Lindbergh Momentum Overcomes Mehlville Boys

It was a slow start for both Lindbergh and Mehlville on Friday night, but the Flyers found momentum in the second period and didn’t look back.

The Lindbergh boys, led by senior guard Blake Welch's team-high 23 points, added to their lead each period, finishing with a 64-46 win. The Flyers broke a 3-game losing streak and now stand at 12-9. Mehlville, in a 5-game slump, is now 5-15 on the season.

Lindbergh head coach Jason Wolfard said Welch was injured in a game about four weeks ago and missed two weeks of games, and had been struggling.

“Couldn’t find his shot, couldn’t do anything,” Wolfard said. “It just happened tonight. He’s kind of been our leader, the guy we looked to.”

Welch started slowly in the first period with just a two, but hit three 3-pointers and a two in the second period. Mehlville senior guard Austin Herbert almost matched him, also hitting three 3-pointers.

Every time the Panthers had a run, the Flyers had a little bit more of a run. At the half Lindbergh had stretched their lead to 26-19.

The Panthers pulled within two early in the second half but couldn’t keep it together.

“We subbed, they did a good job running their offense, we didn’t do a good enough job of helping each other out,” Mehlville head coach Andy Guethle said. “It kind of escalated from there.”

Lindbergh outshot Mehlville 21-13 in the third period, led by senior guard Joe Killian with 12, followed by Welch with seven.

Flyers senior guard Cameron McGuire had seven and senior Mik Ebert had six in the fourth. Mehlville senior Adis Mujakic was 4-for-4 from the foul line in the fourth period, and senior Brendan Merz hit a two and a 3-pointer late in the game, but much too late. The Panthers were outscored 17-14 in the last period.

Wolfard was happy for a win, especially with three big conference games coming up, starting with Eureka (8-11) on Tuesday.

“A couple of our guys have kind of been struggling to find their shot, hopefully we found that tonight and won’t let it go the rest of the season,” Wolfard said.

Mehlville plays their neighbor, Oakville (5-14), away, on Tuesday. Guethle thinks his team can turn it around.

“We as a group need to decide how we want to finish the year, and we need to stay together, and I think we will,” he said.

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