Cardinals squeak past Wildcats

Sat. February 04, 2012 at 12:44 a.m. | By Teddy Renois/Staff Writer

E.D. White Catholic grabbed the momentum at the right time to beat the St. James Wildcats.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals and Wildcats were in a 35-35 struggle with both teams needing a spark that would provide an edge in the final minutes. That spark came by the way of E.D. White's Ja'Dante' Frye scoring and drawing a foul with 1:38 left to play.

Frye's three-point play gave the Cardinals the lead for good in a 43-39 victory on Friday's District 7-3A game.

E.D. White coach Jonathan Keife said it was a typical 7-3A battle with both teams playing well defensively.

"Every game in this district is so tough. You have to be ready to play every night. This was a battle between two good teams," Keife said. "We struggled a bit offensively, but we played good defense and made a couple of plays in the final three minutes to pull us through."

E.D. White actually trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, but held the Wildcats to five points in the third quarter to take a 31-28 lead to start the fourth quarter.

St. James (13-13 overall, 1-7 in district) responded early in the fourth quarter by getting a 3-pointer from Toi Jeffery and baskets by Da'Kwan Sandolph and Jared Wiggins to take a 35-33 lead with 4:07 to play.

The defenses dictated play for the next minute as neither team scored, but that changed when E.D. White's Geoffrey Hebert forced a turnover and scored on a layup.

The play tied the game at 35 with 2:21 remaining.

After St. James came up empty on its next offensive trip, the ball wound up in Frye's hand and he made strong move the goal scoring a bucket while getting foul.

Frye's three-point play gave E.D. White (16-7, 4-3 in district) a 38-35 lead with 1:38 on the clock.

Trailing 40-37 with a minute left, St. James tried to work the ball, but Wildcats guard LaRohn Cambre travelled after he fell with the ball.

E.D. White couldn't score and fouled Cambre, who made it a 40-39 game with two free throws and 35 seconds left.

The Wildcats never got any closer as Frye, who scored 16 points, made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 18 seconds to seal the win.

"We were hoping to get an opportunity in the fourth quarter. We played like they did, by spreading the floor and looking for shots, but we lost our composure in the final minutes," St. James coach James Smith said. "Our district is so competitive. You can't give anyone an edge. The guys got frustrated at times, but you have to stay composed. You got to play through mistakes and we battled."

The Wildcats started strong taking an 11-4 first quarter lead.

St. James continued to push its lead in the second quarter and went up 18-8 after Wiggins (10 points) scored with 3:29 on the clock.

Wiggins scored again with 2:21 showing for a 23-12 Wildcats advantage, but E.D. White would respond.

The Cardinals closed out the second quarter with a 7-0 run to trail 23-19 at halftime.

The Cardinals completed their comeback when Stephen LeBouef used a head fake to get a defender off his feet, then drove to the goal for a layup and a 25-25 tie with 4:29 on the third-quarter clock.

E.D. White took its first lead of the game at 27-26 after Hayden Chadwick scored on a reverse layup with 2:07 in the third quarter.

Owen Mumphrey finished with 10 points for St. James.

ST. JAMES 45, E.D. WHITE CATHOLIC 30 (GIRLS)

At Thibodaux, a 9-2 run to start the second quarter gave St. James a lead that E.D. White couldn't overcome in Friday's District 7-3A game.

St. James, the No. 1 ranked team in Class 3A, let E.D. White dictate the tempo in the first quarter but still led 9-8.

In the second quarter, the Lady Wildcats (22-5, 8-0 in district) pushed the tempo thanks to their defense, and E.D. White couldn't keep up.

The 9-2 run to start the second quarter put St. James up 18-10, and the Lady Wildcats went on to build a 28-13 halftime lead.

Neither team did much offensively in the third quarter, but St. James still led 36-19 to start the fourth quarter.

E.D. White (12-12, 5-3) outscored St. James 11-9 in the fourth quarter for the 45-30 final.

Dasha Adams led St. James with 15 points, while Jordan Gros had 12 points for E.D. White.