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Cavaliers' Big Men Help Slam Competition

Posted by Michael Glick at Feb 21, 2003 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
Senior Bowers, Junior Gay Focus On MIAA Crown Members of the Mount St. Joseph's and Spalding boys' basketball teams play before a packed gym. The Cavaliers lost, 63-57, and are the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. (Photos Don Wright For The Washington Post) By Heather A. Dinich Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, February 20, 2003; Page AA15 In the first game of the season, Spalding 7-foot senior center Will Bowers slammed a two-handed dunk at the Morgan Wootten Invitational at the University of Maryland Comcast Center, his future home court. Junior forward Rudy Gay, a 6-7 forward, jammed an alley-oop pass with 32 seconds remaining to seal the 56-52 win in that game against nationally ranked Archbishop Molloy of New York. Together, Gay and Bowers had four dunks in the tournament. The tone for the season was set. Entering this week, Gay, a transfer from Eastern Tech in Baltimore, led the team with 14.1 points and seven rebounds per game. Bowers followed with 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The pair of big men has led the Cavaliers to national prominence and a possible second-place finish in the combined Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association's A-Conference/Baltimore Catholic League. "Will and Rudy complement each other excellently," said Spalding Coach Mike Glick. "Both players have the ability to play inside, both have the ability to pass the basketball inside and shoot the ball from the outside. They're both very versatile players. "As a coach, it puts me in a very advantageous position to be able to pull one of them away from the basket while keeping the other one in. I think they have a great rapport with each other. There is competition amongst themselves in practice, but never in a game. I don't think either Rudy or Will cares who scores or rebounds as long as we win, which is rare to find these days." Gay and Bowers are Glick's most recent success stories -- 16 of his previous players have gone on to play Division I basketball. And this pair, along with a deep supporting lineup, has provided the Cavaliers their third 20-victory season in four years. Spalding had been unstoppable at home this season until Friday, when they lost to Mount St. Joseph, 63-57. The Cavaliers final regular season game against Loyola was postponed Sunday. The Cavaliers are the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, which was scheduled to begin Friday at Goucher College but could be changed because of weather. Spalding (21-5, 12-3) entered the week having won 13 of its last 15 games. Bowers and Gay work together off the court, too. Bowers, who has committed to the University of Maryland, is helping Gay navigate the sometimes overwhelming recruiting process. "The same coaches are coming at me that were coming at him," Gay said. "He tells me about them and what he likes and what he doesn't. He doesn't want to see me going anywhere I probably wouldn't be pleased with later. Of course, he's trying to press me to go to Maryland." Gay and Bowers compete differently -- Gay likes to take more fadeaway jumpers and calls himself more of a "finesse" player. Bowers drives hard and draws the fouls. Both of them, Glick said, are very hard on themselves. "In film sessions, they are critical of their performances," Glick said. "They tend not to make excuses. They take responsibility. Will and Rudy are very coachable kids." With defenses keying in on Bowers, Gay has been free to score -- he contributed 33 points in last week's 74-65 win against St. Francis while Bowers was held to two points. Against Mount St. Joseph, Bowers led the team with 16 points, and Gay added 11. "I don't think it would be worth anything if we didn't play together," said Gay, who scored all of Spalding's points in a 9-2 run with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. "We wouldn't be winning like we are. We have a great team. They take a lot of pressure off us. We just complement everything they do." The pair does get some help. Junior point guard Jesse Brooks leads the team with 5.5 assists per game, and senior Dave Douglas is the team's top defensive player. Douglas said he wouldn't have reached his potential this year without being pushed by his teammates. "It makes me better as a player," said Douglas, who scored a career-high 17 points last week against St. Francis. "I know if I go to the hole soft, it's getting sent to half court or I might get dunked on at practice. "I have to look out for certain things other people might not have to look out for. It helps everyone in the long run. People also double-team Will a lot; that's how I've been getting a lot of my points. "It's been a great experience," Douglas said. "I've known Jesse and Will since I was small, we grew up playing together. You add Rudy, and you have a special team." © 2003 The Washington Post Company
Cavaliers pull even with St. Joe, host Gaels this Friday 02/13/2003 Junior transfer Rudy Gay scored a season-high 33-points and Dave Douglas added 17-points to lead #6 Archbishop Spalding to a critical 74-65 MIAA A Conference victory over #10 St. Frances, last night at Spalding. It was the seventh straight win for the defending champions of the A Conference and the Baltimore Catholic League, and it pulled the Cavaliers (24-2, 12-2 BCL, and 10-2 in the A Conference) even with #3 Mount St. Joseph, atop the standings in both leagues. St. Joe, which has won 16 consecutive games, will travel to Spalding this Friday, at 7:00 pm, to meet the Cavaliers in a first-place showdown that, in all likelyhood, will determine the regular season champion and the top seed for next week's MIAA A/BCL Tournament, to be held at Goucher College.
