Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

COAL GROVE — Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” and “A Tale of Two Cities.”

The St. Joseph Flyers used Christmas time to write a Tale of Two Halves as they rallied to beat the Greenup County Musketeers 53-47 on Thursday in the Dr. Paulus Heart of Champions Classic.

The Flyers trailed 24-19 at the half and leading scorer Justin Mahlmeister was scoreless.

All that changed in the second half as the Mahlmeister scored all 14 of his points and Hunter Pemberton had 11 of his 14 points to help rally the Flyers.

“We played as bad as we could play in the first half and we were still down only five,” said Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams.

“We shot the ball better and took care of the basketball in the second half. Our seniors showed some leadership and we got a win. We needed it.”

Joseph Payton hit a trifecta to start the game and put the Flyers ahead, but Greenup came back to take a 12-5 lead at the end of the quarter.

Eli Lewis scored 4 points as St. Joseph got within 24-19 at the half.

Mahlmeister scored 7 points, Pemberton 5 and Grant Geswein hit a big 3-pointer as St. Joseph tied the game at 37.

“Grant’s scoreline doesn’t show it, but he played really well and he hit a big 3 and made a nice pass in the third quarter. Chris Lewis did a nice job in the second half for us, too,” said Williams

Mahlmeister scored 7 more points in the fourth quarter and Pemberton hit a pair of treys and the Flyers outscored Greenup 16-10.

Greenup Co. 12 12 13 10 = 47

St. Joseph 5 14 18 16 = 53

GREENUP COUNTY (1-8): Jeremiah Berry 4 0 3-6 11, Robbie Dillon 3 0 0-0 6, Jherrell Jackson 1 0 0-0 2, Seth Boyle 1 0 0-0 2, Austin Grooms 0 0 0-0 0, Justin Bond 5 0 0-0 10, Jair Jackson 2 1 0-0 7, Kyle Cochran 2 0 0-0 4, Brandon Johnson 2 0 1-2 5. Totals: 20 1 4-8 47. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: B. Johnson.

ST. JOSEPH (3-4): Hunter Pemberton 1 4 0-1 14, Grant Geswein 0 1 1-2 4, Chris Lewis 1 0 0-0 2, Troy Scott 1 0 6-10 8, Eli Lewis 2 0 2-4 6, Joseph Payton 1 1 0-0 5, Justin Mahlmeister 4 2 0-0 14. Totals: 18-40 9-17 53. 3-point goals: 8-17. Rebounds: 19 (Mahlmeister 7). Assists: 9 (Pemberton 3, Mahlmeister 2). Steals: 9 (Scott 2, Geswein 2, Payton 2). Turnovers: 15. Blocked shots: 7 (E. Lewis 3, Scott 3). Fouls: Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.