A cold second quarter nearly sunk St. Louis Catholic on Tuesday, but the Saints held on to beat Leesville in a nondistrict game 51-50.

The Saints (9-9) ended a five-game losing streak and earned their first win of 2025.

The Saints were in good shape to start the second quarter when they took a 25-13 lead on a free throw by Nathan Ughovwa. But that was when the trouble started. The Saints went quiet and closed out the quarter with seven turnovers and nine consecutive missed shots. Meanwhile, the Wampus Cats went on an 11-0 run. Nate Valles’s jumper with 19 seconds left in the first half cut the Saints’ lead to one, 25-24.

St. Louis’ struggle from the field continued in the third quarter as they shot 26.7 percent, and Leesville’s Antrel Broom hit a shot off the glass with four seconds left in the third quarter to keep it a one-point game, 36-35.

Leesville (8-10) took the lead twice in the fourth quarter. The first time was on a shot in the lane by Xavier Ford for a two-point lead. Darrell Tate crashed the boards with 4:12 left in the game and scored on an offensive rebound to put the Wampus Cats up 45-43.

The Wampus Cats enjoyed a wide margin in the rebounding category, 38-27, and outshot the Saints 46.5 percent to 32.8 percent. Ford led Leesville with 14 rebounds.

St. Louis took back the lead for good with 2:40 left when Alex Goodwin scored on a drive to the basket.

Broom hit a deep three-pointer with four seconds left to cut the Saints’ lead to one but the Wampus Cats couldn’t get the ball back before time ran out.

Dreylon O’Key and Ughovwa led the Saints with 11 and 12 points respectively.

Broom was Leesville’s top scorer with 12 points, and Tate finished with 11.