By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

East St. John shook off a late Thibodeaux charge to win its home opener 55-51 on Thursday night.

Christin Hildreth scored 18 points to lead the Wildcats (10-5). Mechelle Thomas scored 16, and Wanisha Creecy scored nine.

“You need to defend your home court, and we made enough plays to get the win,” said East St. John Coach Troy Giordano.

Thibodeaux (0-6) trailed 44-31 after three quarters, but a flurry of three pointers by Thibodeaux late – including two in the last minute of play – allowed them to outscore the Wildcats 20-11 in the fourth quarter.

But despite losing Thomas for the last few minutes of the game due to leg cramps, East St. John was never in serious danger of losing its lead.

“They made a good push at us,” said Giordano. “They made a bunch of threes, but we were able to hold on.”

The Wildcats used their trademark pressure defense to jump out to a 19-12 lead after the first quarter. From there, East St. John did not trail.

“We pushed the ball, created points in transition and got out to a comfortable lead,” said Giordano. “They wouldn’t go away, though.”

The win came on the heels of an impressive 58-32 Wildcats win on Tuesday at Central Lafourche (7-4). Thomas led the way with 18 points, while Laci Dent and Hildreth added 10 each.

East St. John outscored Central Lafourche 17-4 in the first quarter and coasted from there, leading 29-12 at halftime and 50-24 after three quarters.

“We were on fire in the first quarter, and we cruised after that,” said Giordano. “These kids are learning their roles and gaining more and more confidence as a team. At this pace, we’ll be a hard team to beat when it’s time for district play.”

While East St. John held off Thibodeaux on Thursday, the same couldn’t be said of their rematch at Mandeville last Friday night. The Wildcats, after beating the Skippers earlier in the season, faced Mandeville in their tournament and fell 65-60.

The Skippers (3-2) outscored the Wildcats 21-10 in the fourth quarter as they hit five three pointers in the period.

“They hit everything,” said Giordano. “We missed a couple of nice looks, some critical shots at the end of the game.”

Thomas led the way with 27 points. Creecy scored 11, and Dent scored eight.