By ROBERT L. LEE

EDGARD – The West St. John Rams kept the Fisher Gators in check Thursday night after an explosive second half. The Rams cleaned up almost every rebound at both ends of the court to steal a 20-point lead and the 76-54 win.

“We started sluggish in the first half. I was disappointed,” admitted West St. John coach Antoine Edwards.

The Rams, now 9-4 overall and 4-0 in district, led the now 5-12 Gators 16-11 after the first eight minutes, before battling back for a 21-15 run and a 37-26 lead in the second quarter.

“We didn’t react in the first half and we gave them too many opportunities to score,” said Edwards. “I told them we needed to limit them to only one shot by taking all the rebounds.”

The Rams came out with more emotion in the second half, which resulted in moving the ball better and committing less team fouls. With the Rams’ lead stretching to more than 20 points, the Rams continued their overpowering pace by forcing the Gators to take random shots from inside and out, then putting three players at a time under the goal to jump for rebounds. The Gators managed to score their 13 points in the third quarter largely from transition plays and short sprints for an outside shot. Otherwise, the Rams would steal the ball away if the Gators tried to dribble for any length of time.

“We played pretty well in the second half,” continued Edwards. “Fisher played pretty well too and it was a close ball game at the half. But I didn’t want a close game because those can go either way. I definitely wanted to put them away in the second half.”

In control of a 64-39 lead and only eight minutes remaining for regulation play, Edwards used all 13 of his dressed-out players in the rotation for more playing time.

The result was the same up-tempo style on the court, although with more passing and only 14 points from the Rams. Fisher kept up their pace and outscored the Rams by one point, with 15, thanks to three unguarded baskets on their end of the court. The Rams had defenders around the goal, but Edwards said he allowed the points because he did not want to commit any fouls and just let the game run out. All 13 of the Rams finished the night with points, ranging from only one basket to Joshua Lumar’s 12 points. Thomas Augusta followed with 10 points.