For the St. Aloysius Flashes, playing Mount Olive was a little like chasing a Ferrari. Every time they got close, the Pirates found another gear, hit the gas and left the Flashes in the dust.

Rain Maxwell scored 25 points, Steve McNair added 18 points and five steals, and Mount Olive used a 14-2 run at the start of the second half to pull away from St. Al en route to a 71-54 win at the Red Carpet Basketball Classic Saturday morning at Warren Central.

“They’re a lot more athletic than we are. We’re going to have to learn to play more athletic people if we want to get better,” St. Al coach Gary Miller said. “They’ve got to get to where they believe they can play against better athletes, and the only way to do that is to play them.”

Duffy Loel hit three 3-pointers and scored all of his 19 points in the first half to help St. Al keep it close for a while. The Flashes (5-15) had a small lead in the first quarter and trailed 24-20 early in the second. Mount Olive went on a 10-2 run to open a double-digit lead, though, and took a 40-28 lead into halftime.

On the other side of the break, the Pirates blew it open.

They repeatedly drove the lane and created turnovers for easy layup opportunities — Mount Olive (14-3) did not shoot a 3-pointer the entire game — and opened the third quarter with the big 14-2 run to push the lead to as many as 24 points.

“We got a lot of steals on the press and were able to convert them into easy baskets,” Mount Olive coach Jarrod Milloy said. “The first two or three minutes of the half made the difference in the outcome of the game.”

Despite the big deficit, the Flashes didn’t quit. They scored three quick baskets to open the fourth quarter and outplayed the Pirates for most of the final period. Chip Donald’s three-point play with 2:13 remaining cut it to 67-54, but St. Al couldn’t get any closer. Mount Olive broke up the Flashes’ momentum with just enough baskets to keep them at arm’s length.

St. Al outscored Mount Olive 18-13 in the fourth quarter and shot 58 percent from the field. Alex Lanier scored 11 of his 12 points in the period. Donald also finished with 12 points, most of them in the second half. LeMario Barnes had 15 points and nine rebounds for Mount Olive.

“We just need to learn to play the whole game like we did the fourth quarter,” said St. Al point guard Jeremy Falls, who scored six points.

(G) Mount Olive 68, St. Al 36

Friday’s close loss to Cathedral was followed by a Saturday to forget for St. Aloysius.

Mount Olive zipped out to a 20-point lead by the midway point of the second quarter, and continued to pour it on well into the second half as it routed the Lady Flashes (3-17). Kanesha Terrell had 28 points and eight rebounds, Chasity Tatum hit five 3-pointers and finished with 30 points, and Sheryl Kirkland just missed an unusual double-double for Mount Olive (13-6) — she had 11 steals and nine assists, but only scored two points.

Carlye Smith had 14 points for St. Al, while Tori Hines had eight points and eight rebounds. St. Al shot just 31.2 percent from the field and committed 31 turnovers.

St. Al coach Carolyn Bradley said part of her team’s poor performance on a four-point loss to Cathedral the night before. After playing a tough game against a heated rival, coming back to face a talented Mount Olive squad about 14 hours later was not the best way to start the day.

“They’re just a quick team and we are not, to be perfectly honest,” Bradley said. “Playing last night, I think (the Lady Flashes) were tired. They played hard, and played a good game and I think they were tired.”