Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

St. Joseph Flyers’ coach Rex Cooksey must use a stop sign instead of a clipboard during his timeouts.
The Flyers had some keys stops as they rallied past the Rock Hill Redmen 48-44 on Tuesday.
“We got some big stops. We were up 46-44 and we got a big stop with less than 20 seconds to play. The kids are resilient. They won’t quit. The difference in the game was our defense in the third and fourth quarters,” said Cooksey.
Joey McDavid scored a game-high 20 points including three 3-pointers and had three steals to lead the Flyers (4-2). Zach Roach got 15 points and five rebounds while Clay Willis had 10 points and three steals.
The Flyers were without Chase Walters who is tied as the team scoring leader and top rebounder. Walters was out with an illness.
Rock Hill was missing top rebounder Kaden France, but Jaret Bacorn returned to the Redmen lineup and shared scoring honors with Logan Hankins at 14 points each. Jake Blagg and Braden Stamper had seven each.
“It’s a great defensive effort. Willis is 6-foot tall and he had to guard Bacorn who is 6-4. He battled him all night,” said Cooksey.
“Isaac Whaley didn’t score a point but he guarded Stamper who got 18 against us the last time.”
Stamper scored six points, Hankins had five including a 3-pointer and Bacorn four points as Rock Hill took a 17-13 first quarter lead. Roach had seven points including a 3-pointer for the Flyers.
McDavid got seven points including a 3-pointer and Roach had four points as the Flyers got within 28-26 at the half. Bacorn had four more points for the Redmen.
McDavid hit a pair of trifectas in the third quarter as St. Joseph tied the game at 35. Bacorn again had four points.
Jimmy Mahlmeister hit a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter for the Flyers and Clay Willis hit a jumper that gave St. Joseph the lead for good at 44-43. Roach sank two foul shots to seal the win.
Blagg scored four points in the quarter for the Redmen (0-6).
St. Joseph will play Portsmouth Notre Dame at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Ironton Classic. Rock Hill will host Symmes Valley on Friday, Dec. 29.
Rock Hill    17    11    7    9    =    44
St. Joseph    13    13    9    13    =    48
ROCK HILL (0-6): Jake Blagg 3 0 1-2 7, Garrett Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Isaac Floyd 1 0 0-1 2, Logan Hankins 3 2 2-4 14, Braden Stamper 3 0 1-4 7, Jaret Bacorn 7 0 0-0 14, Logan Reed 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 2 4-11 44. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 12.
ST. JOSEPH (4-2): Isaac Whaley 0 0 0-1 0, Zach Roach 5 1 2-2 15, Clay Willis 5 0 0-0 10, Joey McDavid 5 3 1-2 20, Jimmy Mahlmeister 0 1 0-0 3, J.C. Damron 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-44 3-5 48. 3-pt goals: 5-19. Rebounds: 3-O, 11-D = 14 (Roach 5, Whaley 4). Assists: 6 (Whaley 2). Steals: 9 (Willis 3, McDavid 3, Whaley 2). Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 9.