By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

 

COAL GROVE — It wasn’t a New Year’s Eve party, but the St. Joseph Flyers played like they had been up all night.

Suffering the affects of an overtime loss in the semifinals of the Coal Grove Dr. Paulus Heart Care Holiday Tournament, the Flyers came to life in the second half and beat the Rose Hill Royals 74-51 in the consolation game on Wednesday.

“It was a hangover. We were flat and we came out and didn’t guard well,” said Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams.

“We didn’t come out ready to play defense and the kids knew it. In the second half we picked it up and took over the game.”

Justin Mahlmeister scored 29 points and had 6 assists to spark the Flyers (5-3). Eli Dalton had 20 points and 10 rebounds while Zack Dalton had 10 rebounds and Ike Palmer 6 assists.

Rose Hill (0-10) was led by Andrew Wilhoit with 25 points and Troy Stafford scored 16.

Mahlmeister came out with the hot hand and scored 15 points in the first quarter while Lewis had the other 8 and the Flyers grabbed a 23-17 lead. Stafford scored 11 of his points in the quarter.

Troy Scott had all 6 of his points and Zack Dalton 4 in the second quarter as the lead went to 40-31 at the break. Wilhoit had 11 of the Royals’ 14 points.

St. Joseph limited Rose Hill to 8 points in the third quarter and Lewis had 11 more points as the lead jumped to 54-39.

Mahlmeister scored 9 points in the fourth quarter before Williams emptied his bench.

In the semifinals of the tournament, the Flyers lost 69-65 in overtime to the Lawrence County (Ky.) Bulldogs who went on to win the tournament.

“We made a lot of mental mistakes and we missed a lot of free throws. That’s one of those games you just feel like you gave it away,” said Williams.

The Flyers had 15 turnovers and were 26 of 41 from the foul line.

Mahlmeister had a game-high 27 points to go with 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots. Palmer had 17 points including 13 of 16 at the line. He also had 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

Logan Finley had 16 points for the Bulldogs while Hayden Kiser and A.J. Cyrus scored 14 each.

Mahlmeister scored 13 points in the first quarter as St. Joseph took an 18-15 lead. Scott had 6 points in the second quarter but the Bulldogs rallied to tie the game at the half, 31-31.

The Flyers took a 44-43 lead after three quarters as Mahlmeister had 8 points.

Palmer was 8 of 10 from the line and scored 10 points in the fourth quarter but Finley had 9 points as the Bulldogs forced the overtime.

Lawrence County outscored the Flyers 8-4 in the extra stanza. The Flyers failed to convert four free throw attempts in the quarter.

The Flyers play at Portsmouth Notre Dame on Friday.

Rose Hill 17 14 8 12 = 51

St. Joseph 23 17 14 20 = 74

ROSE HILL CHRISTIAN (0-10): Andrew Wilhoit 1 5 8-8 25, Zach Wilson 1 1 0-0 5, Matt Workman 1 0 0-2 2, Troy Stafford 5 2 0-3 16, Travis Dudding 0 1 0-0 3, Chris Dudley 1 0 0-0 0, Evan Center 0 0 0-1 0, Andy Garnes 0 0 0-0 0, Zack Webb 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 8 9 8-14 51. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Workman, Dudding.

ST. JOSEPH (5-3): Kyle Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Ike Palmer 0 0 0-0 0, Joseph Payton 2 0 3-4 7, Hunter Pemberton 0 0 2-2 2, Zack Dalton 1 0 4-4 6, Eli Lewis 8 0 4-9 20, Chris Lewis 0 0 0-0 0, Shannon Litton 0 0 0-0 0, Luke McGraw 0 0 0-0 0, Justin Mahlmeister 7 3 6-7 29, Trey Young 0 0 0-2 0, Cole Willis 0 0 0-0 0, Troy Scott 2 0 2-4 6, Lane Johnson 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 25-51 21-34 74. 3-point goals: 3-7. Rebounds: 29 (E. Lewis 10, Dalton 10). Assists: 17 (Palmer 6, Mahlmeister 6). Steals: 6 (Palmer 2). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

Tuesday’s Game

Law. Co. 15 16 12 18 8 = 69

St. Joseph 18 13 13 17 4 = 65

LAWRENCE COUNTY (4-5): Grant Kiser 1 0 2-4 4, Blake Prince 1 10-0 5, Austin Chaffins 1 1 0-1 5, Hayden Kiser 5 0 4-6 14, A.J. Cyrus 2 2 4-8 14, Damon Phelps 1 1 0-0 5, Brandon Richardson 2 0 2-2 6, Logan Finley 4 2 2-2 16, Anthony Tucker 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 7 14-23 69. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Prince, Chaffins, Tucker.

ST. JOSEPH (4-3): Grant Geswein 0 0 0-0 0, Ike Palmer 2 0 13-16 17, Hunter Pemberton 0 0 0-0 0, Zack Dalton 2 0 0-2 4, Eli Lewis 3 0 1-2 7, Justin Mahlmeister 4 3 10-19 27, Troy Scott 4 0 2-2 10, Lane Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-28 26-41 65. 3-point goals: 3-8. Rebounds: 26 (Mahlmeister 7, Palmer 5, Lewis 5). Assists: 14 (Palmer 6, Mahlmeister 5). Steals: 2. Turnovers: 15. Blocked shots: 2 (Mahlmeister 2). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Lewis, Mahlmeister.