St. Al wraps up division titles|[2/11/06]
Published 12:00 am Monday, February 13, 2006
Annie and Amy Beaugh made the most of Senior Night at St. Aloysius.
Annie made 16 of 22 shots from the field to finish with a game-high 36 points, while sister Amy scored 10 points and had six assists to key the Lady Flashes, ranked No. 3 in Class 1A by the Clarion Ledger, to a 63-40 victory over Enterprise-Lincoln Friday night.
The 23-point win was a different game than the 57-56 win St. Al squeaked out at Enterprise three weeks ago.
“We knew we were more than one point better than they are,” Annie Beaugh said. “They were coming after us down there, but tonight we played our game. That’ll give us confidence when we play them again next Thursday.”
That would be in the Division 7-1A Tournament semifinals at Enterprise. St. Al (26-1) completed an unbeaten 12-0 run through the divisional round-robin and locked up the top-seed. With a first round bye, the Lady Flashes have clinched a berth in the South State satellite round.
St. Al coach Drew McBrayer credited his team’s defense.
“We were real aggressive on defense and got after them,” McBrayer said. “They try to move Alisha (Mason) around as much as she can. Down there, they shot from everywhere on the floor and made shot after shot.”
Mason helped Enterprise (10-9) stay within three early, scoring nine points in the first six minutes.
Then St. Al’s Elizabeth Mazzanti hit a 3-pointer, Annie Beaugh followed with a basket, and Amy Beaugh made a drive to make it 20-12 by quarter’s end.
Annie Beaugh then made 5 of 7 shots in the second quarter to boost the advantage to 40-21.
(B) St. Al 71, Enterprise 49.
The Flashes saw a 16-point first-half lead dwindle down to one in the third quarter but then picked it up again and won going away.
St. Al (20-7) clinches the top seed in next week’s Division 7-1A Tournament with a 10-2 record. They will likely meet the winner of the Cathedral-Bogue Chitto contest.
“We jumped out big on them and they came back got it to six by the half and then down to one in the third quarter,” McBrayer said. “That’s when I called time and turned the pressure up.
“When you get steals, that leads to breakaway baskets,” he added.
Chase Smith led St. Al with a game-high 25 points. Marsh Willis netted 13, while John Robert Burnett and Chip Donald each had 11 points.
Enterprise was led by Cory Everett and Chris Fuller with 15 each. Andrew Williams had 10.
(B) WC 74, Natchez 72.
Andre Thomas scored a team-high 21 points and Mario Luckett added 16 as the Vikings defeated Natchez.
Shaan Walker added 15 points for the Vikings (16-8), who are scheduled to play Greenville at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the opening round of the Division 6-5A Tournament at Madison Central.
(G) Natchez 48, WC 43.
Brittany Willis and Shantta Taylor each scored 11 points, but the Lady Vikes (20-8) dropped their second straight game.
Warren Central fell behind 14-5 at the end of the first quarter and got the lead down to six in at halftime.
The Lady Vikes are scheduled to play Vicksburg in the opening round of the division tournament at 4 p.m. Wednesday.