A week ago, Cathedral ruined an entire season for St. Aloysius. On Friday, it only ruined one night.

Wyatt Boothe hit two free throws with 11 seconds left for the last of his 13 points, and the Green Wave held off a spirited St. Al comeback bid in the fourth quarter to beat its archrival 60-55 in the Catholic Schools Tournament at St. Al.

St. Al got within a point late in the game after trailing by 13 entering the fourth quarter, but never could get the lead.

“We were down 13. We had three timeouts and they had six fouls. So I told them everything is downhill. Get to the basket, get to the free throw line, stop the clock and make free throws. That’s what we started doing,” St. Al coach Delvin Thompson said.

St. Al’s record fell to 0-4, but Thompson was more encouraged than discouraged by the loss. His team only had five players for its first two games because of the football team’s run to the Class 1A championship game, where it lost to Cathedral last week.

With football season finally over, the roster tripled in size and four regular starters made their way into the gym.

“We’re starting to gel. They’re starting to play together now and learn each other. Tomorrow should be a different story,” Thompson said. “I’m still happy about the season. This is only their second game together. It’s almost a brand new team. We’ve only had two practices since they came off the (football) field. We should be all right.”

Boothe, Alex Weadock and R.J. Givens each scored 13 points and James Coley had 12 for Cathedral (1-1), which is also just getting a number of players back from football.

The Green Wave took a 43-30 lead into the fourth quarter, but nearly squandered it as the Flashes ratcheted up the defensive pressure and started getting their shots to fall.

Connor Smith scored 19 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter for St. Al to lead the comeback. Mike Bell added 10 points, and Ben Brown had nine rebounds.

Ben Brown split a pair of free throws with 3:21 left to cut it to 51-50, and it was 57-55 with about a minute left when the Flashes’ legs and luck ran out. They missed three shots and turned it over once on their last four possessions.

Jardarius Anderson hit one free throw with 39 seconds left to give Cathedral a three-point lead, then Boothe got a steal, was fouled, and sank both free throws with 11 seconds left to seal it.

“I think it was legs. They’re still getting in basketball shape,” Thompson said of the late swoon. “But we had a rhythm going.”

St. Al will play Greenville-St. Joseph in the tournament’s consolation game today at 1 p.m. Cathedral will face Madison-St. Joe in the title game at 5 p.m.

(G) Cathedral 55, St. Al 40

McKenzie Milligan scored a game-high 17 points, and Cathedral (3-0) steadily pulled away from St. Al (2-4) in the semifinals of the girls’ Catholic Schools Tournament.

Cathedral crept out to a 10-point lead at halftime, then quickly extended that to 17 by the midway point of the third quarter. St. Al made a late push in the last two minutes but never got closer than 10 points as turnovers and missed shots piled up.

Michelle Howington led St. Al with 10 points and five steals, while Avery Parman had nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Alyssa Engel and Grace Upshaw scored eight apiece.

St. Al will take on Greenville-St. Joseph in the consolation game today at 11 a.m. The teams previously met on Nov. 22, with St. Al winning easily 53-26.

Akua Kumi and Marty Lewis added eight points apiece for Cathedral, which plays Madison-St. Joseph in the championship game today at 3 p.m.

Catholic Schools Tourney

Today, at St. Aloysius

Girls

11 a.m. – St. Al vs. Greenville-St. Joe, consolation game

3 p.m. – Cathedral vs. Madison-St. Joe, championship

Boys

1 p.m. – St. Al vs. Greenville-St. Joe, consolation game

5 p.m. – Cathedral vs. Madison-St. Joe, championship