Clay Simmons of St. Aloysius drives against Bogue Chitto’s Tradelle Black Tuesday night as teammate Michael Mazzanti (30) looks on. The Flashes lost, 48-35, and the Lady Flashes fell, 70-42. (The Vicksburg Post/PAT SHANNAHAN)

St. Aloysius ended its night at St. Aloysius Tuesday the same way it started it with a devastating run that sent the home-standing Flashes down in defeat.

The Flashes trailed by just two with about four minutes to play before succumbing to a 13-2 Bogue Chitto run to end the game in a 48-35 loss.

Clay Simmons led the St. Al boys with nine points and four steals and Lee Wiles added eight points. Carlos Brown led Bogue Chitto with four steals and 21 points, including a pair of late 3-pointers that helped crush St. Al’s comeback attempt.

“It’s not disappointing. It’s going to come. How many close games were they in last year? They’re making strides,” St. Al coach Paul Hayden said of the Flashes’ effort. “I’m never disappointed. But I hate to lose, and it’s disheartening when we were that close.”

The Flashes (1-6, 1-1 Division 6-1A) trailed for most of the second half after Bogue Chitto (3-1, 2-0) started the third quarter with a 7-0 run to open a 25-16 lead, but the lead never swelled beyond 10 until late in the game.

Justin Williams triggered a 7-4 St. Al run at the start of the fourth quarter with a steal and four points to cut it to 33-30, and the Flashes eventually cut it to 35-33 with about four minutes to play.

But Brown stopped the St. Al surge in its tracks with a 3-pointer as part of a 5-0 spurt that gave the Bobcats a 40-33 advantage. After an exchange of baskets, Brown hit his third 3-pointer, with 1:45 to play, to make it 45-35.

“It seemed like every time we made a run, (Brown) would put a dagger in our heart,” Hayden said.

The Flashes didn’t help their own cause either, committing most of their seven fourth-quarter turnovers in the final stretch while managing to put up only two shots.

“We just did not make the right passes in the right situations there in the last three, four minutes,” Hayden said. “But that’s something for us to grow on.”

(G) B. Chitto 70, St. Al 46

The Lady Flashes were nearly run out of the building in the opening quarter before regrouping to turn in a solid effort against perennial power Bogue Chitto.

Bogue Chitto’s Jessica Melton led the Lady Bobcats (4-0, 2-0 Division 6-1A) with 17 points and nine steals and Yolanda Drummand added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Every Bogue Chitto starter scored at least eight.

Mollie Richards led St. Al with 19 points and seven rebounds, most of them in the second half, and Kristen Patrick added 10 points against a defense designed to stop them.

“I was pleased with our defensive effort,” Bogue Chitto coach Mickey Myers said. “We had structured a zone to contain Mollie Richards and Kristen Patrick, and we were fairly successful at doing that.”

The Lady Flashes fell behind 16-2 just five minutes into the game and never got back within 10.

Melton scored six of her points in the first quarter as St. Al (3-4, 1-1) struggled to find an answer for the Bogue Chitto press. The Lady Flashes committed six turnovers in the first three minutes and quickly fell behind 10-0.

St. Al held Bogue Chitto to just 3-for-12 shooting in the second quarter, but shot just 4-for-16 as the visitors increased the lead to 35-18 at halftime.

St. Al kept the deficit between 15 and 20 points until late in the game, but never could make a run to get back in it.

“We weren’t ready. Bogue Chitto has a tradition of very good basketball teams and they showed it tonight,” Hayden said. “I wish I had gotten my girls more pumped up, and that might be my fault … We didn’t step up the challenge tonight and I blame myself for that.”