By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD – With seven minutes left in the second quarter of St. John-Plaquemine’s first round game at eighth-seeded West St. John, it appeared the Eagles might be primed for an upset after hitting back-to-back 3-pointers.

Instead, it seemed like they knocked over a beehive.

West St. John trailed 19-14 but outscored St. John 46-8 the rest of the way to capture the second playoff win in the program’s history, 60-27.

The District 8-1A foes split two games during the regular season. St. John upset West St. John on February 8, in a game that Gordon sat out.

“After that game, I felt so bad,” said Feist. “I knew we had the capability to beat them. Coach told us he had a bad taste in his mouth after that one, so we knew we had to step our game up.”

Said West St. John coach Lester Smith: “Everyone was ready to redeem themselves.”

Jaylyn Gordon led West St. John (21-6) with 27 points. Deja Feist added 10. Jasmine Young and JuJuan Nicholas each scored six.

West St. John will travel to face Ringgold in the regional round. Ringgold, the No. 24 seed, upset No. 9 Merryville, 63-55.

After a back-and-forth first quarter, Shelby Strickland lifted St. John into a 19-14 lead after canning a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute of the second quarter.

But West St. John picked up its defense, and it wouldn’t be long before things flipped completely around.

Gordon made a steal and converted a layup, then did it again while drawing a foul to make good on a 3-point play, tying the game at 19.

Feist made a bucket inside to give West St. John a 21-19 lead, then Gordon got the crowd going with a pretty stop and pop 3-pointer from the wing to make it 24-19.

She made another steal and converted a layup to make it 26-19, then Donasia Bell scored after another Rams’ steal to make it 28-19, as the Rams press essentially eliminated any chance for the Eagles to get into their offense.

“Once we get hyped, and our intensity goes up, we’re tough,” said Gordon.

Jasmine Young scored on an assist from Gordon to push the lead to 30-19. Bell got wide open and scored in transition off of a stop, then Young made a steal, gave the ball up to Bell, and got it back for a layup to make it 34-19. Gordon would cap a 24-0 run with two steals and layups to make it an 18-point game, and WSJ would lead 40-20 at halftime.

“I had no idea,” Gordon said of the 24-0 run. “We don’t really look at that stuff until the half’s over. We just kept pushing.”

The teams traded a pair of baskets early in the third quarter, but West St. John put things completely out of reach with a 9-0 run that began with a Young free throw and was capped by a JuJuan Nicholas score. That made it 51-22 early in the fourth quarter.

St. John scored just two field goals from the seven minute mark of the second quarter to the game’s final minute, where Jessie Brown scored the final bucket of the night.

“When we play good defense like we did tonight, we give ourselves a chance,” said Smith. “The fans were into it tonight and the kids really responded. The fans have been great for us.”

His players certainly seemed to feed off of them. Their next game will be on the road, though – but by their words, they seem prepared.

“We’re ready for Monday,” said Gordon.

“We just want to keep this going,” said Feist. “We want to be the state champs.”