The Mandeville Lady Skipper Shootout took place Nov. 18-20 involving five teams. The host Lady Skippers (1-1) fell to the East St. John Lady Wildcats 59-58 in the tournament finale Thursday night. MHS’ Amy Howard finished with 21 points but it wasn’t enough as East St. John guard Michelle´ Thomas tallied a game-high 24 points. Thomas and her teammates came up big in the clutch, hitting key free throws to win the game.

Howard drained two treys, while connecting on 9-of-10 free throws. Teammate Hannah Tracey chipped in with 14 points. Mel Gaines, Kelsey Sparks and Adrienne Myers added six points each. Gaines and Sparks have joined the Lady Skippers’ roster along with Katie Lindelow following the completion of the volleyball season.

MHS trailed by nine, 50-41, at the end of three quarters. East St. John used its quickness, and hit key free throws in the fourth quarter after entering the one-and-one situation with 3:24 left in the final period. With Mandeville trailing 55-50, Sparks scored on a lay up to cut the lead to just three points with 32 seconds left. Following a Lady Skippers’ time out, East St. John turned the ball over on a traveling call following the in bounds pass. Howard made the Lady Wildcats pay as she drained a three-pointer from the left side of the key to knot the game at 55-55 with 20 seconds left. East. St. John was fouled, and hit both free throws to regain the lead with 17 seconds left. Mandeville missed a shot for a tie, and fouled again. Both free throws were made to make it a 59-55 contest with just 3.7 seconds left. MHS’ Myers drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to close out the game.

Mandeville senior Amy Howard (21) makes a successful driving runner in the lane Thursday night against East St. John'€™s Michelle´Thomas in the final game of the Lady Skipper Shootout. Howard finished with 12 points, hitting on 9-of-10 free throws with two three-pointers. East St. John held on for a 59-58 victory. (Staff Photo by Mike Pervel)

The Lady Skippers hit on 23-of-36 free throw attempts.

Howard, who connected on 18-of-20 free throw attempts in the Lady Skippers two games, said East St. John has really quick guards. “Their guards are their strong point of their offense. Their shooting in the first half was outstanding,” Howard said.

Howard said the Lady Skippers would continue to improve now that the volleyball players are on the team.

“We also have some young players that are going to help us a lot. We have a lot deeper bench than we have had in the past,” Howard added.

Mandeville coach T.A. Ricks praised Howard’s play. “Amy is a big part of our team, and we need her scoring.” Ricks also said he has a bunch of young players coming in that will be able to help the Lady Skippers depth wise.

East St. John’s finished the tournament with a 3-0 record. The Lady Wildcats defeated karr 58-51 on Tuesday to open the tourney. Mandeville downed Loranger 52-44 in Tuesday’s second game. Howard led the way with 16 points, connecting on 9-of-10 free throws and hit a three-pointer. Tracey finished with 15 points, hitting on 8-of-13 attempts from the charity stripe. Gaines added nine points, while Elizabeth Manuel, who just joined the team following the cross country season, added five. Mandeville held a 34-17 halftime lead.

In game three on Wednesday Karr topped Loranger 49-42. East St. John won game four, defeating Hammond 54-34. Loranger grabbed game five on Thursday, downing Hammond 64-57.