The St. Aloysius Flashes couldn’t keep up their momentum in the latter stages of the District 3-AAA boys’ basketball tournament, but will still live to fight another day.

The Flashes lost 71-25 to Hartfield Academy in the semifinals on Friday night, and then struggled again in Saturday’s consolation game against Park Place and lost 53-35.

“We could not throw it in the ocean the last two games,” St. Al coach Eddie Pickle said.

Despite the two losses, St. Al (9-14) still advanced to next week’s MAIS Class AAA North State tournament at Leake Academy. The top four teams from each district tournament move to the next round, and St. Al finished fourth in District 3-AAA after losing to Park Place.

St. Al will play the No. 3 seed from District 1-AAA on either Monday or Tuesday. The date and time was to be set on Sunday.

Pickle said the fourth-place finish might actually be better for his team in the long run.

“The loss tonight may have actually helped us. At least in the first game. We now get to play the third seed from District 1 instead of the number two seed from District 2. That means we don’t have to play Leake Academy in their gym,” Pickle said.