All night long Friday, it seemed like the game against Mount Olive was there for the taking for the St. Aloysius Flashes.

They just never took it.

Mario Barnes scored 21 points, Ruben Ducksworth added 15, and the duo combined to shoot 17-for-21 from the field in leading Mount Olive to a 52-43 win. Almost all of the scoring came inside, as the Pirates only attempted one 3-pointer the whole game. As a team, Mount Olive shot 63.2 percent (24-for-38) from the floor.

“We didn’t defend them as well as we should have and they got a lot of dump-off passes. One guy would dribble in, we’d go to him and they’d dump it to the other guy,” St. Al coach Gary Miller said. “That’s what really hurt us.”

St. Al seemed out of sync all night. Sean Johnson hit five 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 19 points, and Alex Lanier added 13, but the Flashes never pieced together the run that would’ve made it a game. Mount Olive was able to use its shooting to stretch a three-point halftime lead to a 39-29 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, and St. Al went nearly two minutes down the stretch without scoring.

“We just came out slow. It was one of those nights,” said Lanier, who scored 10 of his 13 points in the third quarter, but had none in the fourth. “We started off slow and didn’t pick it up.”

(G) Mount Olive 70,

St. Aloysius 60

Mount Olive’s Chasity Tatum buried eight 3-pointers, but St. Aloysius buried itself with a string of late miscues.

The game was tied at 35 with about three minutes left in the third quarter, but Mount Olive seized control with a 12-2 run for a 47-35 lead. St. Al whittled it down to seven, at 67-60, on Katie Koestler’s 3-pointer with 1:18 to play in the fourth quarter, then came apart at the seams.

The Lady Flashes had a turnover, four missed shots, and two missed free throws on three consecutive possessions in the last 90 seconds, allowing the Lady Pirates to keep the lead at seven points. Tatum drilled her final 3-pointer with 10 seconds to play to put the finishing touches on the victory.

Tatum finished with 30 points, Alesia Lockhart had 15, Ariel Watts 13 and Ashley Echols 12 for Mount Olive. Katie Koestler led St. Al with 22 points, Tori Hines added 16 and Aden Rials had 10.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.