Flyers win on Blair’s 3-pointer at buzzer
Published 4:28 am Wednesday, January 19, 2011
By JIM WALKER
Tribune Sports Editor
PEDRO — Second verse, same as the first, only in reverse.
The St. Joseph Flyers and Rock Hill Redmen played an almost exact replay of their first meeting only with the roles reversed.
In their first game at St. Joseph, the Redmen jumped out to a 21-0 lead only to have the Flyers rally to take the lead.
The Redmen tied the game and won in overtime on a 35-footer by Trey Wilds at the buzzer.
Tuesday night, the Flyers took a 24-9 first quarter lead only to see the Redmen take the lead with seconds remaining.
This time, Payton Blair stole the ball with three seconds left. After a St. Joseph timeout. Blair took and inbounds pass and hit a 35-footer of his own to give the Flyers a 51-49 win.
“Usually we start out flat and have to battle back,” said Flyers’ coach Jeremy Williams. “We started well but in the second half we didn’t execute and we weren’t helping out on defense.”
T.J. Young scored 10 points and Tanner Riley nine in the first quarter as the Flyers raced to a 24-9 first quarter lead.
“We lost the game in the first quarter,” said Rock Hill coach Bob Wilds. “They came out and played really well and we weren’t able to match it.”
Young had five points in the second quarter while Andy Knipp scored five for the Redmen and it was 33-18 at the half.
Knipp scored six points and Mitchell Patterson five as Rock Hill cut the deficit to 40-32 after three quarters.
The Redmen went up by three but Young hit a trifecta to tie the game, then made a foul shot for the lead.
Knipp scored to give the Redmen the lead and the Flyers turned the ball over with three seconds left.
Rock Hill tried to inbounds the ball when Blair came up with his steal and then hit his winning shot.
“At our place and Wilds took his shot, it looked good coming out of his hands. When Payton took his shot it looked perfect,” said Williams.
Young led all scorers with 25 points. Riley had 14 points and seven rebounds while Blair had seven assists and four steals. Justin Mahlmeister grabbed six rebounds.
Knipp had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Devin Darby added nine points and Trey Wilds had eight assists.
St. Joseph 24 9 7 11 = 51
Rock Hill 9 9 14 17 = 49
SAINT JOSEPH (7-5): Payton Blair 1 1 0-0 5, Zack Dalton 0 0 0-0 0, Eli Lewis 0 0 0-0 0, Cody Blackburn 1 0 0-0 2, Tanner Riley 3 1 5-6 14, Justin Mahlmeister 1 1 0-0 5, T.J. Young 5 4 3-4 25. Totals: 18-33 8-10 51. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 7-12. Rebounds: 23 (Riley 7, Mahlmeister 6). Assists: 13 (Blair 7, Lewis 3). Steals: 5 (Blair 4). Turnovers: 12.
ROCK HILL (4-6): Jonathan Schwab 1 0 1-1 3, Drew Kidd 0 2 0-0 6, Shane Russell 1 0 3-8 5, Devin Darby 2 12-3 9, Trey Wilds 0 0 0-0 0, Mitchell Patterson 1 1 0-1 5, Andy Knipp 10 0 1-2 21. Totals: 19-40 7-15 49. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 17 (Knipp 10). Assists: 17 (Wilds 8, Darby 3, Patterson 3). Steals: 6 (Knipp 2, Russell 2). Turnovers: 7.