By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — East St. John had a tough challenge awaiting it as it attempted to net its first district victory Thursday, pitted against a formidable H.L. Bourgeois team among the favorites to win District  5-I.
The Braves didn’t let up against ESJ, moving to 4-0 in district play via a win in three games over the Wildcats, 25-16, 25-12 and 25-18.
H.L. Bourgeois (11-5) was led by Ciara Williams,, who logged 17 kills. Kiara Freeman had eight kills.  Chloe Ryder made seven kills and five blocks while Rebekah Porche racked up 34 assists.
“They’ve got an all-around talented, senior-leaden team,” said East St. John coach Ronnie Smith. “Three or four good hitters, and that made them hard for us to stop. All of them were excellent. Even with those hitters, though, we really hurt ourselves with errors. We didn’t give ourselves a real chance to win because of the mistakes.”
Al’lante Snyder led ESJ in kills. Eden Keller led in assists.
The Wildcats dropped to 0-3 in District 5-I and 8-6 overall.
ESJ’s next challenge comes Tuesday. The Wildcats will visit archrival Hahnville before a home match Thursday with Thibodaux. HHS is 2-1 in district play and 7-13 overall. Thibodaux is 0-3 in district play and 9-11 overall.
“We’re gonna have to hit the court and get back to work. The main focus we’ve got to maintain is cutting down on those mental errors,” said Smith. “When you look at these big rivalries like the one with Hahnville, you can almost throw everything out the window. You don’t usually have to worry about intensity, because both teams are going to be fired up.”