March 1, 2004 by Mark Thomas MDVarsity.com Magazine Staff Somehow Mount St. Joseph’s basketball team has been granted an exemption from the law of averages. For the 6th straight time, the Gaels beat Spalding in a down-to-the-wire nail-biter. The 36-33 win gives MSJ its 2nd consecutive BCL Tournament (33rd Annual) title and for the 2nd year in a row, it came at the expense of a good Spalding team. A Spalding team that had two looks at tying the game from three-point land, but neither fell and time expired. It was almost as if the P.A. announcer was taunting the yet to be introduced Mt. St. Joe squad when he added the extra modifiers to the final Spalding player to be introduced. “And the Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year!…at forward…#21 Rudy Gay!” As if Mount St. Joe wasn’t fired up enough, that stoked it, because many from MSJ feel so strongly that 6-7 F Will Thomas should’ve been player of the year. Thomas may not have gotten the individual award, but down the stretch, he made sure his team took home the tournament trophy. MSJ reclaimed the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter when sophomore G Gregory Woody Jr. drilled a 3 to put MSJ up 33-30 with 4:10 to play in the 4th period. Spalding had two good looks at the basket to cut the deficit to 1 point, but both times Will Thomas blocked the shots. Thomas was also the game’s leading scorer with 12 points. Thomas affords MSJ a luxury most BCL/MIAA teams don’t enjoy. An athletic 6-7, he can be assigned to Spalding star Rudy Gay and do a more than respectable job. The Gaels don’t have to switch out of their man to man defense. Thomas was also a constant presence on the glass. He had the game’s only dunk courtesy of an offensive rebound in the first half. He scored 4 of Mount St. Joe’s 7 3rd quarter points, allowing the Gaels to enter the 4th period down just 1 at 28-27. Despite trailing for most of the way, Mount St. Joe head coach Pat Clatchey looked remarkably calm and confident on the sideline throughout. It was almost as if everything was going according to plan, even when his team trailed. Spalding led by as much as 28-22 in the 3rd period. As you learn to expect from Mike Glick teams, Spalding employed a variety of defenses. Minus Rudy Gay though, Spalding is not an exceptional rebounding team. At key times, MSJ players were able to grab offensive rebounds, which often led to points. Down 33-31 with 1:25 to go, Spalding forced a turnover and looked about ready to tie the game up. On a 3 on 1 break, Spalding had numbers in its favor, but an attempted touch pass went awry. *Game Notes* -- Mt. St. Joe head coach Pat Clatchey is also the team bus driver. We pulled up right next to him as we arrived. When Mt. St. Joe got off the bus, an overzealous bunch of Spalding fans greeted them. One Spalding student was wearing nothing but bikini briefs and had painted his entire body red! Even the Mt. St. Joe players had to start laughing at the site of the young man telling them that they were going down. -- MSJ and Spalding could conceivably meet again at the Alhambra Tournament! --We asked an MIAA coach about the prospective opening at Loyola College and threw a few names at him. He responded that there are "two types of jobs- a stepping stone and a kidney stone. Loyola is a kidney stone." --The 33rd Annual BCL Tournament is very well run. Its held at Goucher College, which may be a bit small, but everything is well organized. Courtside seats are sold to VIPs. A DJ spins records throughout the contest and he's got great taste in "event" music. And the game program is 2nd to none. It not only has every team's roster with #s, names, grade, position, height and weight, but also their game-by-game league results. The program also has a historical element with photos of past tournament championship teams. All the old "all tournament teams" are listed as well. Hats off to whoever put the program together.

