The St. James High boys’ basketball squad split two games with longtime non-conference rivals last week, traveling to Salem to post a 68-49 victory over Salem Tuesday, Dec. 9 and dropping a 59-47 decision to unbeaten Rolla at home Tuesday, Dec. 9.

That leaves St. James with a 3-3 record.

This week the Tigers are to open their Four Rivers Conference schedule by hosting New Haven Tuesday and playing at Union Friday, Dec. 19 (4:30 p.m. freshman game, junior varsity and varsity games to follow):

Dec. 12 - St. James 68, Salem 49: It was the second time in as many weeks that St. James topped Salem. The two also met in the semifinals of the Sullivan FCNB Bank-It Tournament the previous week.

St. James’ sophomore guard Isaac Smith fired in a triple within the first 20 seconds of the contest, and St. James led the rest of the way. Sophomore Eli Wofford answered with a putback quickly after, but that was the last of Salem’s offense for several minutes as St. James continued to build on its lead. Junior Tyson Connors hit a pair of free throws to stop the scoreless run and cut the gap to seven nearing the end of the period, but St. James quickly responded and extended its lead 20-7 after the first.

St. James senior guard Tate Gruver hit three straight triples to open the second, expanding St. James’ double-digit lead to over 20 points. Shooting woes and points off of turnovers were especially costly for Salem before halftime. For every basket Salem scored, including senior Braiden Gapsch’s deep trey midway through the second and Connors’ corner 3-pointer shortly after, St. James had an answer of their own. Junior Ryan Cunningham hit Salem’s fourth from beyond the arc in the second to cut the lead to 14 points, 36-22 with a few moments remaining before the break. Senior Aiden Boone converted on a free throw with two seconds before halftime to give St. James a 40-25 advantage going into the break.

Salem’s deficit swelled to as many as 20 again in the third period. Wofford completed a three-point play and scored a fastbreak layup with seconds left in the quarter to cut it back down to 14, but a St. James’ layup at the buzzer made it 54-38 with a quarter to play.

Foul trouble plagued Salem in the fourth quarter. The Tigers had four players with four fouls in the quarter, and senior Gavin Sapaugh fouled out with four minutes remaining as Salem trailed 61-43. Wofford fouled out 16 seconds later. Senior Hayden Ragsdale also got five fouls with about a minute to play in the game, followed by Gapsch hitting the bench with :43 left. St. James hit three free throws to close out the game.

Gapsch paced Salem with 14 points, while Cunningham added 10. Four players scored in double figures for St. James.

St. James won the JV game 38-23.

The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):

Varsity

Salem (3-3): Cunningham 3-2-10, Thomas 1-0-2, Halinar 1-2-4, Connors 1-2-5, Gapsch 5-0-14, Sapaugh 2-1-5, Wofford 4-1-9, Totals 17-8-49.

St. James (3-3): Boone 6-2-14, Gruver 7-3-21, Gleason 5-3-13, Smith 3-7-14, Meurer 1-0-2, J. Spurgeon 1-2-4, Totals 23-17-68.

The score by periods:

St. James  20  20  14  14-68

Salem         7  18  13  11-49

Junior Varsity

St. James: Driskell 0-2-2, Ridenhour 3-7-13, O. Spurgeon 3-1-7, Jones 3-0-6, Huffman 1-2-4, Recker 2-2-6.

Salem: Hampton 0-2-2, May 1-2-4, Malone 1-0-2, Smith 1-0-3, Halinar 1-0-2, D. Jennings 2-0-4, L. Jennings 3-0-6.

Dec. 9 - Rolla 59, STJ 47: Rolla took the early lead and went on to hold off the pesky Tigers.

Senior guard Jenson Thomas got Rolla off to a fast start, scoring 11 of the team’s first-quarter points, as the Bulldogs took a 16-7 advantage. The Tigers would close the gap in the second period, outscoring Rolla the rest of the half 18-14 to trim their halftime deficit to 30-25.

However, Rolla took control with a big third quarter. Senior all-state guard Ethan Brown fired in 11 points in the third period as the Bulldogs increased their advantage to 50-34 heading into the fourth quarter. Rolla would lead the rest of the way, on the strength of Thomas’ seven 4th-period points.

Gruver had 15 points, Smith 13 and senior Nick Gleason 12 for St. James. Thomas netted 23 points and Brown 17 for Rolla.

Rolla won the junior varsity game 46-37.

The individual scoring:

Varsity

St. James: Boone 1-1-3, Gruver 7-0-15, Gleason 6-0-12, Smith 6-0-13, Meurer 1-0-2, J. Spurgeon 1-0-2, Totals 22-1-47.

Rolla (6-0): Thomas 10-0-23, Gideon 3-0-7, Ledbetter 1-0-2, Brown 7-1-17, Smith 2-1-5, N. Robinson 2-1-5, Totals 25-3-59.

The score by periods:

Rolla         16  14  20    9-59

St. James    7  18    9  13-47

Junior Varsity

St. James: Driskell 2-0-4, Ridenhour 6-3-15, O. Spurgeon 1-2-4, Jones 3-0-7, Huffman 2-0-5, Giacolone 1-0-2.

Rolla: Wilkins 3-1-7, Hirtz 2-0-5, Thorpe-Lancaster 0-2-2, Henderson 3-4-10, Litz 2-0-5, D. Robinson 3-0-7, Scheck 2-2-6, Stallworth 1-0-2, Thomas 1-0-2.