Once the St. Joseph Flyers got started, they couldn’t stop.

Tied at the end of the first quarter, the Flyers exploded for 49 point over the next two quarters and rolled past the Ohio Valley Christian Defenders 73-48 Friday.

“We have to come out ready to play in the first quarter and we couldn’t get things going right away,” said Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams.

“Spencer Schwab came in and gave us a booster in the second quarter rebounding and playing defense and we took over from there.”

The Flyers’ Payton Blair scored 5 points in the first quarter as the two teams battled to a 12-12 tie.

But Justin Mahlmeister scored 7 points and Blair 6 more in the second stanza as St. Joseph outscored OVC 23-7 to take a 35-19 lead.

Joseph Unger and Cody Blackburn teamed up for some serious damage in the third quarter as the Flyers lit up the scoreboard for 26 points. Unger had 12 and Blackburn 11 as the lead grew to 61-35.

“T.J. Young had been sick in practice so we went with Cody. He did score in the first half and he told me at halftime he would hit his shots. He caught fire and kept knocking them down,” said Williams.

“In the third quarter we really started attacking them and Cody and Joseph did a nice job scoring.”

Williams emptied his bench in the fourth quarter.

St. Joseph had four players in double figures led by Unger with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Blackburn added 13 points and 3 assists.

Blair finished with 11 points, 7 assists and 4 steals. Mahlmeister also had 11 points and 2 steals while Tanner Riley grabbed 11 rebounds and Schwab 6.

Paul Miller and Daniel Irwin scored 14 points each for Ohio Valley Christian who lost its fist game against four win.

The Flyers will host Rock Hill on Tuesday and Portsmouth West on Wednesday.

Ohio Valley 12 7 16 13 = 48

St. Joseph 12 23 26 12 = 73

OHIO VALLEY CHRISTIAN (4-1): Paul Miller 1 3 3-5 14, Daniel Irwin 5 1 1-5 14, Jarred Artley 2 0 0-0 4, Jonathan Vanmeter 3 0 0-1 6, Chance Burleson 2 1 0-0 7, Ben Tillis 0 0 3-7 3. Totals: 13 5 7-17 48. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None.

ST. JOSEPH (4-9): Payton Blair 3 1 2-3 11, Cody Blackburn 2 3 0-0 13, Spencer Schwab 0 0 4-4 , Zach Dalton 0 0 2-2 2, Joseph Unger 7 0 0-1 14, Tanner Riley 3 0 1-2 7, Justin Mahlmeister 3 1 2-2 11, T.J. Young 2 1 1-2 8, Zach Alexander 0 0 0-1 0, Tanner Carte 0 1 0-0 3, Ike Palmer 0 0 0-0 0, Anthony Whaley 0 0 0-0 0, Levi Hopkins 0 0 0-0 0, Wain Artis 0 0 0-0 0, Grant Geswein 0 0 0-0 0, Eli Lewis 0 0 0-0 0, Chris Seidel 0 0 0-0 0, Lane Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-63 12-17 73. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 7-19. Rebounds: 43 (Riley 11, Unger 7, Schwab 6). Assists: 16 (Blair 7, Riley 3, Blackburn 3). Steals: 12 (Blair 4, Mahlmeister 2). Turnovers: 20.