By GEORGE MAHL

RESERVE – The East St. John High School Wildcats continued their winning ways by chalking up an impressive 63-46 victory over Thibodaux High School Tuesday night.

Forward Ryan Perrilloux lead East St. John with 18 points.

“We are playing hard, getting better and being smar-ter,” said ESJ head coach Charles Julien.

Things got off to a good start for the Wildcats. They jumped out to an 11-4 run to start off the game. Ri-cardo Porter’s three 3-point shots in the first quarter lifted ESJ to an early lead.

Two free throws courtesy of Dywand Dennis made the score 20-13 at the end of the first quarter. Wildcats re-serve Ryan Stipe came off the bench and scored his teams first eight points of the second quarter, giving them a 28-15 lead with 5:00 left until halftime.

“Ricardo Porter and Ryan Stipe played big tonight. I just can’t say enough about the leadership we have on our bench,” explained Jul-ien.

A jumper by Thibodaux’s Donnie Moore at the end of half made the score 35-24 East St. John. Some Wildcats fans probably felt the start of the second half was reminiscent of the start of second half when they hosted Hahnville on Jan. 31.

HHS jumped out in the second half, took command and never looked back. An 8-0 run to start the third period cut the Reserve school lead to 35-32 with about 4:51 remaining in the period.

However, the Wildcats used up several seconds on the clock with about 3 minutes left in the third and Stipe drilled a three-pointer from the corner, thus giving ESJ a 38-32 lead.

After Thibodaux guard Jordan Clements nailed a basket cutting the lead to 44-42, Perrilloux came back and scored his teams next six points. His two free throws with 5:00 left to play gave ESJ a 51-43 lead.

“Ryan Perrilloux is the best player in the district,” Julien said.

A 9-0 run during the final three minutes expanded the ESJ lead to 63-46. THS was held scoreless for the final 3:20 of the game.

“I think when we play good defense, we can be unstoppable,” Julien commented.

Other top scorers for East St. John included Porter (16 points) and Stipe (13 points).

For Thibodaux, Clements finished with 17, while Adonis Gray contributed with eight.

The Wildcats return home to play Central Lafourche High School on Tuesday night.