St. John with 16 points. Brianne Brown and Bria Joseph each scored 11.

East St. John moved on to face host Grace King Friday and emerged with another convincing win, toppling the Irish 50-20. Joseph led the way for ESJ with 12 points.

“In each of the first three games, we were able to force a tremendous amount of turnovers through our defensive pressure,” said East St. John coach Jackson Manuel. “We did a very good job at that end of the floor.”

The Ladycats established a big lead in the semifinal but had to survive a Central Lafourche second half charge to hang on to a 36-33 victory.

East St. John led 25-12 at halftime but saw that lead slip away thanks to a 15-6 Central Lafourche charge in the third quarter.

The Wildcats were missing starting shooting guard Kanitra Lee in the second half due to illness.

“We got really sloppy in the third quarter. We turned it over and missed a number of easy baskets,” said Manuel.

Brown led ESJ with 15 points. Lee added 11, all in the first half.

In the championship game, Ehret held East St. John to two first quarter points and none in the fourth quarter in a 42-21 tourney-clinching win.

Joseph scored 11 to lead ESJ.

Manuel said a lot of the problems that plagued his team in the third quarter of the semifinal manifested itself again against Ehret.

“We got the shots we wanted, but we couldn’t hit,” said Manuel. “We missed six uncontested layups. We didn’t help ourselves at the line, shooting 3-of-9 and putting them there 15 times.”

Manuel noted that while he has some upperclassmen on the roster, his team is still very young in terms of game experience.

“We’re still learning fundamentals,” said Manuel. “Sometimes, we need to learn to just relax. It was the second time we played Ehret and the first time they handed us our lunch, so there was some anxiety there.

“This tournament was a good learning experience. I’m pleased with our progress so far. We’ve got a long way to go, but I know this team can get a lot better.”