IRONTON — That clicking noise isn’t something that you need a mechanic to check out. It was the sound of the St. Joseph Flyers offense and defense.
The Flyers were clicking on all cylinders as they breezed past the Sciotoville East Tartans 73-40 in the Division 4 sectional semifinals on Tuesday.
The Flyers shooting was sharp as exhibited by nine 3-point goals and three players in double figures. But the defense kept forcing turnovers and the patience and passing of the offense was purring like a well-tuned engine.
“The challenge for us was in our mental preparation. We had beaten them twice, so I was concerned that we might take the outcome for granted,” said Flyers’ coach Ed Fry.
“But the guys were locked in. It was apparent whenI walked in the locker room tonight that we were focused and ready to play. We’ll need that same kind of focus against an opponent like South Webster.”
Evan Balestra led all scorers with 22 points including four 3-pointers. Wesley Neal scored 12 points and Eli Whaley hit three trifectas and scored 11 points.
The Flyers will play top-seeded South Webster on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Portsmouth High School in the sectional finals.
Whaley set the tone by drilling a 3-pointer only seconds into the game. Balestra got a couple of free throws and the Flyers had a lead they would never relinquish.
Amani Brown picked up a loose ball and scored to get East within 16-10 but Landon Rowe got a layup and Neal hit a short jumper with one second left and it was 20-10.
St. Joseph (10-13) went on a 14-2 run to start the second quarter and it was 34-12 after a 3-pointer by Balestra at the 2:53 mark.
East outscored the Flyers 7-2 over the final 1:35 of the half including a long 3-pointer by Keagan Barker at the buzzer and it was 36-21.
Balestra made a layup and then Hayden Conkel sank a free throw for East and it was 38-22. St. Joseph then scored 12 unanswered points and it was 50-22 with 3:48 left in the quarter as Balestra made a layup off a nice pass from Brown.
A pass from Rowe to Balestra just before the buzzer pushed the Flyers lead to 62-27 at the end of the third quarter.
Barker and Brown scored 11 points each to lead East (10-12).
Sciotoville 10 11 6 13 = 40
St. Joseph 20 16 26 11 = 73
SCIOTOVILLE EAST (10-12): Keagan Barker 3 1 2-6 11, Drew Fitzgerald 0 1 1-2 4, Kaiden Huston 1 1 0-0 5, Linden Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Carter Roe 0 0 0-0 0, Tycyn Pernell 0 0 0-0 0, Brysen Knighten 1 1 0-0 5, Ethan Meadows 0 0 0-0 0, Cameron Justice 0 1 0-0 3, Amani Brown 2 2 1-2 11, Dustin Bailey 0 0 0-0 0, Hayden Conkel 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 7 7 5-12 40. Fouls: 6. Fouled out; None.
ST. JOSEPH (10-13): Jack Whaley 0 0 0-0 0, Brady Medinger 0 0 0-0 0, Aiden Deborde 3 0 0-0 6, Eli Whaley 1 3 0-0 11, Landon Rowe 3 1 0-1 9, Ian Whaley 0 0 0-0 0, Evan Balestra 4 4 2-2 22, Kai Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Drew Brown 1 1 0-0 5, Wesley Neal 6 0 0-0 12, Zayne Dressel 0 0 0-0 0, Carson Willis 0 0 0-0 0, Carter Johnson 3 0 2-2 8. Totals: 21 9 4-5 73. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.
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