By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — The East St. John boys basketball team finished as runner-up at the Lakeshore Thanksgiving Tournament last week, starting its season off with two wins in three games.

The Wildcats bested Slidell and Northshore before falling to East Jefferson in the championship game, 52-43.

“I felt pretty good about our performance, all things considered,” said East St. John coach Yussef Jasmine. “You want and expect to win every time you go out there. But East Jefferson’s a good team led by some real solid guards and, given our inexperience right now, I thought we showed flashes of being a really good team.”

East St. John couldn’t overcome a slow start in the final game; East Jefferson outscored ESJ 14-6 in the opening quarter.

Troy Green led the Wildcats in the finals with 16. Tre’Von Jasmine added seven.

Shaquille Preston scored 27 for East Jefferson to lead all scorers. Preston scored his team’s final 10 points to key the win and earn All-Tournament team MVP honors.

“We sent him to the line too many times,” said Jasmine, noting Preston’s 20 free throw attempts. “We’ve got the pieces for a pretty good defense, but sometimes we get antsy and start fouling.”

East St. John’s Elex Carter also earned a spot on the All-Tournament team. He pulled down 14 rebounds in the final game.

The Wildcats toppled Northshore by 10, 57-47.

Carter scored 16 to lead the Wildcats. Jasmine scored 15 and Green added 10.

In ESJ’s tournament opener, it toppled Slidell, 57-49.

Kyron Mitchell led the Wildcats with 16 points. Jasmine and Edwin Winston each scored 11.

“In each game, I thought we played stretches of championship basketball. Maybe four minutes at a time. We just didn’t sustain it long enough,” Jasmine said.

The coach said that based on what he’s seen, Carter, Tre’Von Jasmine, Green and Mitchell will all be called upon as go-to scorers over the course of the season.

“We always have had balance,” said Jasmine. “That will continue.”