SALEM — A last-second shot by West Lincoln’s Bradleigh Ricerattled the rim but rolled out and the St. Aloysius Flashes escapedwith a 52-51 upset win over the Bears Friday night in thechampionship finals of the Division 7-1A Tournament. The No.1-seeded Bears nearly overcame a 35-27 deficit starting the fourthquarter.

In the consolation game, Dexter dumped Bogue Chitto 59-51, ledby Terrance Marks with 23 points and Brandel Brown with 12.

West Lincoln (19-8) will be home Tuesday night to host Lake inthe opening round of the South Mississippi playoffs. Tipoff is 7p.m. in Jack Case Gymnasium. St. Al (20-8), based in Vicksburg,hosts Pisgah.

Bogue Chitto (15-11) must travel to Puckett Tuesday. Dexter(9-16) travels to Sebastopol.

St. Al 52, West Lincoln 51

“We stunk it up in the first half,” said West Lincoln coach LaneYoung. “We didn’t do anything to St. Al defensively. We playedextremely hard the second half but the last shot rolled out.”

The Bears got a game-high 23 points from senior guard AaronShaw, plus 5 rebounds. Shaw scored 19 points in the fourth quartercomeback.

Jeremy Byrd followed Shaw with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 stealsand 3 blocked shots. Rice had 5 rebounds.

“West Lincoln’s second-half pressure cut our lead down in ahurry,” said St. Al coach Penn Major. “We won the game with defenseat the end. West Lincoln played us hard and I’m proud to get thewin.”

St. Al avenged 2 earlier losses to the Bears who had finished12-0 in the division race. The Flashes got 14 points and 6 reboundsfrom John Robert Burnett. They led 24-13 at halftime.

Dexter 59, Bogue Chitto 51

Marks also had 13 rebounds and 3 steals in the win over theBobcats. The Bulldogs had trailed 31-23 at halftime.

“We started off slow but Bogue Chitto got in early foultrouble,” said Dexter coach Steven Fortenberry. “That hurt them inthe second half. We were able to hit our free throws at theend.”

The Bobcats got 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 stealsfrom Justin Gaines. Keyouna Perkins chipped in 12 points and 10rebounds.

“Dexter did a good job and didn’t quit,” said BC coach AndrewSmithie. “We couldn’t put together two good halves ofbasketball.”

Smithie’s Bobcats are shorthanded due to disciplinary measuresagainst two starters.