Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

ASHLAND, Ky. — The St. Joseph Flyers didn’t have their best game overall, but fortunately J.C. Damron didn’t fall into the rut.
Damron scored a career-high 25 points as the Flyers beat the Rose Hill Christian Royals 62-52 on Thursday.
“We did not play very well. We were kind of flat and did not shoot the ball well at all and I knew (Rose Hill) would play harder at home,” said Flyers’ coach Chris Barnes.
“J.C. did play well and Ryan (Payne) played well and Isaac (Whaley) did a nice job on defense coming up with some big plays late.”
Payne scored 15 points and Whaley added 10 for the Flyers (7-2).
Kenny Wilburn had 15 points, Stephan Barker 14 and Trey Phelps 10 for Rose Hill (2-14).
Damron scored four points and Payne had a trey as the Flyers took a 9-3 first quarter lead.
Payne two 3-pointers and Matt Sheridan added a trifecta as the Flyers took a 24-21 halftime lead. Barker, Phelps and Chase Pennington all had 3-pointers for the Royals.
Damron went to work in the third quarter and scored 10 points including a pair of foul shots as the Flyers extended the lead to 41-30.
Wilburn had eight points and both Phelps and Pennington hit 3-pointers as Rose Hill tried to rally in the fourth quarter.
St. Joseph led by as many at 14 with less than three minutes to play when the Royals got within five, but the Payne went 4-for-4, Damron 3-6 and Whaley 2-3 at the foul line to end any comeback hopes.
St. Joseph visits Portsmouth Notre Dame on Saturday.
St. Joseph 9 15 17 21 = 62
Rose Hill 3 18 9 22 = 52
ST. JOSEPH (7-2): Jackson Rowe 0 0 0-0 0, Isaac Whaley 4 0 2-3 10, Zach Roach 3 1 0-0 9, Ryan Payne 1 3 4-4 15, J.C. Damron 10 0 5-9 25, Jimmy Mahlmeister 0 0 0-1 0, Matt Sheridan 0 1 0-0 3, Max Weber 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 5 11-17 62. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Mahlmeister.
ROSE HILL CHRISTIAN (2-14): Kenny Wilburn 7 0 1-3 15, Stehan Barker 1 3 3-5 14, Trey Phelps 2 2 0-0 10, Kaden Brewer 1 0 3-4 5, Chase Pennington 0 2 0-0 6, Seth Wirzfeld 0 0 0-1 2. Totals: 11 7 7-13 52. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Wirzfeld.