St. Aloysius fans might have to forgive the Flashes if they come out a little sluggish this morning in the Red Carpet Classic. Their win Friday night was the type that triggers celebrations that last deep into the night.

The Flashes erased an 11-point deficit late in the fourth quarter, then survived an intense back-and-forth duel to beat archrival Cathedral 80-75 in overtime.

It was a sweet win for the Flashes. Many of the same players were on the football team that lost to Cathedral in the Class 1A championship game in December, then again on the basketball court a week later.

“It feels great, because it just translates over from other sports. It’s a lot of built-up anger between the two sides and it feels great to finally beat them,” said St. Al senior guard Connor Smith, who scored a game-high 19 points.

Drake Dorbeck had 16 points and 12 rebounds for St. Al, Rett Verhine scored 12 points, and Luke Eckstein 11.

R.J. Givens led Cathedral with 16 points, while Wyatt Boothe scored 14. Alex Weadock and James Coley had 13 points apiece.

St. Al will face a difficult test this morning at the Red Carpet Classic — not necessarily from its opponent Sacred Heart, but from the alarm clock.

The girls game is the first of eight scheduled for the Classic at Vicksburg High, and tips off at 9 a.m. The boys’ game will start at 10:30, about 13 hours after the Flashes left the court against Cathedral.

“It’s going to come down to playing together, fighting through it and executing,” St. Al coach Delvin Thompson said. “Last week or the week before last we had a little stretch where we played three games in five days. So they’re kind of used to going back-to-back.”

For the first three quarters Friday, Cathedral managed to keep St. Al at arm’s length. Each time the Flashes made a run to get within two or three points, Cathedral answered to push it back to eight or nine.

Cathedral’s biggest lead came late in the third quarter, when it went up 54-43 with less than a minute to play, and that’s when St. Al finally made its move.

The Flashes used a 14-1 run to take the lead on a pair of free throws by Verhine with 3:32 left in the fourth quarter. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way and went to overtime when Tae Warnsley’s 50-footer at the buzzer was off the mark.

“We hit that lull in the third quarter, and I told them when the game is dead, that’s when you’ve got to put forth the energy. They kept fighting and kept fighting,” Thompson said.

Overtime was more of the same, with seven lead changes or ties in the first three minutes of the four-minute period. The last came with 1:06 remaining, when Verhine split a pair of free throws to put St. Al ahead 76-75.

Warnsley made it a three-point game with a steal and layup with 12 seconds to go. With 5 seconds left, Cathedral’s Boothe intentionally missed the second of two free throws — after unintentionally missing the first — so the Green Wave could try for the rebound and a tying 3-pointer. It kicked out to St. Al’s Josh Brown in the right corner, however, and Brown threw a long outlet pass to Smith for an exclamation point layup as time expired.

“That’s when you know the game’s clinched,” Smith said with a smile. “Whenever Joshua over in the corner threw it to me I looked at the clock and knew it was over. It felt great.”

(G) Cathedral 53, St. Aloysius 37

Marty Lewis hit three 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 16 points to lead Cathedral (7-5, 3-2 Division 7-1A) over St. Al.

Cathedral led by three points heading into the fourth quarter, but the Lady Flashes’ only field goal in the final period was a 3-pointer by Michelle Howington with 4:56 remaining. Cathedral outscored St. Al 18-5 in the fourth quarter to pull away to an easy victory.

“One missed assignment and they made a five- or six-point run and put us out,” Thompson said. “It just comes down to executing and being in the right spot on the floor. Playing the way we practice.”

Grace Upshaw led St. Al with 10 points, while Claire Gamble had seven points and five steals. Allie Willis also scored seven points.

Elizabeth Smith scored 14 for Cathedral, and McKenzie Milligan finished with 13.