This is a basketball.

Saturday, January 20, 2001

This is a basketball. Handle with care.

That’s not what the St. Joe Flyers did Friday night, committing 28 turnovers in a 72-54 loss to the Huntington St. Joe Fighting Irish.

"They’re pretty good. They have some good athletes. But we turned the ball over too many times and that was the difference," Flyers coach Kevin Sheridan said.

Ryan Cole scored 20 points and Monroe Myers 18 to lead the Irish.

Chris Laber had 20 points and 13 rebounds to pace the Flyers (2-10). Bill Dressel got 15 points while Kyle Johnson grabbed eight rebounds.

"We battled and didn’t quit. We outrebounded them. We were competing, but we just didn’t take care of the basketball," Sheridan said. "Chris Laber played well and I though Danny Stack did well. He just got tired."

Another problem for the Flyers was shooting. They made just 19-of-60 floor shots for 31.7 percent including 8-of-32 the first half and a mere 2-of-12 the first quarter.

"We missed 11 shots inside the paint the first half. We got good looks, we just didn’t convert," Sheridan said.

The Irish took a 17-8 lead the first quarter as Laber had five of St. Joe’s points. Laber had seven more points the second quarter as each team scored 15 points and it was 32-23 at the half.

Dressel hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight the third quarter, but the Irish pulled ahead 51-37.

Laber had eight more points the fourth quarter, but the Irish scored 21 to win going away.

St.Joe hosts Coal Grove Tuesday.

Hunt. St. Joe 17 15 19 21 – 72

Ironton St. Joe 8 15 14 17 – 54

HUNTINGTON ST. JOSEPH: Seth Blatt 2 0 0-0 4, Ryan Cole 7 2 0-1 20, Xavier Thomas 1 0 0-0 2, Adam Reynolds 2 1 0-0 7, Chad Lake 1 0 5-5 7, Mark Houvouras 3 1 0-0 9, Brian Ferguson 1 0 3-6 5, Monroe Myers 9 0 0-0 18. Totals: 26 4 8-12 72. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON ST. JOSEPH (2-10): Chris Carter 0 0 2-3 2, Danny Stack 1 1 1-2 6, Kyle Johnson 2 0 0-1 4, Bill Dressel 3 3 0-0 15, Joe Laber 2 0 1-2 5, Chris Laber 7 0 6-8 20, Shawn Hacker 0 0 2-2 2. Totals: 19-60 (4) 12-18 54. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 15-19=34 (C. Laber 13, Johnson 8). Assists: 5. Steals: 11 (Dressel, J. Laber, Carte, Stack, Johnson 2 each). Turnovers: 28.