WELLSTON – When your first option fails, go to your second choice.

Saturday, December 30, 2000

WELLSTON – When your first option fails, go to your second choice. Even if it is about 30 feet away.

Danny Stack hit a 28-footer at the buzzer as the Flyers beat the Village Academy Griffins 60-57 Friday in the consolation game of the Wellston Holiday Tournament.

"Our first option was to go to (Bill) Dressel. He had the ball, but they came after him and he kicked the ball over to Stack who fired up the shot. I’ll give him credit. He stepped up and hit the shot when we needed it," St. Joe coach Kevin Sheridan said.

The win was the first of the season for the Flyers (1-6), but Sheridan said the team didn’t play like its record might indicate.

St. Joe was down as many as five points with under five minutes to play but rallied when Chris Carte sank two foul shots and Dressel nailed a 3-pointer that tied the game at 57-57.

"You would expect a team that’s 0-6 to give up in a tough situation, but this team didn’t," Sheridan said. "And you lose Dressel and the kids just kept playing."

Dressel got his third and fourth fouls the third quarter and Village Academy was able to get within 39-36.

Village Academy was up 15-11 after the first quarter, but St. Joe limited the Griffins to five points the second quarter and took a 28-20 halftime lead. Chris Laber scored 12 points the first half to help give St. Joe the lead.

"We were down 11 the first quarter, and then we played well the second quarter. We changed some things defensively that gave them problems, and we executed our offense," Sheridan said. "Everybody who played did something positive. Shawn Hacker and Kyle Johnson each hit a big 3-pointer."

Laber led the Flyers with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Dressel had 14 points and three assists, Joey Laber added nine points, and Hacker grabbed four rebounds.

St. Joe 11 17 11 21 – 60

Village Acad. 15 5 16 21 – 57

IRONTON ST. JOE (1-6): Chris Carte 2 0 3-4 7, Danny Stack 1 1 1-1 6, Kyle Johnson 0 1 2-2 5, Bill Dressel 4 1 3-4 14, Joe Laber 4 0 1-2 9, Chris Laber 8 0 0-0 16, Shawn Hacker 0 1 0-0 0 3. Totals: 23-63 (4) 10-13 60. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 23 (C. Laber 10, Hacker 4). Assists: 10 (Dressel 3, Carte 3). Steals: 12 (Johnson 4, Carte 3, Stack 3). Turnovers: 10.

VILLAGE ACADEMY (2-3): Trent Weiser 3 1 1-1 10, Michael Gallagher 1 0 0-0 2, Michael Burke 0 0 2-2 2, Sam Santos 0 0 0-0 0, Ben Fitcho 3 0 6-8 12, Jason Tabor 5 0 2-3 12, Eric Sturnman 2 0 0-0 4, Steve Chinn 6 0 3-4 15. Totals: 20 1 14-18 57. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.