PORTSMOUTH  - No stress with the press.

Pressing defenses have bothered the St. Joseph Flyers the past three seasons, but they were able to handle the pressure Friday with a 62-41 season-opening win over the Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans.

St. Joseph had 17 turnovers but nine came in the fourth quarter after coach Kevin Hacker had emptied his bench.

&#8220It was a good start for us. We just hope it carries over. They tried to pressure us early and we broke it and they got out of it. We did a better job taking care of the ball,” Hacker said.

&#8220Handling the press was the key. I'm pleased with that. That's been a problem in the past.”

Senior Alex Swarts was another key in the win as he scored 19 points and hauled down 16 rebounds. Jerrod Laber had five rebounds as the Flyers collected 35 as a team.

Swarts also helped shut down Notre Dame's top rebounder Matt Clayton.

&#8220Alex did a nice job on Clayton. He's a good player inside and Alex kept him off the boards,” Hacker said.

The Flyers jumped in front 25-7 as Swarts got six points and Ryan Schwab and Jeremy Addis scored five each.

Swarts scored 7 more in the second quarter and Cory Lewis hit a 3-pointer as the Flyers extended their lead to 41-18 at the half.

Lewis and Swarts had six points each in the third quarter as the lead grew to 57-30.

Hacker said the Flyers depth also helped when a couple of players got into early foul trouble.

&#8220We were able to sub and not worry about getting the starter back in the game,” Hacker said.

Daniel Sand had 15 points to lead Notre Dame.

St. Joseph2516165=62

Notre Dame7111211=41

IRONTON ST. JOSEPH (1-0):

Michael Basedow 3 0 1-2 7, Ryan Schwab 1 1 0-0 5, Cory Lewis 4 1 2-3 13, Clay Crum 1 0 1-1 3, Jeremy Addis 2 1 0-0 7, Ryan Waginger 1 0 2-2 4, Alex Swarts 8 0 3-5 19, Ryan Staton 1 0 0-1 2, Jerrod Laber 1 0 0-0 2, Chad Harvey 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-63

(3-10)

9-14

62. Fouls: 11-5=16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 16-19=35 (Swarts 16, Laber 5). Assists: 16 (Schwab 4, Lewis 3). Turnovers: 17. Steals: 20 (Crum 4). Blocked shots: 3 (Crum 2, Staton).

PORTSMOUTH NOTRE DAME (0-1):

Alex Davis 0 2 2-3 8, Matt Massey 1 1 0-0 5, Matt Clayton 2 0 0-0 4, Daniel Sand 5 0 5-7 15, Peter Bowman 1 0 0-0 2, Shane Slack 0 0 1-3 1, Kevin Delabar 0 2 0-0 6. Totals: 9 3

8-13

41. Fouls: 11-4=15. Fouled out: Davis.