MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / February 24, 2000

BOUTTE – This time, the Hahnville Tigers had no trouble staying focused when they met East St. John.With the outright District 7-5A title on the line, and revenge on their minds, the Tigers took care of business early, jumping out to a 27-7 first quarter lead on their way to a 72-54 victory Friday night at Hahnville.

The victory gave the Tigers (21-4 overall, 11-1 in district) the district title, its first outright since 1980, and the district’s number one seed heading into the state playoffs. Hahnville will host the number three team out of District6-5A in bi-district.

East St. John completed the regular season at 17-10 overall and 7-5 inDistrict 7-5A.

Hahnville was coming off an emotional 51-49 victory at South Lafourche Tuesday. In a similar situation last month, Hahnville was upset at East St.John in double overtime.

But the Tigers quickly made sure there would not be a repeat Friday night.

Harold Comminie opened the scoring with a 3-pointer on the Tigers’ opening possession and followed with a jumper from the free throw line. A jumper inthe lane by Dawan Landry made it 7-1 and forced East St. John to call atimeout at the 5:43 mark.

Micah Stewart added a 3-pointer from the right wing and Landry drove in for a layup to make it 14-1 before Louis Gardner tapped in a rebound for East St. John’s first field goal at the 3:45 mark. Gardner had all three of the Wildcats’ field goals in the quarter, the last coming off a steal by Floyd Smith to cut the deficit to 20-7. Hahnvilleanswered with a 7-0 run to close the quarter with Aaron Alexander making it 27-7 with a jumper from the free throw line at the buzzer.

Hahnville would build a 37-12 lead with 3:12 left in the half as Mark Temple hooked in a jumper. A backdoor pass from Nick Cannon to Comminie cuttingdown the lane made it 44-22 at the half.

A jumper by Alexander and a free throw by Landry built the lead back to 25 early in the third quarter. East St. John made a run, cutting the deficit to49-30 on a jumper by Smith midway through the quarter. Two free throws byGardner and a hook shot by Wayne Mendoza made it a 16-point game.

But Alexander and Cannon came back with jumpers in the lane as the Tigers took a 54-36 lead into the fourth quarter.

Hahnville began to pull away, opening the quarter with a 13-4 run. A drivealong the left baseline by Davin Pierre gave the Tigers a 67-40 lead with under three minutes to play. East St. John made a late run with LawrenceTaylor hitting two 3-pointers in the final minute to cut the deficit to 18.

Alexander and Comminie each had 16 points to lead Hahnville. Landrycontributed 11 points and Cannon chipped in with eight.

“We came out and played,” Comminie said. “We played more relax tonight.We put that (the South Lafourche game) behind us and took care of the task at hand. It was a team effort.”Hahnville coach Alvin Gauthier said it took his Cohen teams five years to win a championship while this team won it in two.

Hahnville had clinched a share of the title and the number one seed with its win at South Lafourche Tuesday but Gauthier said this team wanted to win it outright.

“The whole deal was, first we would be the best, then we would be the best,” Gauthier said. “These kids have shown a lot of poise during the year. Theywere not complacent. When they started the job, they wanted to finish it. Wewanted to go out and take care of business.”East St. John was led by Gardner with 13 points. Sam Martin added 11 pointsand Mendoza 10. Taylor finished with nine points.

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