By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD — It all seemed to be slipping away for West St. John as time ticked away on Tuesday night.

After losing a two-point lead in regulation and with senior center and leading scorer Kyla Morris fouled out, the Rams trailed Christian Life 67-64 with less than 30 seconds left in overtime.

Then a freshman stepped up to play beyond her years.

Point guard Jaylyn Gordon nailed a deep 3-pointer to tie the game with 24 seconds left, then hit a pair of eventual game-winning free throws to lift West St. John to a 69-68 District 8-1A victory.

“I just knew I had to make that shot,” said Gordon with a smile from ear to ear. “My team needed me to come through.”

Said West St. John coach Lester Smith: “We were going to win it or lose it with her. We wanted the ball in her hands and she wanted the ball in her hands.”

Gordon scored a game-high 28 points. She was complimented by Morris’ 24, many of which coming in a strong fourth quarter performance.

The win keeps West St. John (11-7, 5-1) tied for first place in District 8-1A with White Castle and East Iberville.

With 42 seconds left in overtime, CLA’s Vandi Johnson scored on a putback and drew a foul. She’d miss the free throw, setting WSJ up with a chance to tie.

Gordon’s game-tying shot came with the Crusaders’ defense extended beyond the 3-point line. But with no Morris to score inside, Gordon pulled up for a long 3-pointer. The ball splashed through for her fourth 3 since halftime.

On Christian Life’s ensuing possession, the Rams’ Jasmine Young punched the ball loose and Gordon recovered the loose ball, then drew a foul. She hit both free throws with 10.2 seconds remaining.

WSJ knocked the ball out of bounds with four seconds left underneath the CLA (8-14, 1-5) basket. On the inbounds play, CLA’s Gabby Jones drew a foul with 2.2 seconds left, but missed the first of two free throws. She made the second, but the Rams were able to take the remaining time off the clock.

After trailing by six entering the fourth quarter, WSJ committed to getting the ball inside to Morris, and its leader responded with seven fourth quarter points – the last three of which came on a feed inside from Talar Lewis and a foul with 3:34 remaining that tied the game at 51.

Trailing 52-51, Gordon hit a pull up jumper to pull her Rams back ahead by one. She’d then steal the ball and find Lewis for a layup to put WSJ ahead by three.

A potential game-changer occurred when Morris drove to the basket in transition and appeared to score – but her basket was negated when she was whistled for charging and her fifth and final foul with 1:31 left and WSJ leading 55-54.

“We kept our composure,” said Smith. “Kyla and Ambria (Major) both fouled out, so we were hurting. But the people on the court made the most of their opportunities.”

With the score tied at 56, Gordon hit a jumper with 42 seconds left, then put her team up four with two free throws at the 25 second mark.

CLA’s Lauren Langlois hit a runner, to cut the lead to two. Then Gordon got corralled in the backcourt and was whistled for a 10 seconds violation with 7.4 seconds left.

Langlois missed a short runner, but Alexis Ambrose converted an offensive board to tie the game and force overtime.

“We were running four guards out there. We knew offensive boards could be an issue,” said Smith. “But we played with what we had available.”

Ambrose led the Crusaders with 22 points. Johnson and Jones each scored 15.

But in overtime, there were no answers for Gordon, who scored seven of her team’s nine points.

“If you tell me we’d go to overtime without Morris and without Major and win … I’d have said no way,” said Smith. “But it shows how hard these kids work and have worked all year.”

Said Morris: I’m just so happy. We want that district championship. There are no words for how bad we want it.”