By GEORGE MAHL

St. James High School vs. Riverside Academy

RESERVE – About the only suspense in the game between St. James High School and Riverside Academy was whether the Wildcats would score 100 points.

St. James’ Michael Bougere ended the suspense with about 30 seconds left. His free throw gave St. James a 100-59 victory over the Riverside Academy Rebels in the nightcap of the Riverside Academy Holiday Tournament held in the Rebels’ gym.

Things were balanced in the first half between the two teams. Kenneth Winchester’s three-point play with 2:49 remaining tied the score at 7-7. The Wildcats went on an 8-0 run to start the second period, giving them a 21-7 lead. Like the rest of his team, St. James starter Nicholas Narcisse turned up his play in the second quarter.

He scored all 10 first half points in the second period. Not to be outdone, RA guard Josh Labiche scored 10 of his 15 points in the second period. In fact, Labiche was responsible for more than half of his teams first half points. The Rebels appeared to having difficulty with the Wildcats press and taking care of the ball.

A 42-19 lead at halftime quickly became 52-21 thanks to Kenneth Winchester’s jump shot with about six minutes left in the quarter.

Labiche, however, did not go quietly. The sophomore made two consecutive three’s to cut the Rebels deficit to 56-35 with about 3:23 left to play.

Bougere’s basket with five seconds remaining in the third quarter gave St. James, who is coached by James Smith, a 27 point lead heading into the fourth quarter. It was more of the same for RA in the final quarter. Their defense allowed 29 points in the final eight minutes. Despite Narcisse getting off to a hot start, the Rebels held him to only two points in the third quarter. The Wildcats went to their bench for most of the second half. Moreover, nine different St. James players scored at least two points in the third and fourth quarters. Labiche led the Rebel attack with 30 points in the loss. With the victory, SJHS improved to 2-10, while the Rebels fell to 5-7.

West St. John High School vs. Ascension Catholic High School

RESERVE – The West St. John High School Rams played Thursday night as if they had just eaten Christmas Dinner. “Without a doubt, we were sluggish tonight,” was how Rams head coach Antoine Edwards put it after his team defeated

Ascension Catholic High School 56-43 in the first round of the Riverside Holiday Tournament.

The Rams missed several shots throughout the contest. Leading 10-7 in the first quarter, West St John ran the fast break resulting in Dane Stipe’s laying it in to give the 9-2A school a 12-7 lead with about a minute to play in the first period.

The Bulldogs had excellent long range shooting throughout the first half. Thru the first two quarters, ACHS made six three point shots. The key one was when Brandon Perkins hit one from the top of the arch to cut the West St. John lead to 27-19 with about two minutes remaining until halftime. However, two consecutive buckets from standout Quinn Johnson gave West St John a comfortable lead.

The Donaldsonville school was able to stay in the game thanks to good inside play and missed shots from Rams players.

“You really can’t blame the holiday for the way we played because the other team was in the same situation,” commented Edwards.

A late run by Ascension in the second period made the score 29-28 WSJ at halftime.

The second half saw the defending 9-2A champions defense step up. In fact, the Bulldogs only managed to score two points in the quarter until about two minutes remaining.

West St John’s defense created turnovers, which led to easy shot opportunities for them.

Leading 43-40 with 7:35 left in the game, the Edgard school went on an 8-0 run to break the game open. Back to back baskets from Johnson made the score 51-40 with 2:29 left to play.

“I am glad we got the win, but we could have played a lot better than that,” concluded Edwards.

East St. John High School vs. French Settlement High School

RESERVE – East St. John High School head coach Charles Julien received a late Christmas present Thursday night.

Behind Ryan Perrilloux’s 30 points, the Wildcats picked up a convincing 72-52 victory over French Settlement High School in the opening night of the Riverside Academy Holiday Tournament.

After a back and forth first quarter in which both teams exchanged baskets on several occasions, ESJ pressed the Lions in the second quarter and took a 21-19 lead with 6:52 to go until halftime.

Perrilloux scored 19 of his 30 points in the second quarter.

After Perrilloux got a tip-in to make the score 28-23, he stole the in bounds pass for a lay-up to give the Wildcats a 30-23 lead with about two minutes remaining until halftime. Going into the lockeroom, ESJ had a commanding 36-25 lead. In the third period, things began to improve for French Settlement.

A 7-0 spurt to start the third period pulled the Class B school to within four with only three minutes having elapsed in the quarter. A three-point bucket by Josh Lobell made the score 38-34 FSHS with 5:17 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Wildcats came back with a 10-0 of their own capped off by Karnecio Hamilton’s three-pointer, thus making the score 51-34 with 2:36 left in the third quarter.

Lions guard John Cain made a basket with 46 seconds left in the stanza to make the score 58-38 Wildcats. Top scorers for ESJ included Perrilloux, Gerard Ricks, who finished with 11, and Hamilton, who contributed with six points. For French Settlement, Cain led all scorers with 19 points, Lobell finished with 15 points and Rudy Cain added eight in the loss.