Wildcats topped by Peabody in tourney final

Published 12:00 am Monday, January 5, 2009

A four game winning streak came to an end for East St. John in the championship game of the St. Martinville Holiday tournament, as the Wildcats fell to Peabody, 56-51 on Monday night.

It was the fifth consecutive win for the War Horses (12-1), who have lost only to a 13-2 Washington-Marion team this season.

Malcom Lago led East St. John (9-10) with 18 points.

The Wildcats led by three with two minutes left, but Peabody made a basket and drew a foul after a missed 3-pointer by ESJ. The 3-point play tied the game, and Peabody would take the lead on its next possession. From there, the War Horses made their foul shots.

“We took a bad three,” said ESJ Coach Yussef Jasmine. “It was ill-advised at the time. It came down to those guys taking care of the ball every possession. They did it more than we did.”

Kaylon Placide scored 13 for ESJ. Lucas Martin added nine.

Still, Jasmine feels his team has turned a corner after a tournament that saw the Wildcats win two games and fall just short against a quality opponent.

“This team’s getting wiser as they go along. We’ve got seniors on the team, but when we started the season, the game experience level for some of them was like a sophomore,” said Jasmine. “I’m proud of their effort. We’re getting better.”

Jasmine said that in spite of the way the game ended, his team’s execution was crisp throughout.

“We were patient enough to get exactly what we wanted,” he said. “We didn’t execute quite as long as we needed to at the end, but we did a good job overall.”

Peabody led 26-24 at halftime.