By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD – West St. John shook off an early second half push from visiting Ascension Catholic to run away with a 50-39 District 8-1A victory Friday night.

The Bulldogs cut a 10-point Lady Rams’ halftime lead to three, 25-22, before West St. John locked in and put things away. A pair of buckets from Donasia Bell helped ignite a 17-4 run that extended into the fourth quarter and gave the Rams a 42-26 advantage.

West St. John would lead by as many as 17 and by no less than it’s 11-point margin of victory the rest of the way.

Jaylyn Gordon led West St. John with 20 points. Bell scored 16 and Sydnei Young added nine.

Kyra Jones led the Bulldogs with 15 points. Tykean Wise scored nine.

Ascension Catholic (11-10, 4-3) made its early second half push on a quick 9-2 run fueled by a flurry of Jones points. Her put back of a miss made it 25-22 and prompted the Rams to respond.

That they did. Jujuan Nicholas got to the line and made a free throw, then made a layup in transition off a feed from Gordon. Bell copied that action – again on a Gordon assist – and followed up with a score inside and a drawn foul. Her free throw made it 33-25. Gordon scored on a putback, then scored again with 1.4 seconds left in the quarter on a layup – and drew a foul. Her free throw made it 38-26 after three quarters.

“We started playing a little bit better defense than we had been,” said West St. John coach Lester Smith. “We missed a lot of little close shots and turned it over, letting them get back in it. Once we stopped doing that, we were able to push the lead again.”

Bell and Gordon each scored baskets to begin the fourth and push the lead to 16 before Jones answered with a bucket. But the damage was done.

“We made our layups and played hard defense tonight,” said Bell. “When they pushed at us, we went into the timeout and said that we need to come out and hustle and we did that the rest of the way.”

Smith said that Bell has added a front court punch to his young team.

“Jaylyn’s been leading us in scoring but the key is it’s more than one person,” he said. “Someone else always steps up. Donasia played well tonight.”

West St. John is now 18-3, extending the best start in school history. The Rams boast a 6-1 mark in district play, trailing White Castle.