St. Marys' Andre Anderson knocks down a jumper for the Blue Devils' first points of the game during Thursday night's 87-43 defeat at the hands of No. 3, Class AA Williamstown. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

ST. MARYS — Jayden Bryant and Cruz Isaly each stuffed the stat sheet here Thursday night as Carson Hill canned a pair of early trifectas to get No. 3, Class AA Williamstown going during the Yellowjackets’ 87-43 Little Kanawha Conference victory versus St. Marys.

Isaly, who had a game-high 17 points to go with five dimes, as many caroms and a game-high three steals, assisted on Hill’s 3 just 30 seconds in as the ‘Jackets never trailed en route to extending their winning streak to six games after opening the campaign at 4-3.

Bryant went for 16 points, six boards and two steals along with game-highs of nine assists and two blocks as the ‘Jackets earned a regular season sweep of the Blue Devils, who lost 87-29 back on Dec. 19, with No. 1 Wheeling Central set to invade Saturday afternoon.

“We’re happy to get this win. It’s a conference game. Obviously, all the LKC games mean a lot to us because we want to try and win our league,” admitted WHS head coach Scott Sauro, who got 14 bench points from Tyler Keiser as well as 12 points and five rebounds from Parker Schramm. “I think St. Marys is much improved from where they were at the beginning of the year. I think coming in they had won four out of five.

“They really shot it well. Our stats, they were 6 for 10 in the first half from 3 and some of those were very well contested. Credit to them they hit some shots, but I think our guys, for the most part, had the right mindset coming into the game. We wanted to take care of this one early and obviously we have another big one on Saturday that we’re excited about. It should be a fun one.”

St. Marys' Ryan Kent drains one of his five 3s to end the first half as Williamstown's Issac Beall challenges during the No. 3, Class AA Yellowjackets' 87-43 triumph Thursday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Andre Anderson, who had six points, four boards and three assists, answered Hill’s triple with a jumper, but Bryant found Hill on the next possession for another trifecta.

Ryan Kent, who led the hosts with 15 points, drained the first of his five triples to make it 9-5 and it was 12-8 midway through the first after Schramm’s 3 was answered by Preston Lawhon connecting from beyond the arc thanks to a Greg Jemison dish.

However, the ‘Jackets scored the next 10 points as back-to-back trifectas from Schramm and Bryant put the Blue Devils in a 22-8 hole.

“They are so long and athletic defensively. They make it uncomfortable on you and when they are switching stuff it’s hard for you to get into your stuff,” admitted SMHS head man Larry Johnson, whose program had just three turnovers in the first against the press. “We tried some different things and some stuff I wanted to look at to just kind of see what it looked like. We’re getting better. These guys have been great.

“We’ve changed some things after about the sixth or seventh game compared to what we were doing early in the year. They bought right into it and they are doing awesome. They are doing great. Just today was one of those days. We couldn’t throw the ball in (35.6%, 16 of 45). We just couldn’t get a stop. We talked about it and worked on it for two days about dribble-drive, stepping up and taking away the drive early, not letting it get too deep, but they are very good.”

Williamstown's Jayden Bryant, who had 16 points, a game-high nine assists along with six rebounds, two steals and a pair of blocks, looks to drive while being defended by St. Marys' Preston Lawhon during the No. 3, Class AA Yellowjackets' 87-43 victory Thursday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Isaly’s putback just seconds before the buzzer had the Blue Devils doubled up after one, 26-13.

Keiser scored 10 his markers in the second quarter, which included the first basket of the stanza. Although Brody Rice had a deuce and Kent hit from 3 to make it 28-18 with 5:36 left in the half, ‘the ‘Jackets held a 47-26 intermission advantage.

St. Marys, which received 14 points from Lawhon, heads Saturday to No. 6 Ravenswood.

“As far as our region, it’s brutal and it’s tough, but we’re still OK,” admitted coach Johnson of his 4-10 squad. “We still got a chance of maybe getting the fourth seed.

“We’re getting better and they are working at it. They’ve been absolutely wonderful. They’ve done everything I’ve asked them.”

St. Marys' Brody Rice brings the ball up the floor while being pressured by Williamstown's Lynken Joy during the No. 3, Class AA Yellowjackets' 87-43 victory Thursday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Lynken Joy chipped in four points and had a game-high eight caroms for the ‘Jackets, who got seven bench points from Issac Beall.

“I told the guys before the game started,” added coach Sauro. “It was really kind of a message to our seniors ‘hey, you five seniors have 10 regular season games left in your career and how do you want the tail end of your senior year to look’?

“Obviously, we don’t want them to and they don’t want to play to the level of competition. We need to play and set the standard of how we play every game no matter who it is and having 10 regular season games left this is it. We’re at the end. Hopefully, they can take that and propel them to better games in the future.”

When asked about the Maroon Knights and standout guard Eli Sancomb coach Sauro admitted “with their team I don’t think you can just focus on him alone. They have other good players. That’s why they are good. There’s plenty of teams in the country that has a good player and their record isn’t what theirs is. The reason they have a good record is because the supporting cast is really, really good.

“They have a bunch of guys who can shoot it. They have a couple really good big kids. The (Max) Olejasz kid is a really good player and then they have bench play. They are a well rounded team. They are a deserving number one team. They’re number one for a reason and we’re excited about the opportunity to play them.”

Williamstown's Tyler Keiser goes in for two of his 14 bench points during the No. 3, Class AA Yellowjackets' 87-43 victory Thursday night versus St. Marys. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com