The St. Aloysius gym was decorated for a party.

There were the Mardi Gras-themed decorations on the doors. The St. Al pep band was striking up the tunes and a boisterous crowd was in attendance.

It’s just a shame the hosts won’t be around for the end.

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St. Al’s season came to an end as it bowed out of the Division 7-1A Tournament with a 44-39 loss to archrival Cathedral on Tuesday.

Missed layups and free throws haunted the Flashes, who missed seven point-blank buckets and went just 5-of-9 from the charity stripe. St. Al shot 37 percent (16-of-43) from the field.

“We had opportunities, but when we got the momentum, we threw the ball away, dribbled the ball away, made mental errors and didn’t execute,” St. Al coach Richard Hodges said. “We would have a good couple of passes, but then we’d hold onto the ball too long and allow the defense to reset. Now we’re back to square one and then it becomes a rushed shot.”

The Flashes tied the game at 13-all midway through the second quarter, but never saw the lead.

Cathedral’s Russell Coachman turned an offensive rebound into points and Collin Hammons hit a big 3-pointer and a putback as the Green Wave built their biggest lead of the first half, 20-13.

In the second half, the Flashes went into a scoring funk and the Green Wave took advantage, building a 10-point lead thanks to a pair of clutch buckets by Daniel Huffines.

But the Flashes refused to fold. Sean Johnson swished a 3 to awaken the crowd. Ford Biedenharn got the crowd even more boisterous as he drove to the hoop, was fouled and his layup took a theatrically long time to finally roll in. He swished the free throw to slice the Cathedral advantage to 28-24.

St. Al managed to cut the lead to 41-39, but a late turnover and four free throws by Huffines sealed it.

Biedenharn led the way for St. Al with 15 points, while Johnson added 14 and Burnett added 10. Hammons led Cathedral with 15 points.

“We felt like we were going to come out and fight from the beginning,” Cathedral coach Peter Arnold said. “We mixed up some 2-3 zone and man in the second half, but I thought we were more aggressive pressuring the ball.”

Cathedral advanced to play Sebastopol in the semifinals, on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. In Tuesday’s other first round game, Bogue Chitto beat the Mississippi School for the Deaf 71-20. Bogue Chitto will play West Lincoln on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

(G) Sebastopol 49, St. Aloysius 29

St. Al was down just three after one quarter, but Sebastopol outscored the Lady Flashes 14-5 in the pivotal second to grab a double-digit lead it never relinquished.

Ann Thomas was one of only four players to score for  St. Al (5-16), leading the way with eight points. Tori Hines had six points and 14 rebounds.

The Lady Flashes had 34 turnovers and hit only 6 of 22 shots from the foul line and 11 of 41 from the floor.

Cyndell Webb paced Sebastopol (12-11) with 13 points.

Sebastopol advanced to face Bogue Chitto onThursday at 4 p.m. In Tuesday’s other first-round game, Cathedral beat MSD 51-40. Cathedral will play West Lincoln on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com