Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

Spongebob has a jellyfishing net he calls “Ol’ Reliable.” The St. Joseph Flyers have a part of their game they can always rely on.
Even when the offense isn’t clicking, the Flyers call on their “Ol’ Reliable” facet of the game as they turn to defense.
St. Joseph had a strong defensive effort on Wednesday as they rallied in the fourth quarter to slip past the Rock Hill Redmen 47-42.
“We had some real nice looks early and we just missed them. But our defense was really good all night. Zach McGraw did a good job on  (Mason) Darby,” said Flyers’ coach Rex Cooksey.
“We did a good job keeping them off the offensive boards. (Jaret) Bacorn has improved and Darby is good on the boards. They got some big put-backs at their place that were key and we were able to limit that tonight.”
Chase Walters scored a game-high 19 points and had five rebounds to lead the Flyers (9-12). Zach Roach scored 11 points. Clay Willis had six rebounds and four assists while Zac McGraw had five rebounds.
Rock Hill (3-18) was paced by Darby with 14 points. Logan Hankins added 10 points and Tyler Damron scored eight.
Hankins had five points in the first quarter as Rock Hill went up 9-7. Peyton Adkins hit a 3-pointer for the Flyers.
Roach scored seven points in the second quarter as St. Joseph rallied to take a 20-18 halftime lead. Darby and Hankins scored three each for the Redmen.
Rock Hill used four points by Darby to take a 31-28 lead at the end of the third quarter. Walters — who had 17 points in the second half — scored all of the Flyers eight points in the quarter.
After the Flyers fell behind by five points, Walters scored nine points to key the fourth quarter comeback.
The Flyers were just 8-of-17 from the foul line for the game but clutched up down the stretch as Willis was 2-of-4 and Tre Neal 2-of-3 to open up a seven-point lead.
“We were able to get some stops and get the lead back and make some free throws,” said Cooksey.
St. Joseph hosts Symmes Valley on Saturday in the Ironton Conley Center. Rock Hill is at South Point on Friday.
Rock Hill    9    9    13    11    =    42
St. Joseph    7    13    8    19    =    47
ROCK HILL (3-18): Tyler Damron 3 0 2-4 8, Tim Adkins 0 1 0-0 3, Logan Hankins 2 2 0-0 10, Mason Darby 3 2 2-2 14, Jaret Bacorn 2 0 0-0 4, Kadin France 1 0 0-2 2, Cameron Barnette 0 0 1-2 1, Jake Blagg 0 0 0-0 0, Isaac Floyd 0 0 0-0 0, Nate Malone 0 0 0-0 0, Brady Knipp 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 5 5-10 42. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Bacorn.
ST. JOSEPH (9-12): Isaac Whaley 1 0 0-1 2, Clay Willis 0 0 2-4 2, Zach Roach 1 2 3-4 11, Peyton Adkins 0 1 0-0 3, Zac McGraw 3 0 0-1 6, Tre Neal 1 0 2-4 4, Chase Walters 9 0 1-3 19. Totals: 18-44 8-17 47. 3-point goals: 3-12. Rebounds: 23 (Willis 6, McGraw 5, Walters 5). Assists: 10 (Willis 4). Steals: 4. Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.