Mollie Richards, St. Aloysius’ center, gets ready to shoot with a Salem player’s hand her face. (The Vicksburg Post/PAT SHANNAHAN)

St. Aloysius opened its limited home schedule in style Friday night with a pair of blowout wins.

The Flashes gave coach Paul Hayden his first win as St. Al’s boys coach with an impressive 66-38 win over Salem, while the Lady Flashes won 65-35.

“I’m just proud of both teams,” Hayden said. “It felt good to win at home. It gave these seniors something to be proud of. With only nine home games you have to make all of them count …”

The Flashes (1-4, 1-0 Division 6-1A) eased out to an eight-point lead after one quarter and dominated the rest of the way while holding Salem (0-3, 0-3) to just 31 percent shooting.

St. Al took advantage of Salem’s poor shooting to outscore the Wildcats 21-10 in the second quarter and open up a 34-15 halftime lead. The Flashes cleared the bench by the end of the third quarter, and were able to keep the lead above 20 points.

“That was a huge confidence- builder,” Hayden said.

Matt Horn led St. Al with 19 points, his second straight game in double figures, and was 5-for-5 from 3-point range. Horn also had seven rebounds, while Ryan Hearn finished with 12 points.

“Matt Horn has really blossomed into a really good player right now. But he’s not the only one who stepped up tonight,” Hayden said.

(G) St. Al 65, Salem 35

Kristen Patrick almost single-handedly turned a fairly close game into a rout for the Lady Flashes (2-3, 1-0 Division 6-1A).

St. Al enjoyed a comfortable 27-15 lead at halftime, but Patrick scored nine of her 11 third-quarter points during a 12-0 run at the start of the quarter to push the lead to 39-15 and seal the Lady Flashes’ win.

Patrick finished with a game-high 19 points, to go along with three steals and five rebounds while Leslie Dyess added 10, Mollie Richards had 12 points and six rebounds, and Danielle Klaus had nine points.

Ruthie Bridges led Salem (0-3, 0-3) with 17 points.

“That’s the way I know she can play,” Hayden said of Patrick’s effort. “I asked for them to take it at them in the second half … We were in the lead and I said at halftime that it was very important in the second half not to let them hang around, and we went right after them.”

The Lady Flashes were just 11-for-26 from the free throw line. But they made up for it by shooting 54 percent from the field and with an intense press that held Salem to just 26 percent shooting and forced 30 turnovers.

“The was a very good game,” Hayden said. “The press is finally coming together a little bit, and we passed the ball well. I think it was fun for them to be home finally.”