By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

West St. John scored a come-from-behind victory to get its season started with a win Tuesday, toppling Lutcher 38-33 in Edgard.

“Hopefully, it’ll lead to a start like we had last year, after beating Lutcher in the first game,” said West St. John coach Lester Smith.

Senior Kyla Morris scored 22 points to lead all scorers, getting most of her work done in the paint and at the line.

“We’re expecting a big year out of her,” said Smith.

Ambria Major scored nine points and Jasmine Young added five.

Lutcher (0-1) led 11-8 after a quarter, but WSJ pushed back to take a 19-17 lead at the half.

The Rams (1-0) took a 26-22 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs rallied to go back ahead in the fourth.

But West St. John relied on its defense and transition game to push back into the lead.

“They missed some 3’s, and that let to long rebounds,” said Smith. “We forced some turnovers, and off of that we got layups.”

Smith said his team still has some work to do to get where it needs to be.

“We played well, but we had some foul trouble,” said Smith.

“Three of our players fouled out. We’re not in basketball shape yet.”

Starter Shantell Pablo missed the game due to a pending physical, but Smith said young players like Brittany Tuco and Deja Feist stepped up to give quality minutes.