By MAURICE SINGLETON/Sports Writer

BAY ST. LOUIS — Gautier sank eleven 3-pointers – eight in the second half – in their 55-34 win over St. Patrick in the Bay Christmas tournament on Friday.

The Gators were led by Tristian Street who sank six 3-pointers, including three of the team’s five in the fourth quarter. Tyrek High and Jayden Banks each sank a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. The five fourth-quarter threes were a big part of the Gators’ biggest offensive output of the game as they scored 21 points in the period.

“We just had a lack of effort coming in,” said Gautier’s coach Warren Hargrove. “The boys took them for granted and actually played good the last six minutes.

“We shoot a ton of threes,” said Hargrove. “If we don’t make threes, it’s kind of rough on us.

“We’re not quite where I want us to be,” Hargrove added. “We’re playing good basketball. This game and the game tomorrow will get us ready for district.”

In addition to the second half success from behind the arc, the Gators also held the Fighting Irish to 14 second-half points, while putting up 29 points.

“We wore down,” said St. Patrick coach Keith Robinson. “They’re super quick and can shoot it. We had a little break down: there were four trips in a row where we didn’t get a man in the middle against the press; we tried to swing the ball, and we threw erratic passes, and they stole it.

“That broke it open,” said Robinson. “I’m pleased with the effort. We’re missing a couple of guys, but I think we can get better. They were by far the better team today.”

Street led the Gators with 18 points, followed by Banks with 12 points and Kayden Colvin with 11 points.

Brendan Moton let St. Patrick with 13 points. Grayden Davis scored 8 points, and Colton Parolli finished with 6 points.

St. Patrick plays Long Beach at 1:30 on Saturday afternoon. Gautier closes out the tournament against Daphne at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Ther were six games scheduled for the annual affair here at the Tiger Dome on Friday in opening day action and the event will conclude with six more games on Saturday.