By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

RESERVE — East St. John’s season came to an end Friday night as the 10th seeded Wildcats fell to No. 23 seed Denham Springs, 76-73, in overtime.

Troy Green led ESJ with 20 points. Tre’von Jasmine added 16.

Zach Davidson led Denham Springs with 24.

Denham Springs rallied from down 10 to begin the fourth quarter to force overtime with the teams tied at 66. ESJ had a chance to force another overtime with a late 3-point attempt, but it fell no-good and the Yellow Jackets moved on to the second round, where they were was slated to host No. 7 Byrd in the second round.

“We knew it would be a tough matchup,” ESJ coach Yussef Jasmine said. “They played Scotlandville and were in a difficult district. They shot the ball extremely well. They didn’t have many turnovers.

“When you do that in the playoffs, you tend to have success.”

Four Denham Springs players scored in double figures.

“Their big guys did damage and they were able to limit ours,” Yussef Jasmine said.

He said despite the loss, his team has nothing to be ashamed of after a season that saw numerous new faces break into the lineup.

“To be honest, the way we played early on, against teams like Brother Martin and Holy Cross, I thought we arrived earlier than I’d expected,” Jasmine said.

“Even though our ultimate goal is to win a championship, our guys came together, and we were able to put together a strong season.”