St. Aloysius won by 48 points in Wednesday’s Division 7-1A opener, but Flashes coach Richard Hodges was nearly sick with worry.

Senior guard Sean Johnson turned his ankle early in the third quarter against the Mississippi School for the Deaf and likely will have to miss the Flashes’ excursion to North Mississippi to play in the Water Valley Holiday Tournament. The Flashes (2-5, 1-0) open the round robin tournament today against North Panola, a Class 4A school.

“I feel like its deja vu again,” Hodges said in reference to Johnson, who left the court on crutches. “I was so close to getting him out of there. But at the time we were working on our double stagger and I really wanted him to get comfortable shooting off that set. We made one pass too many.”

Johnson got hurt when he made a cut to the basket and tripped over a foot. They were up 48-14 at the time thanks to two third quarter baskets by Johnson and a three-point play from Ford Biedenharn. The Flashes went on to post a 71-23 win. The Flashes used an 18-0 run in the first quarter after MSD had pulled to within 9-6 to take command. Shelton Headley came off the bench to score 10 points with three steals as St. Al led 27-6.

It was 41-12 at the half. Hodges cleared his bench by the fourth quarter.

Biedenharn led the way for St. Al with 20 points, five assists and four steals. Johnson had 13 points, five steals, five rebounds and four assists before departing. Headley finished with 12 points and four steals.

MSD was led by Kameron Lane with seven points.