By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

While it remains in a virtual tie for second place in District 9-1A, West St. John is in need of a momentum changer as the season winds down.

The Rams fell at Plaquemine on Friday night, 69-47 in a non-district contest, two days after falling at district foe White Castle on Wednesday, 65-49.

Combined with a loss last week to East Iberville, it adds up to three straight for West St. John, who had two district games remaining (@ North Iberville on Tuesday after press time and at Ascension Catholic on Friday) to right the ship.

“We had a team meeting (Monday). I told them that they’ve got to learn to bounce back,” said West St. John Coach Antoine Edwards. “The sign of a good club is if you can overcome obstacles like this.

“I told them they’ve got to show up now. This is a vital week for us.”

West St. John (10-12, 3-3) is a half game back with East Iberville (4-3 in 9-1A) for second in the district.

White Castle clinched the District 9-1A title with its win over West St. John, coupled with its 70-64 win over East Iberville on Friday night.

Plaquemine (23-9, 4-2) jumped on the Rams in the second quarter after establishing a three-point lead after one. The Green Devils outscored West St. John 19-11 in the second period, and led 35-24 at halftime.

Both offenses bogged down in the third quarter, with Plaquemine outscoring WSJ 10-8. But in the fourth, the Green Devils found their offense in a big way, outscoring the Rams 24-15 to ice the win.

“Plaquemine came out aggressive, and we weren’t able to hit our shots,” said Edwards. “We never could get anything started. They beat us on the boards, got out on the break and defended us well.”

Maquel Robinson led Plaquemine with 19 points. Cody Edmond scored 14 and Adrian Wasso added 11.

Blake Comminie led the way for West St. John with 20 points. Carday Barnes scored nine and Dray Joseph added seven.

Edwards said that the flow of the game was decidedly in Plaquemine’s favor.

“We couldn’t keep trading baskets with them,” said Edwards. “If you don’t play defense, you’re gonna get beat.

The White Castle (19-12, 6-1) loss was a tougher pill to swallow. The Rams led the Bulldogs for most of the game.

But with four minutes left in the fourth period, the wheels came off.

“We fell apart. We turned it over, couldn’t hit a basket. Everything went their way,” Edwards said.

If nothing else, Edwards knows his team can’t afford to see a repeat of that sequence if it hopes to qualify for the playoffs.

“It’s like I tell the team, you have to play four quarters. You have to play the full game,” he said. “If we can do that, hopefully we can get a win.”