BALDWIN - The West St. Mary Wolfpack advanced to the second round of the State Class 2A playoffs after pinning a 65-59 loss on the East Feliciana Tigers here Friday at the West St. Mary Gymnasium.
West St. Mary’s Dunante Charles tossed in a game-high 34 points _ including 21 on seven treys _ help the Wolfpack earn their first home playoff victory in several seasons.
“It was a huge victory because we hadn’t won a home playoff game since my assistant coach Harry Coleman was playing,” West St. Mary Head Coach Gary Burrell said. “All the hard work up until now paid off. We were able to recover from a slow start and Wayne Armelin hit the biggest shot at the end of the second period while Dunante Charles turned in a career best 34 points to help us get the win.”
The Tigers jumped ahead by a 25-12 margin at the end of the first quarter before the Wolfpack retaliated with 17-11 second quarter run to trim the EFHS’ lead to 36-25 at the half.
Armelin connected on his trey at the end of the second quarter as part of the Wolfpack’s 17-11 run, fueling the West St. Mary charge which continued throughout the second half.
In the third quarter, West St. Mary’s Charles made his presence felt while playing string music to the tune of 15 points on five treys as the Wolfpack replaced the 36-25 deficit with a 47-44 cushion at the end of the third stanza.
West St. Mary kept the hot hand in the final period, going on an 18-15 run to secure the home playoff victory by a final count of 65-59.
Charles led all scorers with 34 points on seven treys, three deuces and 7 of 9 free throws.
Tywan Polidore tossed in 11 points on five field goals and 1 of 9 free throws.
Other top scorers for West St. Mary were: Cameron Blake, 8; Chris Snowden, 7; Wayne Armelin, 3; Oshay Phillips, 1 and Dondre Johnson, 1.
On the night, the Wolfpack connected on 10 treys, 10 deuces and 15 of 31 free throws while the East Feliciana Tigers made good on five treys, 17 deuces and 10 of 18 charity shots.
With the win, WSM advances to the second round with a road game set against No. 4 seed Many on Tuesday at 7 p.m.