No. 1 makes it 6 straight over No. 2 with 36-33 win By Pat O'Malley Sun Staff Originally published March 2, 2004 Mount St. Joseph accomplished the improbable and repeated as Baltimore Catholic League tournament champion with a hard-earned 36-33 victory over Archbishop Spalding at Goucher College last night. The win was the sixth straight for the top-ranked Gaels (28-4) over the No. 2 Cavaliers (27-7), a streak covering the past two seasons. After Brian Johnson's free throw gave the Gaels the final margin of victory with 17 seconds left, the Cavs' Rudy Gay and Marquis Sullivan each missed a three-point attempt at the other end. Courtney Thomas grabbed the final rebound with two seconds left and let the clock run out. Just a year ago, St. Joe survived a frantic five shots under the basket as time expired to hold on for a 49-48 tournament victory. The good news for Spalding is that it might get another shot at Mount St. Joseph, having been asked to the prestigious Alhambra Invitational, March 18-20 at Frostburg State University. Mount St. Joseph had already received a bid after claiming the regular-season title for the second straight year and BCL commissioner Jack Degele announced to the throng after the game that the Cavaliers had received a bid yesterday. Six in a row is "hard to explain, but we just found a way to get over the hump," said Gaels coach Pat Clatchey. "And I think Will Thomas is the best player in St. Joe history." Thomas repeated as BCL MVP with 12 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. "Winning this feels better the second time," said the 6-foot-7 Thomas. "We were confident all the way and it ended just like last year [under the basket]. It came down to free throws and defensive rebounding." Greg Woody hit back-to-back baskets, the second a three, to turn a 30-28 deficit into a 33-30 Gaels lead with 4:13 left in the game. Mount St. Joseph hung on as L.J. Mack hit a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left for a 35-31 lead. Johnson hit the front end of two with 17 seconds on the clock to make it 36-33 after Gay sank a pair for Spalding. Will Thomas kept grabbing rebounds with Courtney Thomas (six points, seven rebounds) down the stretch to deny the Cavaliers -- and mainly Gay -- second shots. The Thomases (no relation) held Gay to 10 points -- less than half his average -- and had a 21-10 edge in defensive rebounds. "That was the difference down the stretch -- our rebounding," said Gaels junior point guard Johnson, who had seven points and five rebounds and joined Thomas on the All-Tournament team. "Will and Courtney were tough on the boards." Spalding hit only three of 26 field-goal attempts in the second half and was just 1-for-15 in three-point attempts. "We didn't shoot well at all, and it's the first loss when we've held our opponent to under 60 points," said Cavs coach Mike Glick. "It was a great defensive effort by both teams and St. Joe is a deserving champion." The loss was especially crushing for the 6-9 Gay, a McDonald's All-American headed to Connecticut. Gay was on the short end of eight straight losses in his prep career to the Gaels, the last six in two years at Spalding and the first two while he was at Eastern Tech. "We had them in the beginning [23-20 at the half] but then we started making bad plays," said Gay. "We usually don't come out flat like that, but sometimes we had these days. It's real tough to lose to them. They have a really good team." Gay was named to the All-Tournament team with teammate Marquis Sullivan. Completing the team were Jamal Smith of Towson Catholic and Gordon Brown of St. Frances. Brown's teammate Darnell Harris won the Sportsmanship Award. Copyright © 2004, The Baltimore Sun | Get home delivery

Losing until last minute, Spalding rallies to make Catholic League final By Glenn P. Graham Sun Staff Originally published March 1, 2004 After one quarter, at the half, through three periods and well into the fourth quarter of last night's Baltimore Catholic League tournament semifinal at Goucher College, the St. Frances Panthers were firmly believing this would finally be their turn against Archbishop Spalding. Then came a clumsy couple of minutes. Four turnovers and bad aim at the foul line in the final two-plus minutes overshadowed an otherwise strong performance from the No. 4 Panthers, giving Spalding forward Rudy Gay a chance to be the hero. The McDonald's All-American hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with three seconds left to send the No. 3 Cavaliers to tonight's league championship with a 70-68 win - their fourth victory over the Panthers (26-7) this season. "That's the mark of a championship team. My teammates and I came together and did whatever we needed to win this game," said Gay, who scored 18 of a team-high 20 points in the second half. "I thought the shot was going long - it rimmed in a little bit - I got a nice bounce." Gordon Brown (24 points) and Darnell Harris (22) led the Panthers, who shot 54 percent from the field, made nine three-pointers, limited Gay to two points on three shots in the first half, and never trailed in the game until the final minute. The Cavaliers scored the last seven points of the third quarter - a three-point play from Gay with eight seconds left the key points - to cut the lead to 45-43. Then the Panthers answered with two three-pointers and a three-point play from Brown followed by two more threes from Harris to take a 60-52 lead with 4:07 to play. Spalding (27-6) will face No. 2 Mount St. Joseph's, a 57-43 victor over Towson Catholic in the other semifinal, at 7 tonight at Goucher College. The Cavaliers' defense created turnovers and then easy scores in the final minutes. Junior guard Marquis Sullivan (19 points) hit a long jumper from the right corner with 25 seconds left to give the Cavaliers their first