BY GEORGE MAHL

VACHERIE – The St. James High School Lady Wildcats basketball team has already won six times as many games as they did last season. However, you would not know it by the way they played recently.

An insurmountable halftime deficit led to a 57-19 defeat at the hands of Vandebilt Catholic High School. The loss dropped the Lady Wildcats to 6-5 overall, but is a far cry compared to last season when St. James only won one game.

“We’re light years ahead of where we were last year and the year before that,” said St. James head coach Cary Culler. “I think down the road we will be able to win some games.”

Entering the game with a four-game winning streak, SJHS fell behind early in the first quarter. They managed to score only two points in the first six minutes of play.

Turnovers by the Vacherie school’s players were the main reason they fell behind in the first quarter.

“I would say not only turnovers, but also rebounding killed us tonight. We were not as aggressive as I would like us to be,” Culler said.

The Lady Terriers Rebecca Bankston scored six of her club’s first eight points in the first period. A three-point bomb courtesy of Ashley Prestonback gave Vandebilt a commanding 19-3 lead with 50 seconds remaining in the first period.

Things began to get worse for St. James in the second quarter. The Lady Wildcats managed to score only one basket in the second period. Terricka Stewart’s jumper with 4:37 left until the half was the only field goal they scored. Vandebilt took a 33-7 lead into the locker room.

The third quarter saw the Lady Wildcats score the first points of the second half. A three-point play courtesy of Lynntrice Scott made the score 33-10 Vandebilt.

Throughout the game, Vandebilt would take the ball away from the Lady Wildcats forcing St. James to foul or give up an easy basket. St. James will next play Friday against Immaculata High School.

“It doesn’t get any easier for us,” Culler said.

With the loss, SJ fell to 6-5, while Vandebilt improved to 10-5. Bankston led all scorers with 16 points.