MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / February 19, 2000

RESERVE – With her team struggling offensively in the third quarter Thursday night and Slidell clamping down on center Kavonna Reese, East St.

John guard Kinya Lennix knew she had to take over.

Lennix did just that, scoring nine points in a three-minute period in the quarter to turn a 23-19 deficit into a 28-23 lead. The junior would finish witha game-high 19 points to lead the Lady Cats to a 50-43 victory over the Lady Tigers in the Class 5A bi-district playoff game at East St. John.The victory was the 30th of the season for East St. John (30-5), setting aschool record. East St. John now advances to play at Airline in the regionalsnext week. Airline defeated McDonogh 35, 51-35, Thursday. Slidell finishesits season at 21-13 overall.

Slidell, which controlled the pace of the game in the first half, took a 23-19 lead in the third quarter as April Ordone took a long inbounds pass in. Lennixanswered with a jumper and after hitting a free throw on the next possession, grabbed a steal and took it in, giving the Lady Cats a 24-23 lead with 4:34 left in the quarter.

A layup by Lennix after a save by Ginina Louis and a jumper made it a five- point game. After Ordone scored off a pass by Rachel Pittman, Louis hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 42 seconds left to make it 31-25.

Three-pointers by Lennix and Louis and a drive by Louis after a steal built the lead to 46-31 with 4:20 left in the game. Slidell began chipping away at thelead, pulling to within 10 as Ordone put back a missed free throw by Kala Thomas. On the ensuing possession, Ordone knocked down a 3-pointer fromthe left wing, making it 46-39 with 2:26 remaining.

Slidell got the margin down to 47-43 as Dee Dee Hagaus spun in the lane for a layup with 24 seconds left. But Lennix would hit one of two free throws andAshley Wolfe added two to build the lead back to seven in the final seconds.

“They did a good job, they are well coached, have good athletes and they matched up well with us,” East St. John coach Troy Giordano said of Slidell. “Ithought we could wear them down. We didn’t make any major changes (athalftime). I just told them get more aggressive and pick the pace up. Wewere playing their pace early but we picked it up in the second half and played smart.”For Slidell coach C.O. Pittman, it was another case of third quarter woes forhis team.

“It seems to be happening a lot lately,” Pittman said. “I don’t know what it is.You can’t do nothing in the third quarter and fight back in the fourth quarter against a good team and expect to win. They gave us problems with theirdefense. They did a good job and we had a hard time attacking it.”Ordone finished with a team-high 16 points for the Lady Tigers. Pittmanchipped in with 11 points while Hagaus had six.

For East St. John, Louis added 12 points, 11 in the second half. CourtneyDrayton and Reese finished with five points apiece.

Slidell rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to take a 12-8 lead on a three-point play by Alicia Paige with 18 seconds left in the first quarter. Reyoung Jaspercame back with a 3-pointer from the left corner with a second left to cut the deficit to one.

East St. John took its biggest lead of the half 16-13 on a three-point play byDrayton. Slidell came back to take a 19-16 lead as Paige took a pass fromPittman inside with 1:09 left. After East St. John tied the game on a jumperby Wolfe and a free throw by Louis, Hagaus took a pass inside from Pittman to give the Lady Tigers a 21-19 lead at the break.

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