[02/14/02] A lot of teams would be considered an underdog against Enterprise this season. The St. Aloysius Lady Flashes are a big one for their second-round Division 7-1A game tonight, but that’s not a bad thing to St. Al coach Paul Hayden.

The teams will meet at 7 p.m. at Bogue Chitto with a trip to the championship game and the South State tournament on the line. For the loser, the season is over.

“One advantage we have is that they’ve got everything to lose being the No. 1 seed. Another is we played (Tuesday) and they haven’t played since Friday,” Hayden said. “I’ve seen the difference in my own team, that we play better when we play two times a week … We’re in a rhythm right now.”

Of course, the last time Enterprise (17-1) played was during a 67-43 win over St. Al (11-13) in the regular-season finale. The Lady Bulldogs also claimed a 47-31 win over St. Al on Nov. 27, and in both meetings turnovers crippled the Lady Flashes’ chances of pulling an upset.

In the first game, St. Al committed 14 turnovers and scored only seven points in the first half. In last week’s meeting, the Lady Flashes had nearly 20 turnovers in the second and third quarters and were outscored 44-18 in that span.

“We know we are capable of beating them. We just can’t turn the ball over. They’re beatable,” St. Al senior guard Jen Barnes said. “They think they have us completely beat … I like being the underdog.”

Hayden said he understood the Lady Flashes’ underdog status.

“That’s all I think everybody thinks. Is it a wrong point of view? No. Enterprise, Bogue Chitto and West Lincoln are the three top seeds and have very good teams,” Hayden said.

Hayden added that the keys for St. Al would be teamwork and slowing down Enterprise star Lacey Palomarez, who has torched the Lady Flashes for 47 points in their two meetings this season.

“We have a lot of talent on this team, but we’re a great team. We are not Enterprise, that has one great player,” Hayden said. “We have to rely on eight or nine players for us to be the best that we can be.”