by George Mahl Sports Editor

RESERVE – To start the season, the East St. John Wildcats lost its first three district games. Each game was close and could have gone either way.

Prior to Friday’s game against Ellender, the Wildcats had won two district games in a row. And, thanks to good shooting from Ricardo Porter and passing from Ryan Perrilloux, the Wildcats made it three-in-a-row with an impressive 90-70 victory over Ellender Friday night.

“I expected us to play better as a unit,” said East St. John Boys Head Basketball Coach Charles Julien.

In the first quarter, both teams shot well. ESJ center Corey Raymond led the Wildcats with six points in the first quarter. His reverse lay-up made the score 7-6 East St. John with 4:54 remaining in the first quarter.

A three-pointer from Vincent Stewart made the score 15-14 in favor of the Wildcats with 1:21 left to play in the first quarter.

After two free throws from Albert Charles, Perrilloux made a slam dunk to give the Wildcats its fourth lead of the quarter.

Two consecutive three-point shots by Ellender to start the second quarter gave the Patriots a 25-19 lead with 7:00 to play in the first half.

However, East St. John went on a 7-0 run during the next two minutes to give them a one-point lead, 26-25. The run was capped off by a 3-pointer courtesy of Willie Lago.

After a basket by Akeen Nixon, the Patriots reclaimed the lead, 27-26 with 5:36 to play until halftime.

After that, the Wildcats would embark on a 12-0 sprint to give them the biggest lead of the game for either team, 38-27. During the run, six different players scored for East St. John.

The Wildcats held a 46-29 halftime lead.

The Patriots could never get closer than 12 points during the second half.

Leading scorers for East St. John were Porter (23 points), Perrilloux (17 points), and Lago (13 points). For Ellender, Charles led the way with 22 points.

“We worked hard for this win,” said Julien. “We played hard and were smart out there. We are not taking anyone for granted,” he said.