FLOWOOD — The brackets for the MAIS District 3-AAA tournament had already been set, so Monday’s game didn’t mean anything for either St. Aloysius or Hartfield Academy.

Even so, this wasn’t exactly how the Flashes wanted to go into the postseason.

St. Al committed nearly 30 turnovers, fell behind by 19 points at halftime, and was blown out by first-place Hartfield 74-50 in its regular-season finale on Monday night.

St. Al lost its second consecutive game by 20 or more points, and will head into the district tournament on a major down note. St. Al plays Riverfield in a first-round elimination game Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Manchester Academy in Yazoo City.

Riverfield beat St. Al 59-39 when they played each other last week.

“The last two games, I was hoping we’d be playing better ball at this point. The last two games we’ve taken a step back,” St. Al coach Eddie Pickle said.

Jerrian Young led Hartfield with 19 points, 14 of which he scored in the first half. Jacquez Ollie added 12 points, Dustin Qualls scored 11 and Franklin Miskelly had 10.

The Hawks wasted little time in turning the game into a rout. They opened a 10-point lead midway through the first quarter and scored 25 points in the second to take a commanding 46-27 lead into the halftime break.

“The defensive effort was not there. We’re a much better defensive team than that,” Pickle said. “They’re (Hartfield) a senior team, they’ve been with the same coach since they were in seventh grade, you expect them to play that well.”

The lead grew to as many as 28 in the closing moments of the third quarter. Hartfield cleared the bench in the fourth quarter and St. Al was able to close the gap a bit against the reserves. The Flashes, however, badly hurt themselves with poor shooting and a steady stream of turnovers that led to easy baskets for the Hawks.

“I’d love to see their shot chart. When you shoot 2-footers you’re going to shoot well. The first two quarters they had to shoot better than 50 percent,” Pickle said.

Sean Simpson led St. Al (8-13, 1-7 District 3-AAA) with 17 points. Tyler Lewis scored eight points, and Jaylen Whitaker finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Whitaker also had a thunderous two-handed dunk on a fast break in the fourth quarter that provided the Flashes with at least one highlight on an otherwise dour night.

(G) Hartfield 56, St. Aloysius 30

Ten different players scored for Hartfield Academy, none of whom scored more than nine points, as the Lady Hawks beat St. Aloysius in the first of two meetings this week.

The teams will play again Thursday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the District 3-AAA tournament at Manchester Academy in Yazoo City.

Zoe Peevy led Hartfield with nine points, McKenzie Regan added eight, and Mary Barton Rogers and Alexia Nicks had seven apiece. Hartfield crept out to an eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter and then outscored St. Al 17-8 in the second to lead 35-18 at halftime.

St. Al, which was playing without three starters, only scored 12 points in the second half. Two players were traveling with St. Al’s dance team to a national competition in Florida, and another was out with an injury.

Olivia Curtis led the short-handed Lady Flashes with nine points. Jordan McDonald scored six and Anna Waring had five.

“We made some good passes in transition. Their press didn’t hurt as bad tonight. We didn’t force many shots,” St. Al coach Gary Post said in assessing some of the positives he saw in the loss. “I don’t know if it’s enough to build on, but if they keep those positive things in their minds we may can surprise them on Thursday.”