By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

ST. JAMES — With the district title already in hand, St. James suffered their first loss in 10-2A play in the final game of the regular season to St. Charles Catholic last Friday night. With the 71-62 win, the Comets have clinched the runner-up spot for the boys post-season which is set to begin next week.

Things started off Friday night with both teams going back and forth in the first quarter with no real advantage. St. James entered the second period with a one point lead and went into halftime with a two point advantage after a prolific quarter for both teams.

In the second half of play, St. Charles came around and took the lead with a 20-16 run, which sent it into the final eight minutes of play with a two point edge for the SCC squad. The final quarter was much the same as the Comets carried over their success from the third, outscoring the Wildcats 19-14 to preserve the win.

With that, district 10-2A is set for the playoffs with St. James in the title position, SCC as runner-up and John Curtis in as the third seed.

&#8220We did well in the second half on both sides of the ball,” said SCC head coach Jeff Montz. &#8220[St. James] has an athletic team every year and this looks like a strong season even by their standards. That’s our district for you. We never have it easy.”

The seedings are set to be announced this week for the post-season bracket, with the state tourney set for March 16-17 in Lafayette.