By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

Trying to rally from a deficit is hard. Trying to come back from a big deficit a second time is very difficult.

The St. Joseph Flyers found themselves down on two occasions and were unable to overcome the second deficit as they lost 60-46 to the Whiteoak Wildcats in the Division 7 district tournament on Thursday.

Zander Rhodes scored 9 points in the first quarter including a steal he converted into a layup that put the Wildcats up 11-4.

Sawyer Blair hit a 3-pointer as part of his 7 first quarter points and Whiteoak went up 14-6 with 2:15 on the clock.

Trailing 18-9, St. Joseph (12-10) put together an 11-4 run over the start of the second quarter to get right back in the game.

Beckham Waginger turned a steal into a layup, Carson Willis got a layup off a nifty assist by Zane “Z-Man” Dressel under the basket.

Willis drove down the lane and scored to get the Flyers within 32-30 with 40 seconds left in the half.

Dressel went in for a layup but Blair was able to block the shot and preserve the lead.

Whiteoak came out hot in the third quarter as went on a 10-2 run triggered by Zachary Igo’s back-to-back 3-pointers and a putback by Brady Brandenburg.

The Flyers struggled with their offense as they scored just 7 points in the quarter and Rhodes hit a jumper as time expired that put the Wildcats ahead 50-37.

Wesley Neal led the Flyers with 16 points to go with 5 assists and a pair of steals.  Landon “Rocky”Rowe 9 points, 3 assists and 3 steals with Waginger grabbing 5 rebounds and a pair of steals.

Rhodes scored 19 points and Brandenburg netted 16.

Whiteoak (9-13) will play top-seeded South Webster at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Waverly High School in the district semifinals.

Whiteoak 18 14 18 10 = 60

St. Joseph 9 21 7 9 = 46

WHITEOAK (9-13): Zachary Igo 1 2 0-0 8, Zander Rhodes 5 3 0-0 19, Sawyer Blair 6 1 0-0 15, Jackson Tedford 1 0 0-0 2, Brady Brandenburg 7 0 2-2 16, Jonah Michael 0 0 0-0 0, Aiden Crowe 0 0 0-0 0, Christopher Wessner 0 0 0-0 0, Grady Roberts 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 6 2-2 60. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.

ST. JOSEPH (12-10): Aiden Deborde 0 0 0-0 0, Landon Rowe 3 0 3-4 9, Mason Weber 0 0 0-0 0, Beckham Waginger 1 1 0-0 5, Kai Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Jonathan Sharp 0 0 0-0 0, Wesley Neal 6 0 4-7 16, Zane Dressel 0 0 0-0 0, Carson Willis 5 0 0-0 10, Carter Johnson 3 0 0-0 6. Totals: 19-48 7-11. 3-pt goals: 1-11. Rebounds: 21 (Waginger 5, Johnson 4, Deborde 4). Assists: 11 (Neal 5, Rowe 3). Steals: 10 (Rowe 3, Waginger 2, Neal 2). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 5. Fouled out: None.