By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — An efficient and effective Comets team took the floor Monday night as St. Charles began play in its tournament with a 57-51 victory over Shaw.

SCC will conclude play with its second and final game in the Comets tournament against Ascension Catholic today. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15.

John Williams scored 20 points to lead SCC over Shaw. Skii Dyer scored 12 and Birch Matus added nine.

Lawrence Breaud led the Eagles with nine.

St. Charles coach Chris Perrone pointed to his team’s ability to take care of the basketball on Monday as a major part of the victory. The Comets had 11 turnovers, and only three of those after halftime.

“I think that was the key factor. We forced them into a few more mistakes than we made,” said Perrone.

The Comets (5-7) extended a six-point lead after the first quarter to a 42-30 advantage entering the fourth.

But Shaw’s ability to rebound breathed new life into the Eagles, who closed the gap thanks to a number of second chance opportunities.

“They hammered the offensive boards,” Perrone said. “A lot of that came in the fourth quarter. You’d like to go out and have an easy win, but you can never count a team that plays so hard out of a game.”

SCC was able to hold on to win by six, thanks in large part to the lead that Williams helped them build in the second and third quarters, where he scored 18 of his 20 points.

“His game has grown up in a major way from this point last season,” said Perrone of his sophomore swingman. “He got on a nice roll, and for awhile he was really feeling it.”

Perrone also noted his team’s execution early.

“For the first two quarters, we felt pretty good,” said Perrone. “We were patient, doing what we wanted and needed to do on offense. Shaw threw a lot of different looks at us, going from man-to-man, to a 2-3 zone, to a 1-2-2, all in a short span. We had to recognize and adjust to that.”

The Comets look to earn their sixth win tonight against the Bulldogs, led by first year coach Willie Depron, a former standout guard at Nicholls State.

“They’re very good at the guard spots,” said Perrone. “They’ve got one big man who is 6-5, and another who looks like a left tackle. They’ll be in the playoffs.”

That game will follow a tourney matchup between Shaw and Holy Cross. Tipoff is for 4 p.m.