By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

On Feb. 2, the groundhog saw his shadow and it meant six more weeks of winter.

On Tuesday, Landon “Rocky” Rowe saw the spotlight and it meant it would be the game of his career.

Rowe scored a career high 23 points to go with 6 assists, 6 steals and 4 rebounds as the St. Joseph Flyers toppled the Portsmouth Clay Panthers 73-48 in a Southern Ohio Conference-1 game.

Rowe did have to share the spotlight with Wesley Neal who scored 24 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and had 4 steals while Beckham Waginger added 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals with Aiden Deborde adding 11 points 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Flyers went in front 15-14 as Neal scored 10 points.

Rowe got the hot hand in the second quarter as he drained a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 points and the Flyers held Clay to only a 3-pointer by Evan Rider and the lead was 30-17 at the half.

St. Joseph (11-8, 6-2) extended the lead to 49-33 in the third quarter as Neal scored 6 points, Waginger and Rowe had 5 points each and Deborde hit a 3-pointer.

Rider was 4 of 4 at the foul line and Derick Oliver hit a 3-pointer for the Panthers ((2-18, 1-8).

Rowe scored 8 points including a trifecta and 3 free throws, Aiden Deborde scored 6 points and Neal added 5 points as the Flyers continued to stretch the lead.

Zane Ball and Isaiah Whitt scored 5 points each and both hit 3-pointers for Clay.

Oliver, Whitt and Ball all scored 11 points for Clay.

Ports. Clay    14 3 16 15 = 48

St. Joseph     15 15 19 24 = 73

PORTSMOUTH CLAY (2-18, 1-8): Aiden Ball 1 0 2-2 4, Landon Sinclair 0 0 0-0 0, Evan Rider 0 1 4-4 7, Derick Oliver 0 2 0-0 6, Zane Ball 2 2 1-2 11, Isaiah Whitt 4 1 0-0 11, Corey Wiliams 2 0 1-2 5, Ryan McCullough 1 0 2-4 4. Totals: 10 6 10-14 48. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

ST. JOSEPH (11-8, 6-2): Aiden Deborde 3 1 2-2 11, Landon Rowe 4 4 3-3 23, Mason Weber 0 0 0-0 0, Beckham Waginger 4 0 2-4 10, Kai Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Jonathan Sharp 0 0 0-0 0, Wesley Neal 10 0 4-6 24, Carson Willis 0 0 0-0 0, Carter Johnson 2 0 1-2 5. Totals: 28-59 12-17 73. 3-pt goals: 5-13. Rebounds: 30 (Neal 7, Waginger 6, Willis 5, Deborde 5, Rowe 4). Assists: 13 (Rowe 6, Deborde 3, Waginger 3). Steals: 14 (Rowe 6, Neal 4, Willis 3, Waginger 3). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.