St. Aloysius is getting a brutal tour of the toughest division in Class 1A basketball.

On Tuesday, it was the defending Class 2A state champion Piney Woods. On Friday, the Flashes took on Hinds AHS, which won the 2A state title in 2009 and made it to the MHSAA Overall State championship game.

And don’t forget about West Lincoln, which already owns a division win over Hinds, and was 25-1 last year.

Hinds coach Keith Williams, who has taken three War Dawg teams to the state tournament in the past four years including the 2009 state champions, knows how tough things are this season.

“Bar none, this is the toughest league in 1A,” Williams said. “We have teams that could beat 4A teams on a regular basis. Piney Woods has two Division I signees and is coming off a 2A state championship and West Lincoln is one of the most disciplined teams that I’ve seen.”

Then there are Williams’ War Dawgs. All 15 players scored against the outmanned Flashes, who lost their best player, Elliot Bexley, to a knee injury in the first quarter.

Williams said his team is still searching.

“We still need to find an identity,” Williams said. “We’re not like the old Hinds teams. At times, though, we can execute Hinds AHS basketball on defense.”

That pressing defense was enough to take care of St Aloysius, which committed 28 turnovers and hit 10 field goals. The Flashes (1-14, 0-5) trailed 41-18 at the half, but Hinds used a 24-8 third quarter to blow it open.

St. Al coach Delvin Thompson said his team did more damage to its cause than did the War Dawgs.

“Most of this was our own mistakes,” Thompson said. “All they (Hinds) did was get out and run.”

DeAndre Bolton led Hinds with 14 points. Matthew Foley had 11 points for St. Al. Kameron Reed chipped in five points and 10 rebounds.