The St. Aloysius Flashes got punched in the mouth early by Thomastown, but wiped the blood off their lip and pulled themselves off the mat.

It was impossible to get up from the haymaker that floored them at the end.

Lemarcus Clayton tipped in his own miss at the buzzer in overtime Tuesday night, giving Thomastown a 73-71 win over the Flashes in a Class 1A South State satellite game.

Clayton and Fred Nettles each scored 15 points to lead Thomastown (14-11), which advanced to face St. John in the South State tournament on Thursday.

Chase Smith had a game-high 27 points and nine rebounds for St. Al, while Marsh Willis scored 17 points and Chip Donald netted 11.

&#8220That’s a tough one to swallow,” said St. Al coach Drew McBrayer, whose team lost for the first time in six overtime games this season. &#8220But I was proud of the boys. I thought they fought their tails off tonight, going against a challenge like that. They had three guys 6-foot-5 or taller.”

Clayton’s shot ended an uphill battle St. Al had been waging all night, as well as a good season. The Flashes advanced to the satellite game for the third time in four years, and finished the season with a 21-9 record – their first winning season in any of the trips to the playoffs.

Despite the sour ending, the future is bright for the Flashes. They lose only one senior, Daniel Halinski, and all five starters will return next season.

&#8220I told the guys in the locker room after the game to remember what that feels like. We’ll be back in that situation,” McBrayer said. &#8220The turnaround that we had from last year, it’s a credit to the kids. They’ve come in and worked every single day. I can guarantee you we’re a whole lot better basketball team than we were when I got here last year.”

St. Al had trouble dealing with Thomastown’s size and speed in the first half and seemed intimidated at times.

The Bulldogs enjoyed a 19-7 rebound advantage and forced 15 turnovers in the first two periods. That helped offset a 16-for-40 shooting effort in the first half and stake them to a 36-29 lead at the break.

The second half was a different story, though, as St. Al went on a 10-4 run that got the Flashes back in the game.

St. Al took a 48-45 advantage into the fourth quarter, and the teams swapped the lead for much of the final period.

Thomastown led by four points, 56-52, with 1:47 to play, but failed to put the game away from the foul line down the stretch. That opened the door for St. Al, which lurked within a basket until Chris Johnson buried a long 3-pointer with 10 seconds to play to tie the game at 62 and send it into overtime.

In OT, St. Al jumped out to a four-point lead before a fateful call by the officials swung the momentum back toward Thomastown.

With 1:27 to play and St. Al ahead 67-65, Thomastown’s Lafiomma May was fouled. He got the benefit of a late whistle, allowing his shot to fall for the tying basket. May then missed the free throw, but Clayton cleaned it up with a putback basket to put the Bulldogs ahead 69-67.

The Flashes hung tough at the foul line. They made only one field goal in overtime, but went 7-for-11 from the line and eventually tied it at 71 when Willis hit one of two with 10.2 seconds remaining.

Thomastown got the ball to midcourt and called timeout with 5 seconds to go, then inbounded the ball to May just inside the 3-point arc. The big 6-foot-5 post player dribbled once and missed a shot from about 15 feet. Clayton rebounded, tipped it once nearly straight up in the air, then tipped it again as the horn sounded. The ball bounced gently off the rim once, then settled through the net for the game-winner.

McBrayer and the Flashes looked to the officials in the hope that Clayton’s shot hadn’t been released in time. After a quick glance around, the officials confirmed that it had and allowed the basket to stand as the Flashes sank to the floor in shock.

&#8220We won one last year like that,” said St. Al’s Smith, who fouled out with 2 1/2 minutes to go in overtime and watched the ending from the bench. &#8220I didn’t think it was going to happen. When he missed that shot I thought the clock was going to run out.”