By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

The St. Joseph Flyers must have left their offense at home, but they made sure they brought their defense.

Despite a woeful 27.8 percent shooting performance, the Flyers turned to their defense as they got past the New Boston Tigers 57-50 in overtime Saturday night.

“We shot about as bad as you can shoot and still win a game,” said Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams. “New Boston didn’t seem to have much trouble shooting the ball. We guarded them, they just hit shots.”

The Flyers (6-5) had a four-point lead in the fourth quarter only to have the Tigers rally behind Drake Thompson who hit a big 3-pointer.

But in overtime, the defense limited New Boston to just one field goal by Thompson while the Flyers converted 5of 8 from the foul line.

“We took a couple of bad shots at the end of regulation and let them get even,” said Williams. “Our defense just stayed after them. Eli Lewis played his best game of the year defensively. We weren’t making shots but our kids didn’t quit.”

Payton Blair and T.J. Young scored 13 points each to lead a balanced offense. Lewis had 11 points, Justin Mahlmeister 10 and Tanner Riley nine.

Mahlmeister grabbed 10 rebounds and Lewis eight. Blair had five assists and two steals while Riley had three steals.

Thompson scored a game-high 24 points and Levi Horsley added 12 for New Boston (0-10).

Horsley scored five in the first quarter as New Boston went up 15-10. Mahlmeister, Young and Blair each hit 3-pointers for the Flyers.

Riley scored six points in the second quarter but the Tigers pulled away to a 28-19 lead at the break.

Lewis and Blair combined for 11 points in the third quarter as the Flyers rallied to get within 37-36.

Young and Mahlmeister had three points each in the fourth quarter as the Flyers drew even and forced the overtime. Thompson had eight of New Boston’s 11 points in the quarter.

The Flyers visit Rock Hill on Tuesday.

New Boston 15 13 9 11 2 = 50

St. Joseph 10 9 17 12 9 = 57

NEW BOSTON (0-10): Shane Buckley 2 0 1-4 5, Trey Branham 0 0 2-2 2, Josh Spears 0 1 0-0 3, Matt Mohr 0 0 2-2 2, Levi Horsley 3 2 0-1 12, Drake Thompson 7 3 1-2 24, Bentley Bledsoe 1 0 0-0 2, Billy Nichols 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19–50 6-11 50. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Branham, Bledsoe. 3-point: 6-20. Rebounds: 33 (Thompson 13). Assists: 5 (Branham 2). Steals: 5. Turnovers: 17.

SAINT JOSEPH (6-5): Payton Blair 3 1 4-6 13, Eli Lewis 5 0 1-2 11, Cody Blackburn 0 0 1-2 1, Tanner Riley 3 0 3-4 9, Justin Mahlmeister 1 2 2-4 10, T.J. Young 1 1 8-13 13. Totals: 17-61 19-31 57. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 4-25. Rebounds: 25 (Mahlmeister 10, Lewis 8). Assists: 11 (Blair 5). Steals: 5 (Riley 3, Blair 2). Turnovers: 7.