By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A slow start doomed St. Charles on Monday night in district play, as Haynes built an early double figure lead and held serve from there to capture a 38-28 win at St. Charles.

“I thought we played too relaxed at the start,” said St. Charles coach Kelly Cupit. “We didn’t come out with the hustle that we’re accustomed to. I don’t know if it was not having school today (for Martin Luther King day), changing the routine up, but we seemed lethargic.”

The Comets (7-13, 1-3) took a 5-2 lead early but gave up 11 straight Haynes’ points to fall behind 16-5 in the second quarter.

Compounding SCC’s problems scoring was Haynes’ ability to get easy baskets in transition – primarily Erefaka Derefaka, who was able to leak out in front of the SCC defense and finish on a number of occasions. Derefaka finished with a game-high 17 points.

Haynes’ (11-12, 1-2) lead grew to 13 shortly after halftime on a 3-pointer by Chloe D’Aquin that made it 28-15 – it represented Haynes’ biggest lead of the game.

But St. Charles held the Yellow Jackets to five in the quarter and cut the lead to eight entering the fourth on foul shots by Dominique DiCarlo and Kacie Braud.

A pair of free throws by the Comets’ Erica Degelos made it 29-22, and Braud would add another from the line to make it a six-point game.

D’Aquin answered at the other end, drawing a foul and converting two shots to push the lead to eight again. But the Comets stayed aggressive, and Courtney Snyder got to the line and made two shots to make it 31-25.

“I definitely saw our effort improve the later we got into the game,” Cupit said. “We passed it better, crashed the boards, and got it into the hands of our scorers.”

But with time dwindling, the SCC rally sputtered from there. Derefaka leaked out off of a SCC miss to score on a layup to make it an eight-point Haynes’ lead. It would grow to 11, and Haynes’ defense held SCC to two points the rest of the way.

“We started fouling them near the end, put them on the line, and we just couldn’t get any closer,” Cupit said.

DiCarlo scored 10 points and made a major impact as a defender with seven steals. Braud scored 10 and added 14 rebounds. Jaelen Bryant hauled in 11 rebounds.