Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

If Tuesday’s basketball game had been a game of “Clue,” the St. Joseph Flyers couldn’t figure out how to put the ball in the basket.

Except for Ben McDonald who emerged as the culprit by doing it in the gym with the dagger that finally put away the Green Bobcats in the Flyers’ 47-39 win.

“We did everything we could to lose the game and then Ben hit that big 3-pointer shot,” said Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams.

“Our defense played real well, but our offense is still struggling. Our press worked well and that’s how we got our points.”

The Flyers forced 19 turnovers to generate some offense that was desperately needed. The Flyers were 17 of 52 from the floor for 33 percent.

What was worse was St. Joseph’s foul shooting. The Flyers were only 9 of 21 from the foul line including a mere 6 of 15 in the fourth quarter.

“We missed a ton of layups and a bunch of free throws,” said Williams.

The Flyers led 11-8 at the end of the first quarter and 27-20 at the half.

Green got within 38-34 after three quarters and the Bobcats began to foul in the fourth quarter as the Flyers continued to miss.

With St. Joseph leading 40-38, McDonald drained the clutch 3-pointer and the Flyers finally hit two foul shots as they began to settle to outcome.

Wulf Goheen led the Flyers (2-5) with 16 points. Troy Scott and McDonald had 8 points each.

Chris Lewis grabbed 10 rebounds while Scott had 4 assists and 4 steals.

Aaron Johnson had 10 points and Mark Allen 10 rebounds to pace Green (1-5). Ryan Gaffney and Josh Karshner added 8 points each.

The Flyers play at Portsmouth Notre Dame on Friday.

Green 8 12 14 5 = 39

St. Joseph 11 16 11 9 = 47

GREEN (1-5): Mark Allen 2 0 0-2 4, Ryan Gaffney 4 0 0-0 8, Brody Stormes 1 0 0-0 2, Hunter Lewis 1 0 1-2 3, Andy Chavarria 1 0 0-0 2, Josh Karshner 1 2 0-0 8, Aaron Johnson 5 0 0-0 10, Alex Hughes 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-44 1-4 39. 3-point goals: 2-7. Rebounds: 26 (Allen 10). Assists: 6 (Chavarria 3). Steals: 3. Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Allen, Chavarria.

ST. JOSEPH (2-5): Wulf Goheen 3 2 4-9 16, Troy Scott 3 0 2-4 8, Chris Lewis 3 0 0-2 6, Kyle Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Zac McGraw 2 0 3-6 7, Trey Young 0 0 0-0 0, Judge Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Ben McDonald 1 2 0-0 8. Totals: 17-52 9-21 47. 3-point goals: 4-16. Rebounds: 25 (Lewis 10). Assists: 10 (Scott 4). Steals: 13 (Scott 4). Blocked shots: 1 (Scott). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.