A promising basketball season had a sudden end for St. Aloysius.

The Flashes had two players score in double figures, but couldn’t keep up with Brookhaven Academy and lost 56-36 in the first round of the MAIS Class 5A boys South State tournament on Wednesday.

Carson Gleese led St. Al with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Carson Henderson had 11 points and seven rebounds. Anthony McCloud, the team’s leading scorer, was held to six points along with six rebounds and four steals.

Laken Bradley also had four points and four steals. The Flashes committed 21 turnovers and only had seven assists.

“To say I’m disappointed would be a huge understatement. We had good film study and a game plan for them. They did everything we expected them to, but they came out and punched us in the mouth and we didn’t respond,” St. Al coach Walter Hallberg said. I obviously didn’t have us ready to play in that kind of postseason atmosphere. The buck stops with me when that happens.”

St. Al finished with a 14-10 record, and finished second in District 4-5A this season. Hallberg said he was happy with the overall arc of the season, even if the ending wasn’t what he was hoping for.

The Flashes won three games in the 2022-23 season, and have posted back-to-back winning records in two seasons with Hallberg as the head coach.

“Overall it was a decent year. We had two players average over 20 points. Anthony (McCloud) broke the 1,000-point mark and signed a college scholarship, we finished second in our district and we haven’t been that high a seed in a long time. Losing (McCloud and Bradley) will be big losses, but we have a lot of pieces coming back plus our ninth-grade class that’s moving up is very strong. We have some transfers that may be joining us as well. So next year we will look to build on this foundation that we’ve started here and we’re only going to get better.”

Girls
Parklane Academy 57, St. Aloysius 31
The St. Aloysius Lady Flashes also had their season end, with a loss to Parklane Academy in the first round of the Class 5A girls South State tournament.

Taryn Lsuby led St. Al (7-17) with nine points and six rebounds, and Farrell Roberson had six points and eight rebounds. Elle Larsen scored four points, Annslee Averett and Mallory Hobson had three each, and Megan Theriot finished with six rebounds.

“I’m extremely proud of these girls. They have all bought in to what we’re trying to accomplish here,” Hallberg said. “We’ve pushed them hard and challenged them to be the best they can be. I’m expecting big things from this group after we have a full summer together. We have everyone coming back next year, so exciting things are on tap for next year.”