A high school basketball game is 32 minutes long.

Wednesday, February 02, 2000

A high school basketball game is 32 minutes long. But it was a three-minute span that caught St. Joe coach Kevin Sheridan’s attention.

The Flyers were up 11 points at the half, then quickly turned the game into a rout to begin the second half in a 71-44 win Tuesday over the Symmes Valley Vikings.

"The thing that decided the ball game was the first three minutes of the third quarter. We went from an 11-point lead to 20 and then 25. That was a big quarter for us," said Sheridan.

Bill Dressel scored 10 points and Matt Frazer nine in the pivotal third quarter as St. Joe opened up a 57-28 lead.

Dressel finished with a game-high 21 points to lead a balanced attack. Eric Waginger had 15 points and six assists, Frazer 13 points and three steals, and Bub Waginger 12 points, four rebounds, six assists, and seven steals.

Andy Stack led the Flyers with seven rebounds.

"Everyone was doing things well. We had four guys in double figures, and every time we looked up Andy Stack was a pulling down a rebound. He does things that don’t show up in the boxscore," said Sheridan.

K. D. Payne led the Vikings (7-8) with 13 points. Justin Myers had nine points and Travis Wilson eight.

Dressel scored eight, Eric Waginger seven, and Bub Waginger five the first quarter as St. Joe took a 22-15 lead.

St. Joe was just 2 of 10 from the field the second quarter, but the Vikings made only one field goal as the Flyers outscored Symmes Valley 11-5 to lead 31-20 at the half.

"We shot the ball better, but defensively we did a better job, especially in the halfcourt set," said Sheridan.

"They hit one 3-pointer and we held them to 20 points the first half. I can’t say enough about our defense. The kids buckled down and did a great job, especially the second quarter."

Then came the big third quarter spurt that helped the Flyers improve to 10-5 on the season and bounce back from Saturday’s 60-57 loss at Raceland, Ky.

"To come back after a loss like (Saturday) was big," said Sheridan.

Payne scored 11 points including a pair of 3-pointers the fourth quarter as the Vikings outscored the Flyers 16-14.

The Flyers host Huntington St. Joe Friday.

Symmes Valley 15 5 8 16 – 44

St. Joseph 22 11 24 14 – 71

SYMMES VALLEY (7-8): J. T. Pierce 1 0 0-0 2, Brad Carpenter 0 0 1-2 1, Noah Henson 0 0 2-2 2, Chris Lafon 0 1 0-0 3, K. D. Payne 2 2 3-3 13, Justin Myers 1 1 4-4 9, Jeremy Copley 1 0 0-0 2, Travis Wilson 4 0 0-0 8, Anthony Owens 2 0 0-1 4. Totals: 11 4 10-12 44. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: None.

ST. JOSEPH (10-5): Bub Waginger 1 2 4-8 12, Danny Stack 0 0 0-0 0, Eric Waginger 5 1 2-3 15, Andy Stack 0 0 1-3 1, Bill Dressel 3 4 3-3 21, Joe Laber 1 0 0-1 2, Chris Laber 0 0 1-2 1, Matt Frazer 4 0 5-8 13, Rusty Yaniko 2 0 2-3 6. Totals: 23-48 (7-15) 18-31 71. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 7-16=23 (A. Stack 7, Yaniko 4, B. Waginger 4). Assists: 18 (B. Waginger 6, E. Waginger 6, Dressel 4). Steals: 13 (B. Waginger 7, Frazer 3, D. Stack 2). Turnovers: 3. Blocked shots: E. Waginger.