Shiner St. Paul overwhelms rivals with defense

SHINER — Winning the turnover battle may be one thing. Converting those opportunities into points is what’s key for teams to win and Shiner St. Paul did just that against Hallettsville Sacred Heart on Tuesday.

Coming off the holiday break, the Cardinals had a rare non-district game against their rivals, due to Sacred Heart moving up to Class 3A while St. Paul stayed in 2A. Despite the timing of the game, the rivalry continued as Shiner St. Paul’s defense was the key in their 47-32 win over their rivals, Hallettsville Sacred Heart.

“We’re busting our tail on defense,” head coach Lance Giese said. “We got to convert on the other end when we get steals. We’re going to continue to work on it and hopefully [our defense] gets better.”

Though a slow start gave the visiting Indians an early lead, the Cardinals took the lead back with a 12-4 run in the second quarter as players such as Joseph Natal grabbed steals and converted on the offensive end.

“I thought Joseph Natal played a heck of a game defensively,” Giese mentioned. “He did well.”

The sophomore guard finished the night with 10 points.

Only up five at the beginning of the second half, the Cardinals continued to use their stifling defense to create scoring opportunities.

“That’s the fun part, make steals and get your layups,” Giese said.

Senior forward Josh Haynes took advantage as well, leading the team with 16 points. Six of those points came in the third quarter where St. Paul increased their lead to 10 over Sacred Heart.

One issue the Cardinals had throughout the game was free-throw shooting. The team combined for 1-of-10 from the free-throw line.

“We got to work on it. Coming off of Christmas break, kids had a little rust,” Giese explained. “We got two games to work it out and the real season starts next week.”

Despite the poor free-throw shooting, the Cardinals outscored Sacred Heart 11-6 in the fourth quarter to take the 15-point win over their rivals.

“The kids love it. That’s their big rival,” Giese said. “I just want my kids to compete and that’s what we’re doing. Got to put the ball in the hole and all things will work out.”

Other scorers for St. Paul include Austin Barton with 10 points, River Haynes with seven, Jacob Darilek with two and senior forward Ryan Bell with two.

“Ryan Bell came off the bench to spell Austin and Josh,” Giese said, “we made a little change from him this week, he went to the post and I thought he did well and handled it well. Just got to get in there and compete, that’s all I ask the kids to do.”

The Cardinals have one more warmup game before district play begins for them. Tonight they travel to take on Round Top-Carmine with tipoff scheduled at 6:30 p.m.