By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

ST. JAMES — For the past few years, West St. John has been known for its perimeter game and penchant for raining 3-pointers on the competition.

But the Lady Rams can also attack the paint like few others, and Thursday night it led to a fourth quarter comeback and West St. John’s eighth straight victory.

The Rams rallied from a seven-point deficit to begin the fourth quarter to best visiting Assumption, 50-47, at the Lutcher/St. James round robin girls basketball tournament.

Jaquanna Hunter’s 16 points led a balanced scoring effort by the Rams (8-1), with four players scoring in double figures. JuJuan Nicholas and Maya Trench each scored 11, while Lakendra Lewis added 10.

“Our outside shot wasn’t falling, so we went inside,” Hunter said. “We knew (in the fourth quarter) we had to step it up. We just played harder and closed it out.”

It was just the second loss of the season for Assumption (5-2), which was led by forward Kevrion Ward’s 19 points and point guard Amanda Giannelli’s 15 points.

“I thought we were a bit impatient offensively in the fourth,” Assumption coach Julius Aucoin said. “We could have taken a little more time off the clock, but we forced the issue and it allowed them to come back very quickly.”

Assumption led 41-34 before West St. John began the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run. Hunter scored inside to kickstart the run. Nicholas drew a foul and sank two free throws to make it a 3-point game.

The Rams took a two-point lead on a Hunter putback, 43-41.

Assumption finally ended the run at the foul line, but the Rams slowly built their lead via that same avenue, while suffocating the Assumption offense completely. The Mustangs scored just a single point in the first 7:02 of the fourth quarter. Mychelle Lumar’s layup with a minute left to play off an assist from Trench made it 77-42.

Ward’s layup in the final 10 seconds made it a two-point Rams lead. Lewis drew a foul and made one-of-two free throws with four seconds left. Jasmine Cox’s desperation shot at the horn fell short of tying the game, and West St. John kept its winning streak intact.

In the first half, West St. John led by as many as seven, but a spirited effort led by Giannelli pushed the Mustangs ahead 29-23 at halftime. Giannelli scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half and dialed up a slew of assists, many of which on “baseball” outlet passes leading to transition layups.

“We switched defenses (in the fourth quarter), went to a little 1-3-1 and got the ball out of (Giannelli’s) hands,” West St. John coach Lester Smith said.

“We wanted to take away her 3-point shot and make them beat us with their other people.”

Said Aucoin, “She can pass it accurately up the court from 80 to 90 feet. She really gets us going.”

Giannelli did a lot of damage on pull-up 3-point shots. Aside from Hunter’s scoring, she made a big defensive impact as well: the Rams moved her up top to defend the ball in their zone defense, and her height and length forced Giannelli to look elsewhere.

“(Hunter) had a really strong game for us,” Smith said. “She gives us some matchup advantages on both ends.”

The Rams will be in action today at the tournament, facing off with Plaquemine at 4:30 p.m. The game will take place at St. James.