By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD — For a player already as accomplished as West St. John senior guard Jaylyn Gordon, setting the bar higher than it already rests can be a difficult task.

But the Louisiana-Lafayette commitment managed to do just that Friday night. Gordon went off for a new career scoring high in front of the Rams’ home fans, putting up 42 points while guiding her team to a 65-50 victory over McDonogh No. 35.

It was only the third home game of the season for West St. John (16-1), which has only lost once all season despite the dramatic home-away split. WSJ is 3-0 at home this season.

With McDonogh closing in, Gordon took over in the third quarter, beginning a stretch where she scored 22 straight points for the Rams, and 23 of the team’s final 25.

“It felt good to play here again,” said Gordon, who hit six 3-pointers Friday. “This was a good win for us to get right before district, something to get us ready.”

Said WSJ coach Lester Smith, “I know she shot a pretty high percentage tonight. You always know you’re going to get 100 percent from her. Maya (Trench) was a little off tonight … This was our just second game in a little over two weeks, so there was maybe some rust for some. Jaylyn stepped up though.”

Jujuan Nicholas and Maya Trench each scored 10 points for the Rams.

Kaitlyn Pratt scored 22 to lead McDonogh No. 35 (10-10). Kadija Garner added 13.

 The Rams played a zone to attempt to limit the Roneagles’ outside shooters and sent help upon Pratt, a returning All-State post player, to limit the offensive damage she could inflict.

“We played a 3-2 (zone) for the first time. We put it in specifically for McDonogh 35, which is something a little different for us,” said Gordon. “The biggest thing was we hustled. When you hustle, defense is easy.”

Smith said that given Pratt’s size advantage on a smaller Rams front line, making sure she had to work for her points was critical.

“The gameplan was to surround her,” said Smith. “I thought we did a pretty good job on that end.”

West St. John led by as many as 15 in the first half, but had to ward off a Roneagles third quarter push sparked by Pratt’s own hustle on the offensive boards.

After McDonogh No. 35 finished the half with a 3 by Garner and a putback by Pratt, the Roneagles kept the run going via another Pratt putback, which cut a 10-point WSJ halftime lead to 36-28. After another Pratt rebound and layup, the 15-point lead was down to seven.

That was as close as Gordon would allow. She hit a runner to push the lead to 42-33, then knocked down a wing 3 to make it a 12-point advantage. Pratt scored, but Gordon responded, scoring on a runner and drawing a foul to convert a 3-point play. Her putback made it 50-36 to end the third quarter.

“We fought back, but we dug ourselves too deep a hole in the first half,” said McDonogh No. 35 coach Danielle Allen-Lewis.

Another Gordon 3 made it 53-36 to begin the fourth. She scored another basket from 2, then hit a stop-and-pop 3 to make it 58-46.

McDonogh had no response. She’d hit another basket and close out the game by making three of five at the foul line.

 The Rams pushed ahead to an early 13-point lead at the end of the first quarter, ending the opening frame with a pair of Gordon buckets and a putback by Trench. The Rams led by 14 early in the second quarter after a Bell bank-shot made it 24-10.