By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

WELLSTON — St. Joseph Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams saw no reason to push the panic button.

He did, however, have to grab his nerve pills.

In yet another game that saw the Flyers start slow and have to battle back, St. Joseph rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to upset the Wellston Golden Rockets 52-44 Tuesday.

“I didn’t feel bad going in down 10 at the half because I knew offensively we’d start clicking. We had seven turnovers the first half because we were rushing things,” said Williams.

“Once we made the adjustments we were fine. We played well defensively.”

Wellston jumped out to a 17-5 lead and the Flyers were down 17-7 at the end of the first quarter. Each team scored just seven points in the second quarter and it was 24-14 at the break.

“We came out flat, but we stayed calmed, we played defense and rebounded. We were confident in what we had to do to get back in the game,” said Williams.

“We locked down. We really turned up the intensity. They were real patient on offense but we didn’t let them break us down and get the ball inside.”

Justus Ousley — Wellston’s 6-foot-6 center — scored nine points in the first quarter, but he managed just two points the rest of the game.

“T.J. Young guarded Ousley in the second half and held him to two points. He played real well defensively. He has been sick and he had an I-V to get fluids before the game,” said Williams.

“Tanner Riley scored 10 points in the third quarter to match Wellston’s total as the Flyers cut the deficit to 34-32.

Young scored six points in the fourth quarter while Cody Blackburn and Riley scored five each as the Flyers got the lead and began to pull away.

St. Joseph (9-6) held the Rockets to just 27 points over the final three quarters.

“We locked down. We really turned up the intensity. They were real patient on offense but we didn’t let them break us down and get the ball inside,” said Williams.

Riley finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Young had nine points and Justin Mahlmeister grabbed eight rebounds.

The Flyers were guilty of nine turnovers, but only two in the second half.

Nigel Courts scored 13 points, Dakota Brown 12 and Ousley 11 to lead Wellston (9-6).

St. Joseph 7 7 18 20 = 52

Wellston 17 7 10 10 = 44

SAINT JOSEPH (9-6): Payton Blair 2 0 2-2 6, Eli Lewis 2 0 0-0 4, Cody Blackburn 1 1 3-4 8, Tanner Riley 5 1 8-11 21, Justin Mahlmeister 2 0 0-04, T.J. Young 3 1 0-0 9. Totals: 18-41 13-17 52. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 3-15. Rebounds: 28 (Riley 8, Mahlmeister 8). Assists: 9 (Blair 3). Steals: 4 (Riley 3). Blocked shots: Mahlmeister 1. Turnovers: 9.

WELLSTON (9-6): Andrew Richards 1 0 0-0 2, Dakota Brown 1 3 1-3 12, Ted Compston 0 0 0-0 0, Nigel Courts 6 0 1-3 13, Justus Ousley 3 1 2-3 11, Austin Craig 0 0 1-2 1, Joey Young 0 0 0-0 0, Blake Warrington 1 1 0-0 5, D.J. Young 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-38 5-11 44. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 3-point: 5-17. Rebounds: 21 (Ousley 9, Courts 6). Assists: 10 (Brown 4). Steals: 8 (Courts 4). Turnovers: 14. Blocked shots: 4 (Ousley 3).