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St. Aloysius' Carson Gleese, center, passes the basketball to teammate Anthony McCloud (11) as Cathedral's Bennett Gilly (34) defends in the second half of Thursday's game. St. Al won, 55-49. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Sadler Lambiotte, right, grabs a rebound against Cathedral's Gibson Hillyer (12) during Thursday's game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Anthony McCloud (11) glides in for a layup the Thursday against Cathedral. McCloud had 16 points and five rebounds to lead the Flashes to a 55-49 victory. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Cathedral's Justin Hawkins (24) drives past St. Aloysius' Sadler Lambiotte (10) and Laken Bradley (14) during Thursday's game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Cathedral's Justin Hawkins (24) tries to hang on to the basketball as he's pressured by St. Aloysius' Carson Henderson (2) and Sadler Lambiotte (10). (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Sadler Lambiotte dribbles the basketball against Cathedral's Justin Hawkins (24) during Thursday's game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Carson Gleese (3) drives along the baseline during Thursday's game against Cathedral. Gleese scored 16 points to lead the Flashes to a 55-49 victory. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Farrell Roberson (21) gets a high-five from a teammate during player introductions for Thursday's girls' basketball game vs. Cathedral. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius students cheer on their team during Thursday's basketball game against Cathedral. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Cathedral's Kinslee Young grimaces as she tries to squeeze between St. Aloysius' Taryn Lusby (22) and Mallory Hobson (13) in the first half of Thursday's girls' basketball game. Cathedral defeated St. Al, 44-16. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Mallory Hobson (13) holds up her hands after fouling Cathedral's Kinslee Young (11) in the first half of Thursday's game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Maddy McSherry shoots a free throw Thursday against Cathedral. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Taryn Lusby (22) dribbles the basketball Thursday against Cathedral. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Olivia Larsen (11) drives to the basket against Cathedral's Caroline Carlton. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

The powers that be in MAIS District 4-5A elected not to play a postseason basketball tournament this year. The boys’ teams, however, have gone ahead and set up their own by default.

St. Aloysius, Cathedral and Providence Classical are fighting for third and fourth place and the district’s last two spots in the Class 5A South State tournament, and the schedule is set up for them to play each other in the final week of the regular season.

St. Al took a big step toward earning its place in the first of those meetings Thursday, as it roared back from an early 10-point deficit to beat Cathedral 55-49.

The Flashes (13-10, 2-4 District 4-5A) host Providence Classical Friday at 7:15 p.m., and go to Natchez to play Cathedral on Tuesday. They finish the regular season with another district game at Copiah Academy on Feb. 1.

Cathedral (13-15, 1-5) is at Providence Classical on Feb. 2, in addition to next week’s home game against St. Al.

“Tonight was huge, and I told them if you win then tomorrow night is just as huge,” St. Al coach Walter Hallberg said. “We need to finish 4-4 to make sure we’re in the playoffs so tomorrow is just as big a game as tonight was. We had a great crowd tonight, the student section was full, and I hope everybody comes back tomorrow night.”

Korey Sims had a double-double for St. Al, with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Carson Gleese and Anthony McCloud also scored 16 points apiece, while Carson Henderson finished with four points, seven rebounds and four steals.

It was a balanced effort that the Flashes needed to overcome an early rush by Cathedral. The Green Wave made four 3-pointers in the first quarter to race to a 12-2 lead four minutes into the game. Cam Tanner made three of the 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.

A defensive switch from zone to man-to-man cut that off. St. Al took its first lead midway through the second quarter and did not trail in the second half after taking a 32-28 lead into the break.

“I don’t know what it is about playing us. We watch people on film and they make two or three 3s in a game and then they play us and can’t miss,” Hallberg said with a laugh. “They came out and hit a bunch of 3s off the bat and put us on our heels. Once we switched to that man we closed them out better, stopped their driving, and didn’t give up many more 3s. Defense won this game.”

Gleese made a basket and then hit a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 run and give St. Al its biggest lead of the game, 49-38, with 3:50 left in the fourth quarter. Cathedral never went away, though. It made several small runs that were countered each time by the Flashes, and eventually the Green Wave ran out of time to mount its own comeback.

Justin Hawkins led Cathedral with 17 points and Gibson Hillyer had 10, in addition to Tanner’s 15.

“We came out hot. We knew what they were going to run defensively. They switched it up into man and we got a little stagnant,” Cathedral coach Jonathan Albright said. “Playing three sophomores and a freshman, there’s not a lot of experience out there right now. We still found a way in the second half to hit some shots.”

Hallberg was proud of his team for pulling out a tough victory. The Flashes have often struggled in close games this season, and had dropped their last two district games.

“Those are the games we’re learning how to win. We lost those close games at the start of the year and now we’re starting to win those close games,” Hallberg said. “It’s a testament to how hard the kids are working. They have worked hard all year, each and every week, to get better and we’re getting there.”

Girls
Cathedral 44, St. Aloysius 16
Cathedral coach Taylor Strahan did not mince words about the quality of play in the first half of Thursday’s girls’ game against St. Aloysius.

“That was some of the worst basketball I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said with a chuckle.

The Green Wave led 12-6 after two quarters, but pulled together — and pulled away — in the second half. Kinslee Young finished with 16 points and E.C. Lewis had 10 as Cathedral cruised to a 28-point victory.

“We only scored 12, but we got all the looks we wanted. We just weren’t making them,” Albright said. “We were too worried about calls, too worried about physical contact. Everything was in our favor, we felt like. We just weren’t making shots.”

Maddy McSherry led St. Al with eight points and Farrell Roberson scored five. The Lady Flashes did not make a field goal until Roberson’s basket with 1:30 left in the second quarter.

They dragged Cathedral (16-9, 4-2 District 4-5A) down to their level, though, and were within four points at 14-10 in the opening moments of the third quarter. Cathedral then went on a 12-0 run to open a double-digit lead and was not threatened again.

Cathedral outscored St. Al 30-6 over the last 12 minutes of the game.

“My high school team is very young. I had to move up eighth- and ninth-graders to complete the team. I only had five to with. It’s a confidence-building year for them,” St. Al coach K.K. Willis said. “They did well for the first three quarters. Defense and shots fell short in the fourth.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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