By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD – West St. John bounced back from a disappointing loss to East Iberville, edging Ascension Christian Friday night, 58-56, in a District 8-1A contest.

Jalen Adams scored a game-high 22 to lead the Rams. JuJuan Green scored 16 and Austin Terry added 11.

West St. John (6-15, 4-3) led by double figures at one point but ACHS (6-8, 1-6) founds its offensive touch in the second half, scoring as many points in the third quarter (17) as it did through the first half — then scoring 22 in the fourth.

The Rams led 39-34 entering the fourth quarter.

“We had opportunities to close it out,” said West St. John coach Antoine Edwards. “We got up by 11, but I think we got a bit careless, lackadaisical, starting turning the ball over. They closed the gap and we didn’t play to our potential.”

Edwards said once the opposition closed the gap, his team was able to hold on due to turning up its defensive intensity.

“We forced some turnovers down the stretch that really made the difference for us,” said Edwards.

It followed a damaging loss Tuesday at West St. John to East Iberville, which is ranked No. 5 in Class 1A. Entering the game, the two teams were tied for third place in District 8-1A, but the Tigers took sole possession with a 68-64 win in double overtime.

East Iberville won despite another strong effort from Adams, who scored a game-high 28.

“He’s really been turning it on for us in the last couple of games,” said Edwards. “We’ve been looking forward to games like this from the beginning, because he’s the best shooter on our team.”

Austin Terry and Steven Brignac each scored 14 for WSJ.

Richard Johnson led the Tigers with 12 points.

It was a tough loss to absorb, Edwards said, because it was so winnable — West St. John made just 17 of its 39 free throws in regulation.

“We thought we had them,” said Edwards. “But we hurt ourselves at the line. It was a very disappointing loss … (foul shooting) is something we’re going to have to improve on if we’re going to beat teams like East Iberville.”

The Rams led 26-22 at halftime.

Things will get no easier going forward. District 8-1A holds the fourth (White Castle) fifth and sixth (Christian Life) ranked teams in the state.