Late free throws boost No. 6 Cavs; poor shooting dooms 8th-ranked Eagles By Pat O'Malley Sun Staff Originally published February 9, 2003 McDonogh coach Matt MacMullan had a tough time dealing with his host and No. 8 Eagles' 53-44 loss to No. 6 Archbishop Spalding yesterday in a key Baltimore Catholic League/Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference game. "I was frustrated with the way we lost, because I felt we had some shots we should make and didn't make," said MacMullan, whose Eagles shot just 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) from the field in the third period, 6-for-27 (22 percent) in the second half and 16-for-55 (29 percent) overall. Spalding didn't shoot much better (15-for-42, 36 percent), but won the game on the foul line in the final period. Will Bowers led the Cavaliers with a game-high 17 points, The Cavaliers, who were beginning a stretch of six games in nine days, including a noon contest today at No. 18 Cardinal Gibbons, converted 10 of 12 at the line to outscore the Eagles 14-6 in the last eight minutes. The result left the two teams and No. 3 Mount St. Joseph tied in the loss column atop the combined circuit. McDonogh (22-3) is tied for first with Mount St. Joseph (22-2), whom the Eagles play host to at 6 p.m. Tuesday, at 11-2. Spalding (18-4), which has beaten McDonogh twice, is a game behind in third place at 9-2. "Everybody had to step it up because Rudy [Gay] was a little under the weather," said Spalding point guard Jesse Brooks, who had nine points and seven assists. "We handled ourselves well under pressure. Now we ... can win [the league title]." Gay, Spalding's leading scorer (14.7), is battling the flu and scored six points while playing sporadically. His two-handed dunk off a pass from Brooks with two minutes left gave the Cavaliers a 49-43 lead. McDonogh forged a 28-23 halftime lead behind Mike Popoko, who had a game-high 10 rebounds (eight defensive) and scored seven of his 11 points in the second period. Spalding started the second half with an 8-2 run, as Gus Durr, who led his team in rebounds with six, scored four of his six points. Tim Brackney's three-pointer ended the third period and gave Spalding a 39-38 lead. The 7-foot Bowers opened the final period with a basket to make it 41-38 and later made four straight free throws down the stretch. Spalding mixed in a triangle-and-two defense with a box-and-one to hold Corey Davis (12 points) scoreless in the final period. Davis had made two of his trio of three-pointers in the third period. "It was Josh Pratt's idea to go to the triangle-and-two at the end of the game and it was key to the win," said Spalding coach Mike Glick of his JV coach. McDonogh's last field goal was by Justin Drummond (eight points) with 4:30 left in the game. Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun
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Spalding Makes Effective Adjustments

Posted by Michael Glick at Jan 26, 2003 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
Monday, January 27, 2003; Page D07 When Spalding Coach Mike Glick decided to go with a smaller lineup, 6-foot-6 senior forward Gus Durr took a seat on the bench -- without complaining. The Cavaliers have since won seven of nine games and Durr still managed 12 points in the team's win against St. Maria Goretti last week. "Whatever it takes to win, I'm down for it," Durr said. "There are less minutes, but I still do what I have to do. I like coming off the bench and being an offensive weapon." Spalding entered this week 15-4 and 7-2 in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association's A Conference. Although the team is led in scoring by junior Rudy Gay and senior Will Bowers, much-improved role players such as Durr and senior guard Tim Brackney have been integral to the team's success this year. Brackney, who earned a starting role midway through the season, scored a season-high 14 points in Friday's 55-51 win against St. Maria Goretti. "The last couple of years I really didn't play that much because I had seniors ahead of me," said Brackney, who made four three-pointers in the third quarter. "I told myself this is going to be the year I get a lot more playing time. I kept working hard at practice. I had the right attitude, and all of a sudden the last six, seven games I started, and I've been playing pretty good. I have a lot of confidence right now." . . . -- Heather A. Dinich © 2003 The Washington Post Company
Maryland-bound center scores 23 in 68-60 win over Houston school By Pat O'Malley Sun Staff Originally published January 21, 2003 Archbishop Spalding's boys basketball team took third place in the First Flyin' to the Hoop National Holiday Invitational Tournament with a 68-60 victory over Heritage Christian High of Houston in Dayton, Ohio, yesterday. Will Bowers led the No. 6 Cavaliers (14-4) with game-high totals of 23 points and 10 rebounds. The 7-foot center, who has signed with the University of Maryland, was 11-for-13 in free-throw attempts. Rudy Gay scored 17 points and had seven rebounds for the victors, and point guard Jesse Brooks chipped in 11 points and six assists. "Those three had great games, and Dave Douglas played phenomenal defense on Vaughn Waver of Heritage Christian," said Spalding coach Mike Glick. "Waver is a top 15 player in the nation and is going to Florida State and had 17 points, but Dave contained him. The kids did a great job bouncing back emotionally after a tough defeat [Sunday]." Spalding dropped a 48-45 decision in the semifinals to Our Savior American High School (N.Y.) on Sunday. Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun