By GEORGE MAHL

Sports Editor

RESERVE – The East St. John Lady Cats are on the verge of a great accomplishment. A victory over Riverdale at home next Tuesday will give them at least a share of the district championship, while a win over Grace King one week from Thursday, also at home, will give the Lady Cats the outright district championship.

On Tuesday, East St. John moved one step closer to their goal by defeating the Destrehan Lady Fighting Wildcats, 15-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-18.

Ashlee Cooper led East St. John with 15 kills and five blocks.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said East St. John Head Coach Sandi Stein.

“I’ve got good leadership on this team.”

After falling in the first game, the Lady Cats rallied to take the next one.

Through the first half of the second game, East St. John never managed more than a two-point lead. A return error by East St. John tied the game 12-12. The Lady Cats came back and outscored Destrehan 6-1 to grab their biggest lead of the game 18-13.

A kill by Darielle Sanders gave the Lady Cats their biggest lead of the game and their victory.

Cooper was a one-man show in the early part of the third game. Her three blocks and a kill helped the Lady Cats jump out to an early 5-1 lead.

Winning 10-9, East St. John went on a 9-0 run to take an 18-9 lead.

The Lady Cats went to win 25-12.

For most of the fourth game, it was a tightly contested game. With East St. John leading 11-4, Destrehan, behind the play front court play of Delaune Cola, rallied to cut the lead to 11-9.

The closest Destrehan would come in the final game was 15-14. After that, the Lady Cats went on a 7-0 run to have a 22-14 lead. During the run, Cooper had two blocks and a kill.

A kill by Kierre Joseph gave the Lady Cats a 25-18 victory.

The last district championship won by the Lady Cats was in 1997.

They have never won it while Stein has been head coach.

“In the second game, we had seven serving errors,” Stein said. “But everything else was working. We got it all together.”