lead at 67-66. Harris answered with a driving layup with 13 seconds left before Gay found time and room from up top for the game-winner. "We totally gave the game away. Those critical turnovers with a minute left and a lead - we gave that game to Spalding," said Brown. "We choked - we couldn't get the ball in bounds. They didn't earn it, we gave it to them and that's frustrating." Panthers forward Rashawn Alexander kept the ball away from Gay for three quarters, but Cavaliers Kevin Galinat (nine points) and Jesse Brooks (eight points) stepped up enough for Gay to take over in the final minutes. "It was an unbelievable performance from St. Frances and for us to beat them a fourth time to me is a remarkable accomplishment. It's a testament to our kids that they found a way to stay in the game," said Spalding coach Mike Glick. "We showed we have more than just one player." Copyright © 2004, The Baltimore Sun | Get home delivery

Boys basketball: By BOB HOUGH, For The Capital BALTIMORE - Down by nine points with less than three minutes left in last night's Catholic League semifinal, the Spalding boys basketball team appeared headed for its first loss in four meetings against St. Frances. The Panthers led the entire game, thanks to nine 3-pointers, and limited Spalding's Rudy Gay to just nine points through three quarters - well below the 29 he averaged against them in three earlier Spalding wins. But Gay and the Cavaliers somehow found a way to claw back. The UConn-bound forward rattled in a 3-pointer from the top of the key with three seconds left to give the Cavaliers a thrilling 70-68 come-from-behind victory in front of an overflow crowd of more than 2,000 at Goucher College. The shot capped a 15-4 run for the Cavaliers over the final 2:37. Spalding moves on to its fifth overall Catholic League title game appearance and its third straight tonight against Mount St. Joseph. The Cavaliers will be seeking their fourth title, while the Gaels (26-5) will be going for their second title in their sixth finals appearance. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at Goucher. "St. Frances deserved to win the basketball game. I told that to their players and coaches," Spalding coach Mike Glick said. "It's a testament to our kids that they found a way to stay in the game." The Panthers took control from the beginning. Gordon Brown (24 points) scored eight in the first quarter to give St. Frances a seven-point lead after one. The Panthers maintained the lead throughout the most of second quarter and went into halftime with a 27-22 edge. Their tough man-to-man defense limited Gay to just two points on one-of-three shooting in the half. A pair of 3-pointers and eight first-half points by junior guard Marquis Sullivan were the main reason the Cavaliers were still in the game. The Panthers appeared to have things well in hand in the second half, with Darnell Harris (22 points) putting on a shooting exhibition with four 3-pointers in the third quarter and two more in the fourth. His shooting helped the Panthers maintain a comfortable advantage. Gordon Brown got into the act with two 3-pointers and 12 points in the fourth, while Gay was still struggling and went into the final quarter with just nine points. "It was real frustrating in the first half, I just couldn't get the shots I wanted against them," Gay said. "In the second half, it was really the same thing, but I had to keep calm toward the end." St. Frances kept the lead throughout the third quarter, but Spalding's Kevin Galinat hit a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter and the Cavaliers closed the quarter with seven straight points in the final 36 seconds to go into the fourth down by only two. The Panthers quickly re-assumed control early in the fourth and pushed the lead back to 10 points with less than six minutes left in the game. Gay and Galinat hit treys in a 45-second span to cut into the lead, but Gay picked up his fourth foul with 3:34 left in the game and Spalding down 60-55. The Panthers scored the next four points though, and appeared destined for a spot in tonight's final with a 64-55 lead with 2:37 to go. With its opportunity slipping away, Spalding began using a full-court trap defense and went on a quick 7-0 run over the next 40 seconds with baskets by Sullivan and Lawrence Dixon and a 3-pointer from Gay to make it a 64-62 game with 1:50 to play. After the teams traded baskets and turnovers over the next 1:10, the Cavaliers took their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer from Sullivan with 28 seconds left, 67-66. Sullivan scored nine of his 19 points in the quarter. The lead would last a whole 15 seconds though, as Darnell Harris drove the baseline and converted to put St. Frances back ahead, 68-67, with 13 seconds left. After a Spalding timeout, Gay took the ball at the top of the key and let a 3-pointer go that caught iron before falling through for a 70-68 Spalding lead with three seconds left. A desperation shot from just inside half-court from Harris harmlessly fell to the floor and the Cavalier celebration was on. Gay scored 11 points in the quarter and led the Cavaliers with 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. "Actually, I thought it was going off, but it rimmed in," Gay said. "That's the mark of a championship team. Me and my teammates came together and found a way to win the game." Galinat scored 12 points and Jesse Brooks added eight points and six assists for the Cavaliers, who won the game despite leading for a total of 18 seconds in the game. "People forget that we have more than one player. Galinat and Sullivan hit some key outside shots. They did a good job of doubling up Gay early, so our shooters stepped up and hit some big shots," Glick said. Spalding moves on to face Mt. St. Joe tonight in a rematch of last years final, won by the Gaels, 49-48. St. Joe won both meetings with the Cavaliers this year in overtime and have won six straight in the series. "They got the best of us two times this year, we just need to come out harder this time," Gay said. St. Frances (23-8) 19 8 19 23 _68 Spalding (27-6) 12 10 21 27 _70St. Frances (68) Alexander 1 1-2 3, Brown 10(2) 2-4 24, Chase 8 0-0 16, Edwards 1(1) 0-0 3, Harris 8(6) 0-0 22, Allen 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28(9) 3-6 68. Spalding (70) Gay 8(3) 1-1 20, Brooks 1 6-6 8, Castleberry 2 0-0 4, Dixon 1 0-0 2, Galinat 4(3) 1-2 12, Jones 2 1-4 5, Sullivan 8(3) 0-0 19. TOTALS: 26(9) 9-13 70. Published March 01, 2004, The Capital, Annapolis, Md. Copyright © 2004 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

