By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD — West St. John’s Jordan Hamilton scored the first basket of the game for the Rams Friday night. And from there, they never looked back.

West St. John never trailed or was tied in a 56-32 District 9-1A victory over St. John-Plaquemine, one that secured the Rams in third place in the district with two games left and a two game lead on Ascension Catholic.

Damond Pierce scored 13, Chris Shavers scored 11 and Jordan Hamilton scored 10 to lead a balanced Rams attack.

“We did a good job tonight distributing the ball,” said West St. John coach Antoine Edwards. “They were able to get everyone involved in the offense.”

Defensively, the Rams (9-14, 5-3) allowed just 13 first half points. Davante Williams, the Eagles’ leading scorer, finished with 12 and was harassed by West St. John’s Lawrence Williams on the perimeter all night.

“I wanted to make sure he didn’t get rolling out there. I know he’s a decent 3-point shooter, and if I could keep him from getting his shot off behind the arc, it would limit what he could do,” said Lawrence Williams.

After starting the season 0-11, West St. John has gone 8-3 in their last 11 games. Its only losses in that stretch have come against district foes East Iberville and White Castle, both teams that are entrenched in the top 10 of Class 1A in power points.

“(Friday’s win) gives us a lot of momentum. We see what our team can do now,” said Williams. “I really think we’re starting to gel together.”

After a putback by St. John’s Chris Bordelon pulled St. John within four, at 14-10, West St. John started to pull away.

Dontrell Smalls scored inside to push the lead to six, then Morrel Bartholomew converted one of two free throws to make it 17-10. Austin Terry scored off of an offensive rebound and drew a foul; his free throw made it 20-10.

Davante Williams hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to seven, but that was the Eagles’ last points of the half. Hamilton scored off of a Rams’ steal before Pierce and Shavers scored to end the half on a 6-0 WSJ run.

St. John began the third quarter on a high note behind Princeton Young, who sank a 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game at 26-16. The Eagles started to trade buckets with the Rams, keeping WSJ from truly pulling away for awhile. But after Young’s second 3-pointer of the quarter, the Rams began to cement their victory. The Rams’ Quan Scott sank a 3 to make it 35-22. Pierce scored to push the lead to 37-22.

The lead only increased from there. Lawrence Williams and Shavers combined to score eight of the Rams’ 17 fourth quarter points as WSJ put things away.

The Rams defeated Ascension Christian last Tuesday, 54-34.

Smalls led the Rams with 13 points. Scott and Terry each scored nine and Williams added eight.