St. Aloysius had a chance to take down one of Division 7-1A’s top teams, Bogue Chitto, but could not finish Tuesday night at the Flashes Gym.

The Flashes (3-12, 1-3 7-1A) suffered through a critical 10-minute drought which resulted in the Bobcats (8-9, 4-1) going on a decisive 14-0 run to take the 41-30 victory.

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First-year Flashes coach Richard Hodges bemoaned his team’s inability to finish shots.

“This was the best team in the league because they beat West Lincoln but my guys need to learn how to finish. How many layups did we miss in this game?” Hodges asked.

About seven or eight. The Flashes shot poorly the whole game, making only 13 of 41 shots. They also had 20 turnovers.

Most of the turnovers and at least 10 missed shots came during the 10-minute scoring lapse which saw St. Al go from a 23-21 lead to a 35-23 deficit with four minutes to play. A 3-pointer by Sean Johnson ended the drought with 1:44 left.

The Flashes scored twice more but by then, it was too late.

“If we can stick to our game, we can be successful,” Hodges said of the Flashes’ strategy of stopping their foes’ transition game and using a solid motion offense.

St. Al led 17-13 at the half as Bogue Chitto struggled just as much as the Flashes did on offense.

“It was kind of slow,” Bogue Chitto coach Jeremy Harrell said. “We were trying some new combinations. In the second half, we went back to our normal game.”

It took Ford Biedenharn picking up his fourth foul with 3:35 left in the third quarter before the Bobcats got something going. Justin London scored on a drive to the bucket and Garrett Wallace followed up with a steal and another layup to put the Bobcats ahead to stay, 26-23.

Bogue Chitto then scored the next nine points, mostly on the fast break, to go up 35-23.

London and Mike Harris each had 10 points for the Bobcats.

Johnson led St. Al with 11 points. Biedenharn had nine points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists. Luke Burnett had four points, six rebounds and three steals.

(G) Bogue Chitto 64, St. Aloysius 37

The Lady Bobcats jumped out to a 20-0 lead and remained unbeaten in Division 7-1A. Aneshia Dillon had 14 points and Darcy Miller chipped in 11 for Bogue Chitto (16-1).

Down 38-12, St. Al (3-12, 1-3) came back with a 19-point third quarter to get the deficit down to 19 at 50-31, prompting the Lady Bobcats to bring back their starters for the fourth quarter.

Tori Hines led the Lady Flashes with 14 points.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com