New Iberia Senior High played suffocating defense Thursday in opening the Class 5A girls’ basketball playoffs with a 63-36 win over East St. John.

The Lady Jackets rode a hot-shooting Kaysean “Salli” Clavelle’s four first-half 3-pointers to an early double-digit lead. Clavelle’s first trey gave NISH a 12-2 lead with 4:08 left in the first quarter, and her final one came in the midst of a 10-2 run that pushed the lead back to 25-16 after East St. John had closed the gap to 15-14 in the opening seconds of the second period.

“We came out and Kaysean Clavelle hit some big shots,” said NISH coach Robert Pinckney. “I thought Michelle Ogashi did an extremely good job on their point guard, MeChelle Thomas. And she got good weak-side with her defense from G.G. (Williams) and Kaysean.”

Michelle Ogashi of New Iberia (21) slashes between East John John defenders including Halle Lennis (14) and Christin Hildreth (33) on Thursday. - Bill Smith / The Daily Iberian Advertisement

Ogashi not only shut down Thomas, holding her to 10 points and only two free throw attempts, but also led the Lady Jackets with 19 points and went 8-for-10 from the free throw line.

“I stopped her,” said Ogashi proudly, noting that holding down Thomas was New Iberia’s main defensive strategy. “Just stopping the penetration.”

NISH (22-13) also pressured the Lady Wildcats (23-14) into numerous turnovers that resulted in easy baskets or fouls. And once the Lady Jackets got to the free throw line, they made ESJ pay, hitting their first 12 free throws and going 22-for-27 in all for a blistering 81.5 shooting percentage.

A 10-0 run over the final 4:45 of the first half and the first 1:43 of the second half extended New Iberia’s lead to 35-18, with NISH hitting six of six free throws during that stretch.

East St. John trimmed that to 10 points, 37-27, with a 9-2 run of its own through the middle part of the third quarter, but NISH outscored the Lady Cats 15-4 over the final 3:06 of the quarter to take a 52-31 lead into the fourth quarter, then held East St. John to 5 points in the fourth period for the easy win.

Halle Lennix, one of three underclassmen starting for ESJ, led the Lady Wildcats with 14 points. Her four 3-pointers accounted for a third of her team’s points on the night.

Ogashi sparked the final run with a 3-point play at the 3:06 mark. NISH did not miss a free throw until the 1:53 mark of the third quarter and converted nine of 12 foul shots in the fourth quarter, scoring all but 2 of their fourth-period points from the free throw line.

Clavelle finished with 14 points. Windy Charles added 12 points, going 8-for-8 from the foul line, and G.G. Williams scored 11 points, going 6-for-7 at the line. Raquelle Collins rounded out the NISH scoring with 7 points.

“We knew what we had on the line,” said Ogashi of her team’s motivation. “If we lose, three seniors just don’t put the jersey on again.”

Thanks to New Iberia’s tough defense, those three seniors �” Ogashi, Collins and Williams �” will put the jerseys on again next week, probably with a trip to third-seeded Ponchatoula, which played host to Northshore in the opening round.

District 7-5A champion Ponchatoula also was ranked third in the final Louisiana Sports Writers Association girls’ basketball poll and faces district rival Northshore in the opening round.

“Ponchatoula is an extremely good team,” said Pinckney. “Plus we have to go to their gym. But if we make wide open shots and play good defense, we have the ability to do well. Our fate is in our hands.”

Ogashi, for one, looks forward to the game.

“It’s a wonderful game,” she said. “They match up good with us.”