By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

WEST PORTSMOUTH — This time they got the cigar.

Instead of previous games when St. Joseph was close to a win but failed to get the cigar, the Flyers beat the Portsmouth West Senators 51-49 Thursday on a 3-point goal by Justin Mahlmeister with time running out.

“We made the plays in the fourth quarter instead of watching the other team do it,” said Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams.

“It was tight and back and forth in the fourth quarter. Eli Lewis had been on the bench in foul trouble and came in and hit two huge free throws. Tanner Riley scored some big points. Everybody contributed.”

West was leading 49-48 but missed a one-and-one situation with 20 seconds left. The Flyers then found Mahlmeister wide open at the top of the key beyond the arc and the sophomore buried the trifecta.

“We set up a play like the other day but we executed it better. Then we got back on defense and made them take the shot we wanted,” said Williams.

“We finally ran a good, patient offense. We played really hard. It was tough coming back after losing a close game on Tuesday, but we played real well and battled back.”

West led 14-9 after the first quarter and 26-19 at the break.

But Tanner Riley scored six points and T.J. Young six as the Flyers rallied to take a 36-35 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Riley scored seven more points in the fourth quarter to set the stage for the winning shot.

Riley finished with 13 points — all in the second half — and grabbed 10 rebounds. Young had 11 points and Mahlmeister pulled down 13 rebounds.

The Flyers (3-4) used a balanced offense as Payton Blair, Cody Blackburn and Lewis added eight points each. Blair also had five assists and Blackburn two steals.

West had 29 rebounds but only nine in the second half. Kyler Auger had 15 points and six rebounds and Adam Bricker finished with 14 points and seven rebounds to lead the Senators.

The Flyers play Raceland at 6 p.m. Monday in the Coal Grove tournament.

St. Joseph 9 10 17 15 = 51

Ports. West 14 12 9 14 = 49

SAINT JOSEPH (3-4): Payton Blair 1 0 2-4 4, Eli Lewis 3 0 2-2 8, Cody Blackburn 2 1 1-2 8, Tanner Riley 4 1 2-2 13, Justin Mahlmeister 0 2 1-3 7, T.J. Young 5 0 1-1 11, Zack Dalton 0 0 0-0 0, Lane Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-51 9-14 51. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 4-16. Rebounds: 32 (Mahlmeister 13, Riley 10). Assists: 10 (Blair 5). Steals: 3 (Blackburn 2). Turnovers: 10. Blocked shots: Mahlmeister 1.

PORTSMOUTH WEST (NA): Tanner Journey 2 1 0-0 7, Levi Ratliff 0 0 1-4 1, Zach Fry 0 0 0-0 0, Kyle Auger 7 0 1-1 15, Zach Bolton 1 0 2-2 4, Adam Bricker 6 0 2-4 14, Taylor Bailey 0 0 0-0 0, J.B. Travis 1 1 0-1 5, Josh Bolton 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 17-34 3 6-12 49. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 3-19. Rebounds: 29 (Bricker 7, Auger 6). Assists: 4 (Journey 2, Auger 2). Steals: 7 (Bricker 3). Turnovers: 10.