February 29, 2004 Quinn Reports from BCL Tournament- Spald v CH by Jim Quinn MDVarsity.com Magazine Staff MdVarsity.com traveled to Goucher College in Towson last night to watch some of the first round action in the 33rd annual BCL Tournament. In the evening’s third game, Archbishop Spalding topped Calvert Hall 66-57 behind a 22 point, 10 rebound, 5 steal, 6 dunk and 2 blocked shot effort by 6’9” All-American forward Rudy Gay. The senior from Essex, who was selected BCL Player of the Year earlier this week, scored 16 of his points in the first half. During a three minute stretch in the second quarter, Gay scored 11 of Spalding’s 12 points. Gay had plenty of help last night as senior point guard Jesse Brooks had 8 points, 8 assists and 3 steals. Four of Brooks’ assists resulted in spectacular Rudy Gay dunks. Spalding Coach Mike Glick also got excellent performances off the bench from sophomore forward Johan Jones and junior guard Marquis Sullivan. The stands at Goucher were nearly packed for Friday’s first round. This weekend’s Tournament, which will end on Monday night, figures to be one of the best and most competitive BCL Tournaments ever. Spalding, Mt. St. Joe’s, Cardinal Gibbons, and St. Frances are all among the top teams in Baltimore. Towson Catholic, Calvert Hall, and St. Maria Goretti all have talent and have picked-up some quality wins this year. As a testament to the BCL’s depth this year, Towson Catholic, who defeated Friendly HS and Eleanor Roosevelt HS this year, only finished 6-8 in BCL play this year! Spalding came into the BCL Tournament fresh off winning the MIAA “A” Tournament earlier in the week. Spalding has won three of the last five BCL Tournaments and lost last year’s Championship game at the buzzer by one point to Mt. St. Joe’s. The Cavaliers failed to convert five tip-in attempts in the last 8 seconds of last year’s loss. Spalding jumped to a quick 8-0 lead last night against the Cardinals and led at the end of the first quarter, 18-6. The Cavaliers created numerous fast break opportunities off of Cardinal turnovers in the face of Spalding’s tough pressure defense. Calvert Hall’s talented 6’1” junior guard Ricky Harris found the three-point range in the second quarter and the Cardinals cut the lead to 20-18 before Gay became a one man wrecking crew. Over the next three minutes, Gay scored 11 points in an electrifying fashion: two crushing alley-oop dunks off of Jesse Brooks feeds; a three-pointer from beyond the top of the key; a gorgeous turnaround baseline jumper; and an offensive follow tip-in. When the dust had settled, Spalding was back up by a 32-22 measure and Calvert Hall did not get back within 10 points again until they hit a meaningless three pointer at the final buzzer. Coach Glick got a lift off the bench in the first half from 6’4” sophomore forward Johann Jones. A high energy rebounding/defensive specialist for Spalding this year, Jones played his role perfectly last night as he collected 6 rebounds and 2 steals in the first half. Jones finished with 9 rebounds and 3 steals. He also had 6 points, all three baskets off of follow-ups and transition hustle plays. Spalding also got a fine performance from 6’ junior wing guard Marquis Sullivan. Sullivan went scoreless in the first half, but had 9 points in the third quarter. Sullivan then proceeded to get Spalding’s first two baskets of the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers extended their lead to58-38. Sullivan finished with 15 points – all in the second half! Calvert Hall got some fine individual performances as well, most notably from their talented guard Ricky Harris. A quick, aggressive player with deep three-point range, Harris had 5 steals to go with his 17 points. He hit 3 three pointers Harris, who was voted Second Team All-BCL this year, will no doubt be a Division One college recruit next year. Though he didn’t shoot particularly well last night, the Cardinal’s rugged 6’5” center/forward Maurice Martin had a solid game with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Martin also played pretty good defense on Rudy Gay when the Cavaliers had to play in a half court set, but, all too often for Cardinal Coach Mark Amatucci, the Cavaliers were able to run in transition off of steals and rebounds. The Cardinal’s 6’7” junior Ryan Hourihan, a transfer in his first year in the Calvert Hall program, spurred a brief third quarter comeback as he scored three impressive baskets in a row: a reverse lay-up over Gay; a three point play off of an offensive rebound; and a turnaround bank shot in the lane. Hourihan finished with 9 points. With Harris, Hourihan, junior forward Calvin Wise and and sophomore guard Russell Frederick (10 points, including 2 three pointers) returning, Coach Amatucci has the nucleus of a fine team for next season. The Cardinals also reportedly have some very talented young players in their program. But last night belonged to Spalding and Gay. It was only appropriate that Gay threw down a windmill dunk with 4 seconds left as an exclamation point for the Cavalier victory!