By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

DESTREHAN — A red-hot Edwin Winston had already scored 26 points for East St. John Tuesday night at Destrehan, but with the game on the line he trusted teammate Monterio Cage to get the job done.

Cage rewarded that trust.

Winston dished to Cage in the lane and Cage sank a turnaround jumper that proved the difference with 18 seconds left, lifting ESJ to a 64-62 victory over rival Destrehan.

“I had to get it for my team,” said Cage. “It was a tough shot, but we needed it. Just had to be focused.”

Added Winston, “I saw him come of a pick, and he’s gonna make that shot nine times out of 10.”

DHS had a chance to win in the game’s final moments when  Keagan Joseph’s last second 3-point shot rimmed in and then out, sealing victory for visiting ESJ (18-7, 6-1).

“It went halfway in then right back out. I thought we had it,” said Destrehan coach Todd Bourg.

It clinched a sweep for East St. John over Destrehan this season and kept ESJ alone in first place in District 8-5A. The Wildcats defeated Destrehan 61-40 in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 11. Both games were played at Destrehan, as the Jan. 11 game had to be moved from East St. John due to heavy rain and potential flooding in the gym foyer at Leon Godchaux Jr. High.

Destrehan rallied from nine points down to tie the game in the fourth quarter, setting up the exciting finish.

“I told my guys that just because we beat them by 21 last time, it means nothing for tonight,” said ESJ coach Yussef Jasmine. “Not when they’re at home, in front of a packed house of fans who expected this game … We turned it over too much. We have to polish some things up.

“Destrehan shot the ball well tonight. Number four (Tyron Clark) hit a ton of shots. Probably more than anything that was the biggest difference from last time.”

East St. John was coming off of a loss Friday night to Higgins, and a loss at Destrehan would have dropped ESJ into a tie for first with the Hurricanes, who boasted a 6-2 district mark entering Friday.

Elex Carter scored 12 for ESJ. Tre’Von Jasmine and Isreal Bell each scored six. Winston scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half.

Gary Johnson scored 17 to lead Destrehan. Tyron Clark added 13. Korien Reynard scored 10 and Clifton Adams scored eight.

East St. John led 28-22 at halftime and stayed ahead for most of the night, leading by as many as nine in the second half.

But Destrehan (9-17, 3-4) stuck around and made their push in the fourth quarter. A pair of scores by Clark on consecutive possessions sparked DHS and made it 50-44. Winston answered, scoring off a dish by Carter, but Johnson bullied his way to the basket to earn two free throws.

Adams cut it to four on a layup he got on a fast break sparked by a Reynard steal. The DHS crowd exploded when Reynard followed that with a 3-pointer from the wing, prompting an ESJ timeout.

A Winston bucket on a postup gave ESJ a 55-51 lead, but Joseph made a jumper and Reynard a putback to tie things up with 3:51 remaining.

East St. John, which had pressed all game long defensively, switched to its 2-3 zone late and slowed Destrehan a bit. But with 1:19 left, Clark sank a 3 to tie things up. Tre’Von Jasmine answered by sinking a pull-up jumper with a minute remaining, but Joseph pulled up for a short jumper to make it 62-62.

Then Cage became the hero of the night.

Bourg said that his team played with a lot of pride after the lopsided first game.

“That first time we played, we got into such a big first quarter hole. After that, it was pretty even,” said Bourg. “I think we came out with a lot of intensity tonight. I’m proud of my guys.”

But Bourg said that the team’s foul shooting was a big reason why Destrehan didn’t come out on the winning side.

“We shot 5 of 16 at the line. And in a close game, that’ll always bite you,” he said.

Winston and Cage, meanwhile, each said that while coming away with the win was critical for ESJ, the team must get back to playing the kind of ball it did in December and early January, when such close games were few and far between lopsided ESJ wins.

“We’ve got to play with more focus,” said Cage. “We’re kind of on a quest to get our mojo back. You look at the point-differential and it isn’t what it was earlier … and going into the playoffs, you need to be playing your best.”