By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD – Jalen Adams’ potential game-winning 3-pointer rimmed out in the closing seconds Friday night at West St. John as the Rams lost a heartbreaker to sixth-ranked Christian Life, 41-39 in a District 8-1A game.

Adams scored 17 points to lead the Rams (7-17, 5-5), who held the Crusaders to their third lowest scoring output of the season. Denzel Pierre scored 11.

“It’s just a tough loss,” said Adams. “Everyone played so hard. Every timeout, we stressed defense, defense, defense.”

West St. John coach Antoine Edwards echoed his forward.

“We played great defense,” he said. “We forced a bunch of turnovers. We played very well all night, it was a back and forth game. But what hurt us was, in the third quarter, we had opportunities to take the lead and push it and we couldn’t get going offensively.”

Both teams found offense tough to come by, as they combined for five quarters of single-digit scoring. That included the fourth quarter, one in which the Rams held Christian Life to four points.

But conversely, the Crusaders (16-10, 9-1) kept WSJ from taking full advantage, holding the Rams to eight.

“Turnovers hurt us,” said Edwards. “That drought, to me, was the difference.”

Frank Bartley and Joe Wilkerson each scored 12 for Christian Life.

It was a big response from the Rams from just a week earlier after another top-ranked foe — White Castle — beat West St. John by 28 in Edgard.

“We went to practice and regrouped,” said Adams. “We knew what we were facing.”

West St. John sat at No. 33 in the power rankings as of Tuesday morning. Winning out would likely pull West St. John within the top 32 and a potential playoff berth. Tuesday night, the Rams were to face Ascension Catholic. Then, Friday, the Rams rematch No. 4 East Iberville, a team the Rams pushed earlier this season.

“We have to play together, play the same way we played (Friday),” said Pierre.

“We need even more intensity so we can get to the playoffs.”