By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

After falling behind two games to none in its match with Destrehan, East St. John embarked on a ferocious comeback.

ESJ won the third game and led 24-21 in the fourth over their district rivals.

But at the brink of being forced into a fifth and deciding game on the road, the Destrehan players stepped up. The Wildcats scored three straight points to tie the game at 24.

The two teams traded scores until, after a 26-26 tie, Destrehan’s LaDaisha Smith scored on consecutive kills, giving her team a 25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 28-26 win in a back and forth affair on Thursday.

&#8220We had the right people in at the right time,” said Destrehan Coach Denise Keller. &#8220Although, we should not have put ourselves in that situation.”

&#8220We’ve been trying to make this a new beginning for ourselves, to get some wins,” said East St. John’s Lyndreise Franklin. &#8220We really wanted it, but in the end, another team got it done.”

Alexis Keller led Destrehan (17-15, 5-4) with 12 kills, followed by Smith’s 11. Jessica Cimino had 28 assists. Christina Marchese led the team in digs with 24.

Brandi Bardell led East St. John (8-14, 1-7) in kills with five. Jolethia Byers had four kills. Emily Heltz led the team with eight assists, while Mariah Wilder had seven blocks.

After Destrehan won the first game, neither team could shake the other throughout most of the second match. East St. John held a 20-19 lead late in the game, but Destrehan made it’s mark then, scoring the five of the next six points to close out the game, 25-21.

Destrehan looked to be on its way to hammering the win home in three games, as an ace by Carwina Richards gave her team a 15-8 lead.

But East St. John roared back, as a Wilder kill capped a 7-0 run that tied the game at 15.

Destrehan seemed to reestablish control as it took a 19-16 lead. But East St. John rallied again to tie the game at 20, and a Wilder ace put ESJ ahead by one.

Raven Simmons served an ace that put ESJ ahead 24-22, before DHS scored two to tie the game again. A Destrehan missed serve put East St. John ahead again, though, and they would score the next point to take the 26-24 win.

East St. John scored the first six points of the fourth game, including an ace by Heltz. But Destrehan came back, and the teams traded points until the end of the match. After a Wilder block led to ESJ’s 24th point, DHS scored three straight to tie the game.

A Bardell kill made it 25-24, but a Cimino kill tied the game at 25. The teams traded points again until Smith closed out the match with her two kills.

&#8220When you’re ahead like we were, you can’t afford to come out flat,” said Simmons. &#8220The game’s both physical and mental.”

(See ESJ Page 2C)

East St. John traveled to Dutchtown earlier in the week, and lost in three games, 25-20, 25-23, and 25-15.

Wilder notched five kills, while Byers had four. Bardell had three, while Chantell Bush had two.

&#8220In both games, Dutchtown did the necessary things to win,” said East St. John Coach Monica Hebert. &#8220We had a lot of mental errors that need to be fixed.”

Last Thursday, the Wildcats lost to St. Amant in another district contest, 16-25, 8-25, and 11-25.

But last Tuesday, East St. John won its first district game of the season, defeating East Ascension in five games, 14-25, 25-23, 25-16, 13-25, and 15-10.

Last Saturday, the Wildcats hosted the Cat Scratch Tournament. ESJ beat Loranger and lost to Riverside in pool play. ESJ finished third in its pool, and lost to eventual fourth place winner West St. John in bracket play.