A bit of déjà vu fell over St. Aloysius Saturday.

For the second time in seven days, the Flashes matched up against district rival Greenville-St. Joe, and for the second time in a row coach Delvin Thompson’s team manhandled the Fighting Irish at home. With a dominant post presence that crashed the boards often and bullied Greenville-St. Joe down low, St. Al was able to cruise to a 63-45 win to sweep the season series.

“I told them to crash the boards. Limit them to one shot and go from there,” Thompson said. “We’ve got to make shots. We’ve got to limit them to one shot.”

The Flashes brought down 50 total rebounds in the victory, 17 by Rett Verhine, in a physically punishing effort inside the paint that paved the way to a win.

Conner Smith set the tone for St. Aloysius early with eight straight points to open things up, and St. Al would never look back. After jumping in front of an errant pass and finishing the play for the and-one bucket, Smith drained a long two, hit a deep jumper and made a nifty move around a defender on a lay-up that forced Greenville-St. Joe to use a timeout almost as soon as the game started.

The senior led all scorers with 19 points to go along with three steals and a rebound. His hot stroke early on also opened things up in the post for St. Al’s big men to take control.

“That helps us out a lot, Thompson said. “That way we can slow the ball down a little bit, try to get the ball in the post, stuff like that. It’s two big men. We had Drake (Dorbeck) back, so that’s helping us out with a lot of rebounds.”

Dorbeck ended the game with five boards while helping his team shut down Fighting Irish point guard Jaelin Thomas, who missed the last matchup.

“They played Madison-St. Joe and he was rolling, so we had to put in a little game plan to slow him down a little bit and they executed what we practiced,” Thompson said. “It helped us out a lot. I don’t think he got up many shots. We had a hand on every shot that he took.”

St. Aloysius built a 33-15 halftime lead and went on a 12-3 run late in the fourth quarter to extend it 52-34 in the waning minutes of the game. The Flashes will next take the court against Enterprise in the opening round of the Sacred Heart Tournament Friday.

“We’re learning to play with each other now and it’s coming together,” Thompson said.

(G) St. Aloysius 50, Greenville-St. Joe 26

Grace Upshaw did a little bit of everything for St. Aloysius as the Lady Flashes strolled to a win over Greenville-St. Joe Saturday. Upshaw ended the day with 11 points, six rebounds and four steals to lead St. Al past the Fighting Irish at home Saturday.

In a game that wasn’t close from the third minute after opening tip, Upshaw helped pace a Lady Flashes roster that was simply too much for Greenville-St. Joe to handle. And while Upshaw played well, the entire St. Aloysius roster found success.

Avery Parman recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Allie Willis scored eight points and forced two turnovers.

“We actually had a good practice this week. They listened to me,” coach Delvin Thompson said. “I had to switch the lineups a little bit to get people who were going to listen and execute the game plan. They played hard overall. As a team they played hard and we came out to win.”

The Lady Flashes stretched their lead to 34-14 with 1:46 to play in the third quarter, with that lead ballooning to 46-18 in the fourth quarter.

It was a game that was never in doubt, and one that will surely boost the confidence of St. Aloysius as it heads into the Sacred Heart Tournament Friday.

“We played as a team. Nobody really stood out,” Thompson said. “We just came together as a team and played.”

(G) Prentiss 65, Warren Central 53

A gritty performance by a young Warren Central team came up just short, as the Lady Vikes fell to Prentiss in the Ridglenad Shootout. T’onna Sims led Warren Central with 24 points, four rebounds and four steals. Amber Gatson had six points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while DeSha McGloster scored 15 points for WC.

“We didn’t convert on easy opportunities,” Warren Central coach Jacqueline Glass said. “We were without the presence of four players, three that usually start and one that gets a lot of playing time. We have to start from scratch and build some new chemistry for the remainder of this season.”

Mya Weat scored 28 points and Alexus Williams put upt 17 points for Prentiss in the win.