By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — St. Charles secured its second district win last week as it split a pair of games in District 7-3A, defeating Port Allen Tuesday, 47-42, but falling to Brusly, 35-32.

Heather Orillion and Jaelen Bryant each scored 10 to lead St. Charles in the win over Port Allen. Courtney Snyder scored eight for the Comets.

St. Charles led 28-23 at halftime, shaking off a second quarter Pelican run to reestablish control en route to the win. Port Allen went on a 9-0 run to begin the second quarter and take a 23-18 lead, but the Comets fired back with a 10-0 run of their own before the half.

“Emily (Picciola), Jaelen (Bryant) and Kacie (Braud) all were in foul trouble early in the second quarter, so we sat them down,” said St. Charles coach Paul Waguespack. “But when they got on their run, we rolled the dice and put them back in and went on our own run. And after that, we never looked back.”

A three-point try by Snyder at the end of the Brusly game came up short of forcing overtime, as the Panthers rallied from a four point deficit after three quarters to take the win and earn a split with the Comets this season.

Alex Hitt led SCC (9-16, 2-6) with 10 points. Emily Picciola scored seven and Bryant scored six.

The Comets’ win over Port Allen was their ninth of the season, after winning eight total over the last two seasons.

Waguespack said that he believes his players have gained confidence as the season has gone on.

“I’ve seen improvement and unbelievable effort,” said Waguespack. “I think … not that losses didn’t hurt them before, but now you can really see it. They give absolutely all they have. They’ve been so close even in our losses … I think that maybe they doubted me a little at the beginning, seeing me as a football and baseball guy and not knowing my basketball background. But I think they believe in me and more importantly believe in themselves now.

“It’s really a matter of learning how to win. That’s always a step you have to take in building a program. We’ve had chances to win against Brusly, Donaldsonville, Port Allen the first time … but you have to learn how to win.”