The final 38-point margin suggested a brutal defeat for St. Aloysius at the hands of Hillcrest Christian.

It was more like one brutal quarter.

Hillcrest used a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to turn the game into a rout, and pulled away from the Flashes for a 72-34 victory Thursday night.

St. Al (3-4) trailed 43-30 going into the fourth quarter, but made just 3 of 30 shots in the second half against Hillcrest’s physical, man-to-man defense.

Second-year St. Al coach Delvin Thompson remained upbeat about his team, despite the lopsided final score.

“We’re a building a program here and we’re going to keep a positive attitude,” Thompson said. “The kids played hard and they are buying into what we want to do. We’ve got Greenville-St. Joe at home Saturday, Sacred Heart at home next week and then we open district at home against Bogue Chitto. We can go on a little run and be ready for our district schedule.”

Through the first five minutes, St. Al held a 6-2 lead. It was 6-6 at the end of one quarter before Hillcrest (8-2) got going. The Eagles led 22-14 when St. Al’s Ben Welp drained a 30-foot 3-pointer to cut it to 22-17.

Hillcrest answered with nine straight points until another 3-pointer by Welp made it 31-20 at the half.

Matt Foley, who had nine points and five rebounds to lead St. Al, hit a pair of 3-pointers late in the third quarter to cut a 19-point deficit down to 43-30.

Welp and Connor Smith had eight points each for St. Al. Hillcrest was led by Lee Ogletree with 20 points, while Malcolm Hopkins and Grant Baker had 12 each.

“This team has come a long way,” Thompson said. “Tonight, we played one of the best man defensive teams we’re going to see. They had so much more quickness on us. It was a game where we had to make every free throw, make as many shots as we could and not make a turnover.”

(G) Hillcrest 60,

St. Aloysius 37

St. Aloysius trailed by 10 points at halftime, but couldn’t build on a solid first half and Hillcrest pulled away for the win.

St. Al went 1-for-13 and committed eight turnovers in the third quarter. It had committed nine turnovers in the first half. The poor period helped Hillcrest go on a 13-3 run and take a 20-point lead, 47-27.

Hillcrest (7-1) had also played a nearly-flawless first half, shooting 15-of-22 (68.2 percent) from the field.

The only loss this season for Hillcrest, an MAIS Class AAA school, was a 54-49 decision last week against unbeaten Presbyterian Christian. Presbyterian Christian owns wins over MHSAA Class 6A Biloxi, as well as 5A schools West Jones and Wayne County.

Despite being overmatched, St. Al coach Cookie Johnson felt her team could have done better.

“They beat us because they played fundamental basketball,” Johnson said. “They outhustled us and wanted it more.”

Ann Garrison Thomas scored five of her nine points in the fourth quarter to lead the Lady Flashes (3-4). Ellie Welp had eight points and six rebounds, while Claire Gamble scored six points.

Hillcrest was led by Kelli Randle with 15 points, all in the first half. Natalie Blanks had 10 points.