By RYAN ARENA

L’ObservaTEUR

EDGARD — West St. John split a pair of district games last week, besting St. John-Plaquemine on the road but falling at home to White Castle.

Chris Shavers and Jordan Hamilton led the Rams against St. John last Tuesday in their 45-32 victory over the Eagles. The duo scored 11 and 10 points respectively in a game that West St. John rallied from a 19-15 halftime deficit. The Rams outscored St. John 30-13 in the second half.

“Their (slowdown) style of play lends to a close game, and that’s how it was in the first half,” said West St. John coach Antoine Edwards. “In the second half, we came out and were more aggressive. We played better defensively and without a doubt, we shot it well from the perimeter.”

White Castle led the Rams by nine in Edgard on Friday, but West St. John cut its deficit to five after holding the Bulldogs to six third quarter points. But White Castle found its offense again in the fourth quarter, outscoring WSJ 21-11 to close the game out.

Shavers led the Rams with 12 points. Lawrence Williams scored seven and Jalen Adams chipped in six.

“I think we played well, better than the score really indicates,” said Edwards. “We did blow some opportunities and it wasn’t our best effort on defense, but we were right with them … our kids played hard and stayed with them though. We had chances to win this one, but some of the shots we needed to fall just didn’t.”

West St. John was scheduled to face Ascension Catholic Tuesday in its final game of the first round of District 9-1A play.

The district is always regarded as one of the state’s best and this season is no different, with White Castle (fourth) and East Iberville (ninth) once again entrenched in the top 10 in Class 1A power rankings. East Iberville defeated the Rams earlier this season in overtime.

West St. John is 2-2 in district play.

“Of course, I’d love to have won those two games (against East Iberville and White Castle) and had a chance to be 4-1 or 5-0 after a round of district,” said Edwards. “As it played out, we had opportunities to win both. But I’m liking how our kids are playing. We don’t have the numbers we’ve had in the past, but our players work hard and work together. They’re playing well and it’s a good thing to see.”