[1/7/04]It took three players, 12 minutes, and one heck of a start for St. Aloysius to bury Pelahatchie on Tuesday.

St. Al’s triple threat of Anthony Rector, Drew Mazzanti, and Kyle Richards scored the team’s first 32 points. They nearly matched Pela-hatchie’s total for the game in the first quarter-and-a-half, as the Flashes built a 20-point lead and cruised to a 64-37 win.

Richards finished with 19 points, Rector had 15, and Mazzanti scored all eight of his points in the first quarter. Joseph Thompson led Pelahatchie (0-12, 0-3) with nine points and 10 rebounds.

“That was one of our best starts all year,” St. Al coach Paul Hayden said. “And those are the starts that I expect from these guys, being the seniors and being with me for four years. They know how to come out and be ready to start it.”

After Pelahatchie took a 2-0 lead, Rector and Mazzanti keyed a 12-2 run with a 3-pointer and a layup apiece to put St. Al (5-8, 3-1) in command. The Flashes were 8-for-11 from the field in the first period, and 3-for-4 from 3-point range.

Richards added 10 points in the first quarter and Rector had eight in the second to help St. Al take a 32-13 lead midway through the second quarter.

Dario Lawrence’s putback of his own miss with 3:07 to play in the half gave the Flashes a 34-13 advantage, and was the first basket by someone other than the big three.

“We came out a little sluggish at first. The first few minutes, not much at all. Then we started clicking,” Richards said. “It really took the pressure off us and let us go out and have fun, and play the second half and not have to worry about it as much.”

(G) St. Al 38, Pelahatchie 26

The Lady Flashes spent a good deal of time letting the basketball slip through their fingers, but they weren’t about to let go of a victory.

Laura Beth Lyons and Sarah Kerut overcame early foul trouble to score 13 and eight points, respectively, as St. Al never let the Lady Chiefs get closer than seven points in the second half.

“It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t pretty at all. But we played well enough to win,” said Hayden, whose team committed 27 turnovers and shot just 33 percent from the field.

St. Al (7-6, 3-1) took a 20-9 lead into halftime, but Pelahatchie took advantage of St. Al’s aggressiveness to give itself a chance in the third quarter.

Kerut and Lyons both picked up their fourth foul within seconds of each other with about five minutes to play in the third quarter. Two other Lady Flashes, Caitlin Moak and Nicole Ellis, also picked up their third foul in the quarter and Pelahatchie took 13 trips to free throw line in the second half.

The Lady Chiefs (1-11, 1-2) were a dismal 5-for-20 from the field in the last two quarters.