Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

The turnovers turned the game around.
Turnovers were the difference as the St. Joseph Female Flyers watched a 10-point halftime lead vanish in a 53-51 loss to the Portsmouth Lady Trojans on Monday.
“We had too many turnovers. It’s hard to overcome that,” said Female Flyers’ coach Nick Miller. “But our girls played hard. Our girls didn’t back down. Portsmouth just wore us down.”
Morgan Turner had a game-high 17 points to lead the Female Flyers (4-4). Turner also had 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
Kaitlyn Sheridan added 10 points for the Female Flyers. Megan Riley added 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Ashley Bartram and Lauren Bush had 5 rebounds each.
Destiny McKenzie and Kylisha Kearns led Portsmouth (1-5) with 16 points each. Hannah Hughes hit three 3-pointers and scored 12 points.
Five different players scored as St. Joseph took an 11-9 first quarter. Sheridan had 8 points and Turner 5 in the second quarter as the Female Flyers pulled ahead 25-15 at the half.
But Hughes scored 8 points and McKenzie 6 as Portsmouth outscored St. Joseph 22-10 to take a 37-35 lead. Grace Miller scored 4 of her 6 points in the quarter for the Female Flyers.
“They were more physical and very athletic. They hit a lot of shots and played well. They pressured us the whole game,” said Miller.
Each team scored 16 points in the fourth quarter.
Turner had 10 points as she hit three 3-pointers including a 4-point play. Kearns got 8 points and McKenzie 6 more for the Lady Trojans.
St. Joseph hosts Portsmouth West at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Portsmouth    9    6    22    16    =    53
St. Joseph    11    14    10    16    =    51
PORTSMOUTH (1-5): Kylisha Kearns 7 0 2-9 16, Hannah Hughes 1 3 1-4 12, Shai Howard 0 0 0-0 0, Destiny McKenzie 6 1 1-2 16, Jaiden Rickett 0 0 0-0 0, Mya Williams 4 0 0-0 8, Semajah Parker 0 0 1-4 1, Layla Kegg 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 4 5-19 53. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.
ST. JOSEPH (4-4): Kaitlyn Sheridan 3 0 4-4 10, Morgan Turner 1 4 3-4 17, Ashley Bartram 2 0 0-0 4, Ashley Blankenship 1 0 1-2 3, Megan Riley 4 0 1-2 9, Faith Mahlmeister 0 0 0-0 0, Grace Miller 3 0 0-2 6, Lauren 1 0 0-1 2. Totals: 19-51 9-15 51. 3-point goals: 4-10. Rebounds: 15-O, 22-D = 37 (Turner 7, Blankenship 7, Riley 6, Bush 5, Bartram 5). Assists: 9 (Turner 5). Steals: 14 (Turner 4, Riley 3). Turnovers: 33. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.