By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PORTSMOUTH — That’s not how it was supposed to go.

In a crucial game for first place in the Southern Ohio Conference-1, fans were expecting a tight game with big plays.

But the Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans took all the excitement out of it as they beat the St. Joseph Flyers 70-43 on Friday.

One of the biggest problems for the Flyers was a 17 for 44 shooting performance for 38 percent including just one of 9 from behind the arc. Another problem was 18 turnovers.

Notre Dame is now 14-4 overall and sits atop the league standings at 6-0. The Flyers fell to 9-8 overall and 4-2 in the league.

Myles Phillips hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 8 points while Aaryn Bradford scored 7 points and also made two 3-pointers as the Titans raced to a 19-8 first quarter lead.

Carson Willis scored 4 points with Wesley Neal and Landon “Rocky” Rowe getting a bucket each.

Notre Dame extended the lead to 38-21 at the half as Bradford had 9 points including another 3-pointer. Phillips hit a trey and had 5 points while Brady Davis added the third 3-pointer of the quarter for the Titans.

Rowe scored 5 points with Neal and Willis getting 4 each.

The third quarter turned disastrous for the Flyers as they only managed to score 5 points as the Titans pulled away to a 50-26 lead.

Phillips hit a pair of trifectas and scored 8 points as the Titans outscored St. Joseph 12-5.

Six different players scored for the Titans in the fourth quarter with four of them getting 4 points each.

Neal had 6 points and Zane “Z-Man” Dressel scored 4 and Rowe hit a 3-pointer for St. Joseph in the quarter.

The Flyers were led by Neal with 16 points with Rowe and Willis scoring 10 apiece.

Phillips had a game-high 25 points, Bradford added 18 and Brady Davis scored 11 for the Titans.

St. Joseph 8 13 5 17 = 43

Notre Dame 19 19 12 20 = 70

St. JOSEPH (9-8, 4-2): Aiden Deborde 1 0 1-2 3, Landon Rowe 3 1 1-1 10, Beckham Waginger 0 0 0-2 0, Kai Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Wesley Neal 6 0 4-4 16, Zane Dressel 1 0 2-2 4, Carson Willis 5 0 0-0 10, Carter Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-44 8-11 43.3-pt goals: 1-9. Rebounds: 12 (Neal 3, Waginger 3). Assists: 5 (Deborde 2, Dressel 2). Steals: 11 (Waginger 3, Neal 2, Rowe 2, Deborde 2). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.

PORTSMOUTH NOTRE DAME (14-4, 6-0): Landon Barbarits 3 0 0-0 6, Archie West 0 0 0-0 0, Aaryn Bradford 4 3 1-3 18, Sawyer Rutman 1 0 0-0 2, Jaxon Stombock 1 0 2-2 4, Luke Hamilton 0 0 0-0 0, Keagan Fowler 0 0 0-0 0, Garrett Barbarits 0 0 0-0, Miles Phillips 4 5 2-2 25, Kenady McGraw 0 0 0-0 0, Braxton Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Zion Boerger 0 0 4-4 4, Brady Davis 4 1 0-0 11. Totals: 17 9 9-11 70. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.