No Sean Johnson, the second game of a back-to-back and an undefeated Madison St. Joseph team made for a long, tough Tuesday night for the St. Aloysius boys.

Johnson, the Flashes’ top scorer, had a bad ankle sprain Monday night in a loss at Hillcrest. He’s out three to four weeks. Without him, the Flashes had severe problems not only scoring but handling the unbeaten Bruins’ pressure. They turned the ball over 29 times in a 69-20 loss.

“That was devastating to us. We’re just going to have to learn and play without him. If we do, we’ll be a much different team when he comes back,” said first-year St. Al coach Richard Hodges.

Madison St. Joe coach Scott Pughsley knows where Hodges is coming from. This is his sixth year with the Bruins (7-0) and early on, when he was developing a program, he had to endure some beatings from Hodges’ teams at Greenville St. Joseph.

“I use to beat him pretty good when he started at Madison and I was at Greenville St. Joe. This group of seniors were in seventh grade back then, but look at them now. They are well-coached with a lot of good athletes. He’s gone through the whole cycle and they are looking at having a very good year,” Hodges said.

Pughsley agreed.

“It was good to see a friendly face in Richard. I know where he is at with St. Al. He’s working to build a program. I went through the same thing six years ago. These seniors have been with me since the seventh grade and they know how to take heed. We’re one win away from the best start in school history,” Pughsley said.

The Bruins needed a quarter to warm up. They led just 11-5 after one quarter but in the second, they held the Flashes (1-4) to just one field goal, a 3-pointer by Ford Biedenharn. They forced 15 turnovers and limited St. Al to 3-of-16 shooting to take a 27-8 halftime lead.

Against a tough Bruin press, things got worse for the Flashes in the third quarter. Nick Pernell scored 11 of his game-high 20 points cashing a handful of the Flashes’ eight turnovers. Both teams benches were cleared with four minutes to go, but even the Bruins’ third-teamers had their way, turning a 32-point margin into a 49-point win.

Biedenharn and Elliot Bexley each had six points to lead the Flashes. Luke 

Burnett had five points and five rebounds.

(G) Madison St. Joe 50, St. Al 45

The girls game was competitive to the end. When they met last Thursday in Madison, the Lady Bruins won by 25.

This time was different. The Lady Flashes (1-4) led 28-27 at the half and then went up three at 30-27 following a 16-foot shot by Carlye Smith.

St. Joe (3-4), however, had too much power inside. Corbin Divinity and Clora Evans, a pair of 5-foot-10 forwards, scored eight points each in the second half to turn the deficit into a 10-point lead with two minutes to go.

A basket by Sara Howington and two free throws from Ashtin Giambrone got the lead down to five in the final seconds.

“The girls have been at it longer than the boys have, but we showed improvement going from a 25-point loss down to five,” Hodges said.

Tori Hines had another terrific game at home. She scored 12 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, had four assists and two steals. Sara Howington led the Lady Flashes with 14 points and also had seven boards. Carlye Smith had 13 points and six assists.

Divinity led St. Joe with 17 points and Evans had 16.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com