Tom Dodge
BELLEVUE – St. Edmund and Westminster Christian Academy shared wins Tuesday as the teams fight to improve their LHSAA power rankings.
The Lady Jays jumped out for a comfortable halftime lead as St. Edmund (12-6, 2-1) rolled to a 45-27 road victory.
SEH opened with a 9-2 run, sparked by four points from Rebecca Benoit, a lay-up by Mary Beth Lafleur and a trey from Greta Miller.
WCA (5-7, 0-3) answered with a 5-0 surge including a three-point play by Amari Jones.
St. Ed’s closed the quarter with six straight points including buckets by Benoit, Lafleur and Anna Belle Fontenot.
With a 15-7 advantage heading into the second period, the Lady Jays exploded for a 14-3 margin in the second frame for a 29-10 lead at the break.
Fontenot, Benoit and Mary Helen Miller helped the Lady Jays push ahead, 23-8.
After Destiny Clarkston scored a bucket for the Lady Crusaders, St. Ed’s finished the half with a 6-0 run capped with a trey by Tanzy Miller.
The two teams battled in the third frame as SEH outgained WCA, 10-8.
Lafleur scored on a lay-up for the Lady Jays but the Lady Crusaders responded with 5-0 run to close the gap to 31-15.
Lafleur pushed in a fast-break bucket and Savannah DeVillier scored in the lane before Clarkston scored for WCA.
Hannah Benoit hit a free throw and DeVillier later added a three-point play to push St. Ed’s up 39-18.
Jai’lyn Sam scored in the final seconds of the quarter to begin a 7-0 WCA run.
The Lady Jays closed the game with a 6-2 run including buckets by Madison Comeau, Alice Brown and Sabey Coleman to seal the 45-27 win.
Rebecca Benoit led St. Ed’s with 10 points, while Lafleur chipped in eight points and Fontenot added seven points.
Karley George led WCA with nine points as team mate Jones chipped in seven points.
St. Edmund entertains Catholic High of Pointe Coupee (15-9, 2-2) Friday in the District 5-1A finale.
WCA 72, St. Ed’s 65
BELLEVUE – The Blue Jays its slim halftime lead evaporate in the second half as Westminster earned a 72-65 win over St. Edmund.
The Blue Jays (12-9, 0-3) trailed 4-0 after consectutive WCA (13-5, 1-0) buckets, but Kieran Davis hit two free throws and Henry Brown drove the lane to force the game’s first tie.
Another 4-0 WCA run was answered with three-point play by Davis as the Jays closed the gap to 8-7 midway through the period.
Luke Trahan later drilled a trey to tie the game, 10-10.
Brennan Schwartz answered with a three pointer as WCA retook the lead,
St. Edmund closed the period with a 8-1 run, sparked by four points each from Easten Coleman and Davis.
With a 18-14 advantage heading into the second quarter, the Jays continued its streak with a trey by Alex Fontenot.
WCA went on a 5-2 run before Brown and Ian Dupre drilled treys for the Jays.
A fast break bucket by Trahan pushed St. Ed’s ahead, 31-25 late in the half.
A trey by WCA’s Scwhartz closed the Jays’ lead to 31-28 at intermission.
The Crusaders began the third period with a 5-0 run before a goal-tending call on a shot by Coleman toed the game at 33-33.
WCA retook the lead with four straight points, before a free throw by Davis and a jumper by Coleman closed the gap to 37-36.
The battle for control continued as Davis later converted on a three-point play as SEH forced another tie, 39-39 with 2:44 left in the period.
WCA hit four free throws before Davis hit two at the line to help the Jays pull closer, 45-44.
Hunter Ray scored on a put-back bucket in the final minute as the Crusaders took a 47-44 lead into the fourth quarter.
The two offenses exploded in the final period as WCA outscored St. Edmund 25-21 to seal the win.
The Crusaders pushed further ahead with a 7-3 run to begin the quarter.
Davis scored in the lane for the Jays to close the gap to 54-49 with 5:20 left.
Brown hit two treys as the Jays battled to pull closer, 61-55.
WCA’s Christian Reiszner hit a free throw and later a trey as the Crusaders increased their lead to 10 points.
Brown drilled a trey and Davis scored off a steal as the Jays battled to close the gap to 67-62 with 1:01 left in the game.
WCA hit three free throws before Coleman scored in the lane for the final Blue Jay points.
Schwartz sealed the 72-65 win for the Crusaders with two free throws with seven seconds left.
Davis led St. Ed’s with 21 points, while Brown added 18 points and Coleman contributed 12 points.
Schwartz led WCA with 28 points and Reiszner added 19 points.
St.Edmund entertains Catholic High of Pointe Coupee (3-22, 0-3) Friday in a key District 5-1A contest.