The St. Aloysius Flashes put their holiday hiatus behind them and shook off some rust by shaking off a challenge from one of the contenders in District 3-AAA.

Ryan Theriot scored two goals, and the Flashes sandwiched a big surge around halftime to beat Park Place 5-2 on Tuesday. It was only the second game in the past month for St. Al, and it dispatched a Park Place team that was coming off an upset of Central Hinds a day earlier.

“(Park Place) was on a high coming in here. They brought their own music, they were jamming it out, and they’re a good young team,” St. Al coach Scott Mathis said. “We came out right away, held our ground, and made sure we showed them who we are and it worked out for us. So it’s a big win.”

On Thursday, the Flashes (8-1, 3-0 District 3-AAA) will go for an even bigger win when they travel to face Central Hinds. St. Al ended the Cougars’ 71-game winning streak en route to the MAIS Class AAA championship last season, and a rivalry has been brewing between the two programs after another meeting in the playoffs in 2017.

Mathis was confident the Flashes could make it two in a row in the series and take firm control of the District 3-AAA championship race.

“It’s always that 3 o’clock game. I think we play better there than we do here anyway. It doesn’t matter. We travel well. If we play our game and do what we’re supposed to do, we’re going to win hands down. There’s nothing in my mind telling me different,” Mathis said. “You’ve got that confidence and that rivalry. We got our rings with 71-1 put on them and they know that.”

Against Park Place, the Flashes used a flurry late in the first half and early in the second to surge to the victory.

Reed Bourne scored in the 31st minute to snap a 1-1 tie and Theriot in the 37th minute to put the Flashes ahead 3-1 at halftime. On the other side of the break, Theriot got his second goal — or rather was credited with it after it deflected off of a Park Place player — and Connor Smith converted a penalty kick in the 46th minute to make it 5-1.

St. Al also had another half-dozen scoring chances as the second half wore on but hit the crossbar twice and misfired on a couple of breakaways and corner kick opportunities.

“We were pretty rusty when we came back out to practice and we kind of picked it back up,” Bourne said. “I think we figured out that we can’t keep playing the long balls and dribble as much. We’ve got to play the short, quick passes.”

Lee Hanks netted St. Al’s first goal, in the third minute of the game.

Eason Johnson scored on a penalty kick for Park Place in the 18th minute, and Connor Stewart netted the Crusaders’ other goal in the 50th minute.