Mandeville’s Skippers cruised to a 59-48 district opening victory Tuesday night against the St. Paul’s Wolves at the Gene Bennett Sports Complex.

The Skippers (16-6), the District 7-5A defending champs, notched their 10th consecutive victory. St. Paul’s slipped to 11-10 on the season playing without the services of senior guard Jeff Coote, who fractured his ankle in the Wolves previous game.

MHS senior Jordane Ganapamo led all scorers with 17 points. He pulled down nine rebounds and handed off six assists. Ganapamo drained two 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Skippers worked their way to a 16-10 lead. Blake Kelley also connected for a trey in the opening period for the Skippers.

Mandeville's Timmy Tryforos fakes a shot underneath the basket, getting St. Paul'€™s Derek Arnold (24) airborne late in the fourth quarter of Tuesday'€™s District 7-5A opener played at the Gene Bennett Sports Complex in Covington. (Staff Photo by Mike Pervel)

SPS’ Jonathan Schoen hit a 3-pointer and tallied five points in the opening period. Schoen topped the Wolves with 12 points followed by Luke Baumgartner with 11, who finished with three 3-pointers. Will Gensler added 10 points for the Wolves.

MHS senior point guard Josh Priola did a good job running the Skippers’ offense. He also contributed 10 points and six rebounds.

Mandeville coach John Priola said his club is continuing to play well during the 10-game winning streak.

“St. Paul’s is a tough place to play with their crowd. They have some good shooters. Once we limited their 3-point shots, I thought we were able to break away.

St. Paul’s outscored MHS 14-12 in the second quarter with Baumgartner connecting on two 3-pointers to cut Mandeville’s halftime lead to 28-24.

SPS took a 31-30 lead with Schoen hitting a shot at the 4:58 mark of the third quarter. MHS’ Brandon Weeden, who finished with seven points and six rebounds, answered with an inside bucket. He was fouled, but couldn’t convert the free throw. Schoen launched a 3-pointer on the Wolves next possession and was fouled in the act of shooting. He drained all three free throws to give the Wolves a 34-33 lead with 4:16 left in the quarter.

Priola swished a trey off an assist by Ganapamo to regain the lead at 36-34 with 3:54 to go in the third quarter.

MHS never trailed from that point. Gensler scored for St. Paul’s to cut the lead to 38-36, but that is as close as the Wolves would come.

Mandeville junior Zach Adema came up clutch, downing a 3-pointer off an assist by Ganapamo, to give the Skippers a five-point margin.

Adema said the Skippers have been playing extremely well during their 10-game winning streak. “We knew after we lost to John Ehret by one (FHS Bulldog Classic), we had to pick it up. It feels good to beat St. Paul’s on their home court,” Adema said.

“Early in the game, I was hitting the back of the rim with my shots going in and out. I knew I had to keep shooting, knowing they would drop,” Adema added.

Following Adema’s first 3-pointer, St. Paul’s committed a turnover. Priola took the inbounds pass, pushed the ball up the right side, blowing by the Wolves’ defenders, finishing off a coast-to-coast layup.

SPS’ Morgan Wells finally hit a shot with 1:34 left in the period to make it a 43-38 contest. Adema fired off another trey, hitting nothing but the bottom of the net to push the Skippers out to a 46-38 lead with just over a minute left, which is how the third quarter ended.

St. Paul’s coach Mike Toups said he thought his club had to do some things defensively to take the ball out of Ganapamo and Priola’s hands.

“Those two three’s that Adema hit were huge for them. Sometimes you have to choose, who is going to beat you. Tonight he hit those shots and those were big,” Toups said.

“Our kids played hard, so I have no complaints about their effort.”

Mandeville’s Timmy Tryforos made 3-of-4 free throws early in the fourth quarter to increase the Skippers’ lead to 11 points.

St. Paul’s Derek Arnold picked up his fourth personal foul on a charge call early in the final period. With 6:43 left, he fouled out, being whistled for a defensive foul, which hurt St. Paul’s comeback bid. The Wolves had no alternative, but to foul in an attempt to get the ball back as the Skippers slowed down the tempo.

Coach Priola said his team was running its motion offense in an attempt to take time off the clock, making St. Paul’s foul them.

MHS only attempted three shots in the final period. The Skippers hit on 11-of-17 free throws in the quarter to help secure the victory. Ganapamo sank 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch, including hitting his last five in a row.

Mandeville is at home tonight hosting the Slidell Tigers, while St. Paul’s travels to Hammond to take on the Tornadoes.