[2/17/04]NATCHEZ St. Aloysius watched the basket spit out shot after shot for 32 minutes on Monday, then suffered the same fate.

The Lady Flashes shot a woeful 21.7 percent from the floor, made only five field goals after the first quarter, and went 2-for-7 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. It all added up to a 36-33 loss to Enterprise in the first round of the Division 7-1A Tournament.

“Rough night,” St. Al coach Paul Hayden said. “That’s playing in a neutral gym, part of it might be the time we were playing at, a number of factors … Everything I’ve been saying all year, it’s the little things. And it came down to the little things again.

“A couple missed rebounds, a free throw. We had a chance to win it from the free throw line and we missed some key free throws.”

Sarah Kerut had 11 points, 10 rebounds and five steals to lead St. Al (11-15). Alisha Mason had 20 points, eight rebounds, and six blocked shots for Enterprise (10-19), which beat St. Al for the second time in four meetings this season. All four games were decided by 10 points or less.

“We’re pretty evenly matched,” Enterprise coach Billy Vaughn said. “We made some key shots and key free throws the last part of the game that probably made the difference.”

St. Al led 13-9 after one quarter, then went ice cold. The Lady Flashes hit just one of their next 13 shots, a streak that extended well into the third quarter. Enterprise took advantage of the swoon by going on a 5-0 run early in the second half to claim a 24-20 lead.

Caitlin Moak finally ended St. Al’s drought with a short jumper with 5:53 to play in the third quarter, but Enterprise’s Deanna Albritton answered with a 3-pointer to make it 27-22. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the period, then went nearly four minutes in the fourth quarter without scoring.

St. Al’s Laura Weeks broke the string on a 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining to give St. Al a 32-31 lead. Mason put Enterprise back in front on a jumper with 2:42 to play, and Kerut missed a chance to give St. Al another lead when she came up with a steal but missed a layup about 30 seconds later.

The Lady Flashes had to settle for a game-tying free throw from Laura Beth Lyons with 1:57 to go. A minute later, Enterprise’s Jana Brister hit a shot from the corner to put the Lady Yellowjackets ahead for good.

St. Al still had some chances in the final minute. Moak missed a short jumper and Kerut missed a pair of free throws before Kaylin Burke hit the front end of a one-and-one to put Enterprise ahead 36-33 with 15 seconds to play.

Kerut brought the ball up the court after Burke missed the second free throw, but let fly an ill-advised 3-pointer from about 35 feet with 11 seconds to go. It banged off the backboard to Burke, who was fouled again.

She missed the first shot on another one-and-one, giving St. Al one last chance to send it to overtime. The Lady Flashes got the ball into the frontcourt and it found its way into Weeks’ hands. She airballed a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded on the game and St. Al’s season.

“I think it’s kind of a letdown,” said Lyons, who had six points in the final game of her career. “I think it’s good that we played a close game, but it’s kind of tough that we lost by three. I wish we could have won.”