PELAHATCHIE — Alex Lanier missed his first try at a game-winning shot on Tuesday. The second time around, he didn’t wait until the last second to be a hero.

Lanier scored all four of St. Aloysius’ points in overtime, and also had a key rebound and steal to lead the Flashes to a 55-54 win over division rival Pelahatchie.

Lanier finished with 26 points, but missed what would have been a buzzer-beater at the end of regulation. In overtime, he hit two free throws and a layup on back-to-back possessions to give St. Al a 55-53 lead, then came up with a steal and a rebound on the defensive end.

“It feels really good to pull it out. You work hard enough and it’s nice to have something go your way,” said Lanier, who also had six rebounds and four steals.

About the only thing Lanier did wrong in overtime was miss a chance to ice the game. After Pelahatchie’s Darryan Ragsdale split a pair of free throws with 6.9 seconds left, Lanier was fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one. That allowed Pelahatchie one last chance to win it, but Labrandon Hill’s 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.

Ragsdale finished with 15 points and 19 rebounds for Pelahatchie (5-12, 4-6 Division 7-1A), and Tray Jackson scored 17 points. Sean Johnson had 12 points for St. Al (10-10), which wiped out a nine-point deficit early in the second half. The Flashes pulled even on a long jumper by Luke Burnett in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, and the teams went back-and-forth from there.

“That’s a fun game. Especially when you win a close one. Those are always fun,” St. Al coach Gary Miller said. “We always felt like we were in the game. We played better defense as the game went along, and we always felt like we had a chance to win the game.”

(G) Pelahatchie 74,

St. Aloysius 41

It just wasn’t a good night for St. Aloysius.

The Lady Flashes lost starters Aden Rials and Ashtin Giambrone to injuries, hit 2 of 17 shots in the third quarter, and were outscored 38-7 over a 12-minute span in the second and third quarters while being routed by Pelahatchie.

Allison Boyd narrowly missed a triple-double for Pelahatchie, with 23 points, 10 assists and seven steals. Andrea Kersh also scored 23 points for the Lady Chiefs (9-8, 7-3), while Tori Hines led St. Al with 13 points and eight rebounds. Hallie Hoxie added 11 points for St. Al (4-16).

St. Al trailed by just four points, 24-20, midway through the second quarter, then went ice cold. Pelahatchie extended the lead to 38-27 at halftime on a 30-foot buzzer-beater by Boyd — one of five 3-pointers she made in the first half — and opened the second half with an 18-0 run.

St. Al didn’t score until Carlye Smith hit a jumper with 3:15 left in the third, and hit only one other shot in the period. Pelahatchie took a 62-31 lead into the fourth quarter and both teams’ backups took over from there.

“I turned around and the score was 52-27. I didn’t realize it until then,” said Smith, who scored six points.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.