Griffith was then hacked, hit the front end of a two-shot foul and was able to rebound the ensuing miss for a putback and a 72-69 advantage. A few seconds later, Yarbrough again caused a steal and Osborne scooted downfloor for another layup and a five-point edge.

SA protected its lead by sinking 13-of-17 free throws in the final quarter, and finished the game 31-of-38 at the line.

"We played hard,'' said Mark Marcum, Tolsia's first-year coach, "but we had a lot of turnovers and a lot of fouls. Those are things we can clean up, and we'll be all right. [Turnovers] are going to be trouble for us, because we're young.''

St. Albans managed to win with pressure defense despite dressing just nine players and using only seven. Three potentially important players Jon Austin, Nick Woodrum and Zack Hodges sat out for a variety of reasons, but all are expected back soon.

"I was really happy with our fortitude,'' Kiser said. "We used the halfcourt trap most of the game and expended a lot of energy with just two [substitutes] and not a lot of experience out there sometimes.

"I think they hustled pretty well. We got behind early and stayed behind for long periods throughout the game and gave up some easy shots, but I was happy that when we got down, we continued to fight back and play hard. We forced a lot of turnovers and a lot of deflections. That caused a lot of chaos in there. From that standpoint, I'm happy with it because intensity has been one of our biggest concerns here the last few years.''

Yarbrough, who was selected as St. Albans' game MVP, added 15 points and Osborne came off the bench to tally 12, all of them in the second half. Kiser also praised the effort of reserve Josh Goble, who provided some quality minutes.

The Rebels received double-figure scoring efforts from Kenny Muncy (23 points), Derrick Robertson (16), Channing Preece (13) and Brandon Maynard (11). Preece, who canned four 3s, was chosen as his team's MVP.

To contact assistant sports editor Rick Ryan, use e-mail or call 348-5175.