St. Aloysius senior Andy Gough, left, drives around Brandon Miner of the Mississippi School for the Deaf during their second round game at the Division 7-1A tournament Thursday night at St. Al.(C. Todd shermanThe Vicksburg Post)

Andy Gough’s defense and a hot-shooting St. Aloysius team have the Flashes in a place they’ve never been a division championship game.

Gough, the starting goalie on the soccer team and a reserve basketball player, harassed the Mississippi School for the Deaf’s best player for the entire second half and it worked to perfection.

Brandon Miner was held to two of his 16 points in the second half and the Flashes (11-13) shot a gaudy 65 percent from the field in the second to earn a 65-60 win and a spot in tonight’s championship game against West Lincoln. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at St. Al.

“We didn’t expect that at all,” said MSD coach Sam Williamson through his translator, Grady Gilkey. “That threw us off our rhythm. You have to give credit to St. Al, though. They did a very good job.”

Kyle Richards scored a team-high 18 points, while Alan Ebersole had 13 and Gough pitched in 12 to give St. Al a five-point lead and the win.

Trailing 27-22 at the half and playing lethargically, St. Al coach Paul Hayden said he challenged his team for the second half.

“We got outhustled the entire first half and I knew we could play better than that,” Hayden said. “We watched them outrebound us and go after the ball better than we did.

“… I put it on the line at halftime. I told them they had a chance to do something that has never happened for St. Al boys basketball. MSD wanted it and we weren’t showing that we wanted it.

“(Assistant coach) Brian Gough looked at me and said we should go to a box-and-one.”

With Miner being held in check, MSD committed 10 third-quarter turnovers while the Flashes shot a blistering 11-for-15 from the field to trail by only one point heading into the fourth quarter.

“When coach gives me a challenge, I don’t like to lose,” Andy Gough said. “I didn’t want to back down to him and make sure he touched the ball as little as possible.”

With Miner a non-factor, Vicksburg native Ro’Derrick Brown, who scored a game-high 19 points, and CJ Durham kept MSD in the game.

“(Miner) is such a good player, we had to take him out of the ballgame,” Hayden said. “I figure my chances were better with my four against their four. I’ll take that every time.”

The Flashes built the lead to 59-55 with 1:54 to play. A Brown 3-pointer pulled MSD to within one, 59-58. Jason Brown and Richards then hit back-to-back layups to give St. Al a 63-58 lead.

MSD scored once more, then fouled Anthony Rector, who nailed both free throws in the closing seconds to secure the victory.

The Flashes, with a win tonight, will host a satellite playoff game against either Puckett or Dexter. With a loss, the Flashes will travel to one of those two schools.

A win there gets St. Al into the South State championship tournament, a four-team tournament with the top three advancing to the Coliseum.

This is the first time since the MHSAA went to the current divisional format in the 1984-85 season that St. Al has advanced to the championship game of the division tournament.

“It would be really nice to win a district championship,” said Hayden, whose team has lost twice to West Lincoln this season. “I think these kids have earned it. They’ve been through some hard times. They deserve a shot at it.”