One week ago the St. Aloysius Flashes went on the road and played Riverfield Academy. They didn’t shoot well all night and lost by 20 points. The outcome might not have left coach Eddie Pickle smiling, but he was a little encouraged.

After all, he figured, the Flashes can’t play much worse and the next time they saw the Raiders things were likely to go better.

The Flashes will get a shot at redemption Thursday night at 7 when they play Riverfield in the first round of the District 3-AAA boys’ basketball tournament at Manchester Academy in Yazoo City.

“That last game against Riverfield, we just couldn’t get a shot to fall. I thought we played defense pretty well. I know we can score. We just didn’t,” Pickle said. “We can win if we just get some shots to fall.”

Pickle’s optimism isn’t just a rah-rah speech. St. Al only lost by one point when it played Riverfield at home in December. Riverfield scored with two seconds left, and a last-second shot by St. Al rimmed out.

More discouraging has been the past two games. The Flashes finished the regular season with an 8-12 record and showed glimpses of excellence, but then lost 59-39 to Riverfield and 74-50 to Hartfield Academy heading into the district tournament.

Thursday’s first-rounder is an elimination game. The winner will advance to the MAIS Class AAA North State tournament next week, and the loser’s season is over. Pickle likes what he sees for the future of St. Al’s basketball program, and said beating Riverfield and getting some extra experience would be beneficial in the long term.

“That would be huge for this bunch,” Pickle said. “If we can get one win in this tournament, it would be a huge stepping stone for this program.”

On the girls’ side of the bracket, St. Al will also be facing a recent opponent when it takes on Hartfield Academy in a first-round game at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. St. Al and Hartfield played in the regular-season finale on Monday, with Hartfield winning 56-30.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I can’t remember ever doing this before,” St. Al coach Gary Post, a coaching veteran of more than 30 years, said of the quick rematch. “We’ve played somebody back-to-back, but I can’t remember doing it in the district tournament. We’re going to look at the tape and try to come up with a little different game plan.”

Getting everyone back on the court would be a good place to start. The Lady Flashes have been missing three starters — one with an injury and two who were traveling to a competition with the school’s dance team — for the past two games.

A fourth starter, Grace Upshaw, has missed most of the season with a knee injury.

Beyond that, Post said, the key will be consistency. The Lady Flashes have played well in spurts, but rarely long enough to remain competitive throughout a game. They’ve only won three times this season.

“We’re going to have to take advantage of the turnovers we do get, and eliminate our turnovers,” Post said. “As it’s been all year, our turnovers and lack of rebounding in spots is what hurts us. It’s not a game-long thing. We’ll rebound well and then all of a sudden somebody is open under the goal.”

Like the boys’ team, the Lady Flashes’ postseason goals are modest. A state championship run seems highly unlikely, but a victory over Hartfield in the opener and a chance to play in next week’s North State tournament would be a big step for the future.

“We have some good young ones,” Post said. “It doesn’t show in our record, but we’ve done some good things with our seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders that shows me they’re growing mentally.”

District 3-AAA Tournament

At Manchester Academy

Thursday

5:30 p.m. – St. Aloysius vs. Hartfield Academy (girls)

7 p.m. – St. Aloysius vs. Riverfield Academy (boys)