CULLMAN – In getting their 14th consecutive victory Tuesday evening, the St. Bernard Saints took control of the game with Southeastern at the Fazi-Richard Athletic Center early in the third period.
By the 4:00 mark, the Saints were on a 10-2 run and had turned a slim 31-26 halftime lead to 41-28. St. Bernard would go on to run Southeastern off the floor by the final margin of 75-47.
The Saints delivered 23 points in the third that gave the momentum and added 21 in the fourth, finishing with 44 in the second half. The Saints are now 18-1 with the 14-game winning streak and have gone 9-0 vs. the opposition at the St. Bernard Prep School campus.
It was a challenge for the Saints through the first half with the visitors from Blount County. Southeastern matched the Saints point for point and tied the score at 24-24 with 3:00 left in the half on a three-pointer by Justin Bolden, the fifth at that time for Southeastern.
Then it was time for the St. Bernard guards to come alive. Point guard Dean Smith and shooting guard Christian Peterson had been held scoreless until the final 1:50 of the second. Smith landed a three that sent the Saints ahead to stay at 27-24, Peterson got his first basket 55 seconds later and Smith drove to the hoop for two with 0:28 left to complete a 7-0 run.
The Mustangs scored before the half ended, trailing 31-26. That would be as close as the game was for the rest of the night.
Peterson finished the third quarter scoring with a driving shot and the Saints upped the margin to 54-35.
Then with 3:14 to go, center Evan Aldridge completed his fine night of work with a field goal for his 23rd point and the Saints cleared the bench after that play, leading 67-45.
Points in the final 1:31 from Preston Holmes, Anthony Silva and Caleb Guthrey capped off the solid second half with the Saints taking this one by 28 after just a five-point cushion at intermission.
Supporting the 23 from Aldridge was Smith and Gavin Harris at 13 points and Peterson with 11. The Saints accounted for 16 field goals in the second half of their 44-point outbreak, only three coming from long range.
The Saints get Meek in town Thursday to finish the 1A, Area 11 schedule. The Saints are 5-0 in the area and have clinched home court for the area tournament Feb. 11-13.
Southeastern 60, St. Bernard 54 (2 OT) (Girls)
Victory was hard earned by the visitors after they let a 9-point lead with 1:30 to play in the fourth period get away from them. The Lady Saints rallied behind two field goals from Zana Wilson, one by Anna Meyers and had a three-pointer as time expired by Jaden Edge to tie the game at 44-44.
Meyers hustled down on the left baseline to keep the ball alive with St. Bernard getting it back to Edge who hit her third trey of the game with this one sending the crowd into a frenzy.
But the Lady Saints would go down to defeat when they lost Myers, Alli Messick and Wilson to five personal fouls each. That left them to finish the game with four people since they only had seven dressed for the contest.
Southeastern took the lead on a shot around the goal at 2:23 of the second overtime and took advantage of St. Bernard’s inability to score from the foul line, missing four in a row.
The Lady Mustangs clinched the win with a layup with 10 seconds left and handed the Lady Saints their fourth consecutive loss.
Wilson played well before fouling out, scoring 26, with Edge having a 19-point performance and Myers tossing in five.
Peyton Lindley tossed in 19 for the winners, with Brianna Brasfield adding 11 and Wendy Soto 10.
The game took an hour and 50 minutes to be played, ending at 6:50 p.m.
