ST. BERNARD – Determined to set the tone early and control the game, the Lady Saints of St. Bernard came out hitting shots left and right, outscoring the Meek Lady Tigers 10-2 in the first quarter of their match-up Monday night. Leading the way in the first was Zana Wilson with four in the Lady Saint flurry.
The second quarter saw a considerably less amount of scoring when both teams combined for just seven points but again it was St. Bernard that came out on top and took a 15-5 lead after 16 minutes of play.
Meek, not content to roll over and quit, fought back hard and outscored St. Bernard for the first time, 5-2 in the third but still trailed by seven heading to the fourth quarter.
The Lady Saints came out in the fourth just like they did in the first, hitting shots from all over the floor. St. Bernard put up a big 14 points compared to just nine from Meek to give the Lady Saints their 10th win on the season, improving to a 10-11 record by the score of 31-20.
St. Bernard 57, Meek 41
Just like their female counterparts, the St. Bernard Saints boys squad came out lighting it up from the floor to take a 22-13 first quarter advantage. Evan Aldridge scored the first five points for the Saints. Dean Smith was on target from three point range, going two of two in the quarter. Meek countered with Seth Haynes who scored seven of the Meek Tigers 13 first quarter points.
The offense slowed in the second but that doesn’t mean the action did. Dean Smith of St. Bernard got thrown down hard by the arm after a frustrated Meek player lost a jump ball. The crowd erupted in boos as the play happened right in front of an official who opted not to blow his whistle. However the “non” calls went both ways as Tiger players were getting hammered as they drove to the hole or brought the ball up the court. When the dust settled, St. Bernard had added to their lead and took a 29-18 score to the locker room in a very physical game.
Offense was fast and furious on both ends of the floor in the third quarter. Meek opened on a 4-0 run prompting a Saint timeout. The break in the action worked as St. Bernard came out of the timeout on an 8-2 run that forced a Meek 30 second timeout. From the midway point in the quarter, the Meek Tigers dominated inside. They were able to get high percentage shots in the paint and made them count. With the impressive play inside, Meek was able to cut the St. Bernard lead from a double digit 11 to a more manageable seven heading to the final eight minutes in regulation.
The Saints lead quickly ballooned back up to 13 in the early stages of the fourth thanks to a 7-1 run that forced a valuable timeout from Meek. The offensive burst fired up St. Bernard, who extended the run to 15-5 on their way to a big 57-41 victory.
Evan Aldridge led the Saints and all scorers with 20 points. John Gurtowski followed with 19.
Seth Haynes was the leading scorer for Meek with 14.
