Potent Margaretta overwhelms St. Paul

CASTALIA — The matchup was what it was. Even with a 4-0 start to the season, there was no secret what the St. Paul boys basketball team was up against Saturday night. Traveling on the road to take on Margaretta, one of the top teams in all of Division V, the Flyers were no match for the Polar Bears. Margaretta led 11-0 within the first three minutes and never looked back in the 48-10 win in Castalia. "Margaretta is built to be a team that has bigger aspirations and had to take care of business against a team like us, and I thought they did," St. Paul head coach Steve Minor said. "They made quick work of us and got their rest. That's a credit to Coach (Steve) Keller for not trying to do something he didn't need to." The Flyers trailed 13-5 after Isaac Kalizewski made a 3-pointer with 3:20 left in the opening quarter. St. Paul then had an opportunity to get within five or six points with a defensive stop and possession but were quickly turned over. The Bears then reeled off another eight straight points, led by NCAA Div. I University of Dayton commit Julian Washington, who put on an aerial show with three slam dunks in the first half. Kalizewski scored again for a 21-7 deficit, but that didn't stop the bleeding very long. Margaretta scored the game's next 15 points to blow it open at 37-7 with under five minutes left in the half. Landon Fries ended a nearly four-minute drought with a basket with 4:14 left in the half. However, the Flyers didn't score again, and the Bears closed the half on an 11-1 scoring run to take a commanding 48-10 halftime lead. With a running clock in the second half, the two teams played to a 21-21 tie. "It's obvious we're not going to see a team like this again," Minor said. "There were things we needed to work on. We wanted them to play more aggressively in the second half. Let's not pack it in. And I don't think that we did. Our body language was good considering the score." Nate Griffin scored 12 points to lead St. Paul (4-1), while Landon Fries had 11. Saturday's loss snapped a 15-game win streak in the regular season for the Flyers, dating back 11 months to Jan. 7, 2025, of last season. Including the tournament, St. Paul had won 18 of its last 19 games prior to Saturday. "And for the four guys who were on our varsity roster last year, it's a nice reminder to them that it stinks to lose," Minor said. "Whether it's by two points or more than two. It's never fun to lose. "But we have to learn from it, and there are all kinds of things we can take away from this, especially with how they defended us when they were in the half court." For the first time this season, the Flyers do not play a weeknight game and will visit Monroeville (0-0) in the Firelands Conference opener on Friday. "We finally have a whole week to prep for an opponent, and nothing we did tonight affects our next game," Minor said. "That's our next focus … next game up." ST. PAUL (4-1) Nate Griffin 5-2—12; Connor Polachek 1-0—2; Isaac Kalizewski 2-0—5; Brady Fritz 0-1—1; Landon Fries 2-7—11. TOTALS 10-10—31. MARGARETTA (3-0) Tyler Johnson 1-0—2; Kale Bailey 4-1—9; Jake Bouy 3-3—9; Ayden Miller 1-4—6; Keiygan Morris 4-1—11; Julian Washington 8-2—19; Judah Kellr 3-0—6; Tyson Bailey 2-0—4. TOTALS 27-11—69. St. Paul 7 3 12 9 — 31 Margaretta 24 24 12 9 — 69 3-point FGs: (SP) Kalizewski; (M) Morris 2, Washington, Cox.