A cold shooting fourth quarter saw a close St. Joseph contest turn into a 15-point Boling win Friday night at the Flyer Dome.
Through three quarters St. Joseph was able to keep up with Boling. However, a late Boling surge saw the Bulldogs defeat the Flyers 59-44 in a non-district contest.
鈥淵ou can tell that the holidays got us kind of flat,鈥 St. Joseph head coach Andra Thomas said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have the energy that I think we should have, we battled but they just had a little bit more energy than us.鈥
For the Flyers, the game happened in spurts. The first quarter went slow and methodical, with the score sitting at 6-4 with only three minutes remaining.
鈥淲e want the tempo to increase for us because that鈥檚 part of our basketball,鈥 Thomas said. 鈥淲e want the game to be fast, but we have to respond when team鈥檚 make a run.鈥
Thomas and the Flyers did get their wish. In the second quarter, the tempo increased and a beneficiary of that was Charlie Stefka. He scored eight consecutive Flyers鈥 points late in the second quarter to help turn a 20-12 deficit into a 25-22 game heading into halftime.
鈥淟ate in the first quarter and into the start of the second we really started to get our groove back, Stefka said. 鈥淲e started getting into things. We picked up our energy and hustle and I was able to get some layups off that.鈥
The offensive momentum St. Joseph built late in the second quarter carried into the third. The third quarter saw Alex Donner spark a St. Joseph surge, scoring nine of his 12 points.
Back-to-back three pointers from Donner saw the Flyers take their first lead since the first quarter at 36-35, with two minutes left in the third. That lead however, was short lived.
Boling responded to Donner鈥檚 second three-pointer with a fast break layup to retake the lead. As time expired in the third quarter, Boling鈥檚 Kaden Lunford hit a deep, step back three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 42-36 lead heading into the final quarter.
鈥淲e have to do a better job of being focused on what鈥檚 going on in the game,鈥 Thomas said of St. Joseph鈥檚 late quarter struggles. 鈥淭he energy level for us is good, but the last minute of each quarter is important and we have to be ready and more locked in.鈥
Lunford鈥檚 three-pointer shifted the momentum, and when the fourth quarter began, the Flyers couldn鈥檛 get a shot to fall.
After taking a 36-35 lead with two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Boling outscored St. Joseph 24-8 in the final 10 minutes on its way to victory.
With the holidays now behind them, the Flyers have one more non-district game against Calhoun Monday before returning to district action against Laredo St. Augustine on Wednesday in Laredo.
鈥淔or being off as much as we have been I thought we played pretty decent,鈥 Thomas said. 鈥淲e have some of the holiday blues, but we can do better and now we have to go back to the drawing board and start doing better.鈥
Non-District
Boling 59, St. Joseph 44
Points: (B) Sanchez 11, Perkins 2, Lunford 18, Allen 7, Pettis 10, Toval 11. (S) B. Ferguson 9, A. Donner 12, J. Vasquez 3, C. Stefka 12, I. Thomas 6, M. New 2.
Halftime: 25-22 Boling. 3-pointers: Donner 3, Lunford 2, Vasquez, Toval, Sanchez.
