It’s been a winter season of great content for the St. Aloysius sports teams.

The Lady Flashes basketball team is off to a 9-0 start after Tuesday night’s 49-36 road win at Wesson. The St. Al boys are 7-2 after beating Wesson 64-48.

On the soccer pitch, the St. Al boys are 9-2 heading into this weekend’s play while the Lady Flashes are 7-2.

The teams’ successes has administrators, coaches, players and fans ecstatic.

&#8220I’m loving it,” said Michelle Townsend, St. Aloysius’ high school principal. &#8220It’s been wonderful for the school and its quite exciting. I know the kids are enjoying it.

&#8220We’re getting a lot of people to come to our games. We’ve had our band at the basketball games and that’s created a great atmosphere.”

The enthusiasm has aided both basketball teams. Twice, the St. Al boys were able to rally to beat good opponents in overtime at the St. Al gym.

The first was Richland (79-71) back on Nov. 30. Then there was last Friday’s thrilling 73-67 overtime win over Greenville St. Joe in the Catholic Schools Tournament. The win was instrumental in leading the Flashes to the tournament title.

&#8220It’s become a fun place to play, with the gym getting packed,” said St. Al senior Chris Baer, who had 28 points, including 20 over the final 12 minutes to lead the Flashes comeback against St. Joe.

The Lady Flashes, meanwhile, have won two tournaments, the Catholic tournament and one at Pelahatchie. They’ve beaten Class 3A Richland both home and away and also own a 40-22 decision over Gulfport St. John, a team that was a preseason Top 5 pick in Class 1A by The Clarion-Ledger.

&#8220Everything just seems to be working really well with us,” said St. Al junior Sarah Kerut, who is averaging 14 points per game for the unbeaten Lady Flashes. &#8220I’m really excited about the rest of the season.”

A big key has been the addition of transfers Amy and Annie Beaugh. Annie Beaugh is the team’s leading scorer at 26 points per game, while Amy steadies the club from the point guard position.

But its on defense where coach Drew McBrayer’s team has made the biggest stride.

&#8220No doubt, we’re playing better defense because we can now put Sarah on a team’s best offensive player and we don’t lose something on the offensive end,” McBrayer said. &#8220Sarah is someone who gives great effort on defense and that was evident on the job she did against Jill Beattie of St. John.

&#8220I think with us beating a team like St. John, who has played a number of big schools, gives our girls a lot of confidence.”

The next big test for the St. Al girls will come Tuesday night at home when they face West Lincoln. The Lady Bears beat St. Al three times last year en route to the Division 6 1A title and eventually reached the 1A semifinals in Jackson.

The St. Al girls soccer team had won seven of its first eight games before dropping a 2-0 decision to St. Andrew’s Monday night.

The Lady Flashes are led by Andrea Harrison, who has committed to play at Mississippi State next fall.

&#8220We’ve played well as a team. We were able to stay in against a great team like St. Andrew’s and held them down,” said Harrison, who has 15 goals this season.

&#8220We’re a team that’s getting better every week,” added St. Al girls coach Karen Carroll.

The St. Al boys team won the West Jones Classic, winning four games in the tournament. They face Terry and Ridgeland on Saturday.

&#8220This weekend will be a test. Ridgeland has a really good team,” St. Al’s Chris Guizerix said.