By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

PLAQUEMINE – A short-handed West St. John team fell victim to an upset Tuesday night as host St. John-Plaquemine upended Class 1A’s seventh-ranked team, 58-53.

The Rams fell behind by nine at halftime, 32-23, but rallied behind a fierce press in the second half to take a one-point lead entering the fourth quarter.

“It was back and forth in that second half,” said West St. John coach Lester Smith. “Our defense got us back into it.”

But the Eagles (12-16, 4-6) recovered in the fourth quarter – after being held to just six points in the third by West St. John (19-6, 7-4), it outscored the Rams 19-14 in the final frame.

West St. John trailed by three with 22 seconds left.

But St. John drew a foul and converted its free throws to cement the win.

Kaycee Hudson led St. John in scoring with 14 points, while teammate Shelbi Strickland chipped in 11.

Donasia Bell scored 19 to lead the Rams, who were playing without leading scorer and point guard Jaylyn Gordon. Jasmine Young scored 16, and JuJuan Nicholas added 11.

The Rams sat at seventh in the power rankings with last night’s game season finale against Christian Life pending.

Smith said he hoped to get a win there to cement the Rams with the highest seed possible entering the postseason.

“We’d like to finish out at five or six,” he said.

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