MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / January 5, 2000

BOUTTE – East St. John forced 15 Hahnville turnovers in the first half,taking a 26-16 halftime lead on its way to a 52-32 victory in District 7- 5A play Thursday night.

East St. John improved to 2-0 in district and 18-5 overall while Hahnvilledropped to 1-1 and 11-9.

Ginina Louis led all scorers with 22 points. Kinya Lennix tossed in 17points while Kavonna Reese added 12 points for the Lady Cats. Hahnvillewas led by Toyelle Rickson with 18 points. Cashmir contributed six pointswhile Liz Landry had four.

Hahnville jumped out to an 8-5 lead midway through the first quarter on put backs by Rickson and White. East St. John tied the game at 8 on a putback by Reese and went ahead for good on a turnaround jumper by Lennix with 1:15 left. A layup by Louis off a steal by Danielle Stemley made it13-10 at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Cats extended the lead to 18-12 on a layup by Lennix after a steal by Louis. Hahnville pulled to within two on a pass from Rickson toLashandra Lorio inside but Louis came back with a drive to extend the lead back to five. Two possessions later, Louis scored off a steal by Lennix andfollowed with a 3-pointer from the right corner, making it 26-16 with 1:17 left in the half.

“Bottom line, we turned the ball over too much,” Hahnville coach Earl Oestreicher, whose team was missing senior guard Karen Bass, said. “Youcan’t beat the defending district champions with 15 turnovers in one half of high school basketball.”East St. John continued to extend its lead in the third quarter, jumpingahead 32-16 on a jumper from the right side by Lennix with 4:16 left.

Hahnville was held to five points in the quarter, all by Rickson on three free throws and a layup. Steals by Yoshiko Taylor and Pam Winston led tolayups by Louis with Lennix hitting a jumper to make it 42-21 heading into the fourth quarter.

After Reese scored on a layup after a steal by Lennix to start the final quarter, a put back by Alana Lumar opened a 7-0 run by the Lady Tigers.

Drives by Rickson and White after East St. John turnovers brought the LadyTigers to within 44-28 with five minutes left in the game.

But East St. John would not let Hahnville get any closer with Reesescoring on a three-point play after grabbing a steal. Lennix then drovedown the lane to make it 50-30.

“We missed too many easy shots and kept them around,” East St. Johncoach Troy Giordano said. “Defense won the game, hands down. If we didn’tplay good defense, we would have lost here tonight.”

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