Jarvis Clay spent last season with Greenville-Weston. This season, he’s a member of the Greenville-St. Joseph Fighting Irish and his presence has made a big impact.

Clay scored 26 points to lead Greenville-St. Joe past St. Aloysius, 61-40, on Saturday.

“You could tell he was a real good player,” St. Al senior Sean Johnson said. “We were hoping he wouldn’t be eligible until next semester but he was here.”

St. Al coach Richard Hodges said his team did not respond to the challenge.

The Flashes struggled to score against St. Joe’s superior quickness. Ford Biedenharn missed his first six free throws in the first half and St. Al (4-10) had just four made field goals to trail 29-9.

“This was to be a real test for us,” Hodges said. “Instead, we had so many missed shots right by the basket. Then we missed free throws. Had we made half the easy shots and free throws, this could have been a five-point game.”

Things picked up in the second half as Sean Johnson began to hit from outside. He made two 3-pointers to go with three steals as the Flashes pulled within 14 at 40-26.

The Irish countered with baskets from Quinn Syees and Ramses Sandler to take a 44-26 lead into the fourth quarter.

Clay put the contest away with 11 fourth quarter points. St. Al couldn’t get closer than 14 at any point in the final period.

Johnson led St. Al with 18 points and four steals. Biedenharn had 11 points and seven rebounds. Kameron Reed had seven rebounds, all in the fourth quarter.

St. Joe (6-6) got additional scoring from Syees with 14 points and Sandler with 10.

Hodges said after the game that the team’s Dec. 27-30 trip to a tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla., tournament has been cancelled. Instead, the Flashes will spend a few days preparing for the second half of a grueling division schedule.

“We’re going to stay home and practice,” Hodges. “We’re 2-0 in the district. West Lincoln is 18-0 but they haven’t played that tough a schedule. Bogue Chitto is similar to what we saw today with Greenville St. Joe, a very athletic team.”

(G) St. Aloysius 50, Greenville-St. Joe 18

Allie Willis scored 13 points to lead the Lady Flashes (5-8) to a rout of Greenville-St. Joe. Alexus Engel had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Klaire Miller chipped in seven points for St. Al.

The Lady Flashes used a full-court press with Engel at the top, and that led to four steals and several easy baskets. St. Al led 18-3 after one quarter and 23-9 at the half. St. Al then outscored Greenville-St. Joe 16-2 in the third quarter to put the game away.

The Lady Irish were paced by Tiara Sykes with eight points.