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THE BOYS' TOP 20 _____Boys' Basketball_____ Monday, March 10, 2003; Page D10 1. Montrose Christian (20-1) Last: 1 Linas Kleiza: 9 of 13 FGs, 13 rebs. against Towson Catholic. Season complete 2. Friendly (23-1) 2 Averaging area-best 84 points per game. Thu.: at Blake, 3 3. Oxon Hill (20-3) 4 First Maryland 4A tournament since winning in 2000. Thu.: at Lake Clifton, 9 4. Gonzaga (27-5) 5 Captured first City Title with victory over Dunbar. Season complete 5. Magruder (21-3) 9 Captured third straight Maryland 4A West Region title. Thu.: at Glen Burnie, 7 6. ARCHBISHOP SPALDING (24-6) 6 Lost to Mount St. Joseph's in MIAA Conference A final. Next: Alhambra Tournament 7. South Lakes (25-5) 17 Def. Heritage, 67-55, to advance to AAA semifinals. Fri.: vs. George Wythe, 7 8. Dunbar (23-6) 7 Lost to Gonzaga in City Title Game. Season complete 9. Thomas Johnson (23-1) 3 Upended by Glen Burnie in Maryland 4A East final. Season complete 10. Paul VI Catholic (22-7) 10 Lost to Gonzaga in WCAC final. Season complete 11. Glen Burnie (19-5) NR In Maryland tournament for first time since 1994. Thu.: vs. Magruder, 7 12. Chopticon (19-2) 18 Second consecutive appearance in Md. 3A tournament. Thu.: vs. Randallstown, 5 13. Blake (20-4) NR Fourth-year varsity team making first state tour. appearance. Thu.: vs. Friendly, 3 14. Herndon (24-4) 11 Ended season with two straight losses. Season complete 15. Notre Dame (23-6) 20 Captured Beltway League championship. Season complete 16. O'Connell (22-5) 16 Lost to DeMatha in WCAC quarterfinal. Season complete 17. Annapolis (23-2) 17 Lost in Md. 3A East Region final for second straight season. Season complete 18. Suitland (16-6) 8 Lost in Maryland 4A quarterfinals for second straight season. Season complete 19. Potomac School (22-4) 19 Va. Independent School Div. II champion. Season complete 20. T.C. Williams (22-6) 12 Lost to South Lakes, 64-58. Season complete © 2003 The Washington Post Company
Prep polls Through March 16 events Originally published March 18, 2003 Boys basketball Final top 20 1. Dunbar 25-2 2. Randallstown 22-2 3. Mount St. Joseph 29-5 4. Lake Clifton 20-5 5. Annapolis 23-2 6. ARCHBISHOP SPALDING 26-7 7. Douglass 21-3 8. Mervo 19-6 9. McDonogh 25-5 10. Glen Burnie 19-6 11. St. Frances 20-7 12. Walbrook 16-8 13. Mount Hebron 18-4 14. River Hill 19-4 15. Southern-AA 18-7 16. Long Reach 19-5 17. St. Mary's 24-7 18. St. Paul's 22-5 19. Cardinal Gibbons 17-11 20. Southern-B 14-9 Other teams considered: Woodlawn (14-7), Aberdeen (15-7), Atholton (14-8), Old Mill (15-8), Joppatowne (16-5), Severn (17-10)
7-footer bound for UM hits 1,000 career points By Pat OMalley Sun Staff Originally published March 16, 2003 Rudy Gay and Will Bowers led No. 7 Archbishop Spalding to a 61-54 victory over Judge Memorial (Utah) High for third place in the 43rd Alhambra Catholic Invitational at Frostburg State last night. Gay, a 6-foot-7 junior, scored a game-high 18 points and had seven rebounds and five blocked shots for the Cavaliers (26-7), who went 2-1 in the tournament. Bowers, 7 feet, who is headed to the University of Maryland, had 12 points and eight rebounds. Bowers scored 56 points in the three games to finish his career with an even 1,100 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Guards Tim Brackney and Jesse Brooks chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the victors. "The big difference was our defense, which played with a sense of purpose," said Spalding coach Mike Glick. "We did a great job contesting shots and our defense turned into our offense. I'm extremely happy our six seniors were able to go out winners." Spalding's only loss in the Alhambra was by 54-52 to Philadelphia's top-ranked St. Joseph's Prep in the semifinals Friday night. After losing its first two games in the Alhambra, No. 3 Mount St. Joseph (29-5) closed with a 73-54 romp over host Bishop Walsh (18-22) of Cumberland in the consolation game. J-Burks 15, Sasich 16, Proctor 9, Keller 4, Giovacchini 7, Dean 3. Totals 21 6-13 54. S-Gay 18, Bowers 12, Brackney 12, Brooks 10, Douglas 5, Durr 2, Dixon 2. Totals 21 13-18 61. Half: S, 30-21. Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun
Long 3-point try rims out at buzzer; Cavs' Bowers finishes with 23 points By Pat O'Malley Sun Staff Originally published March 15, 2003 FROSTBURG -- When the 43rd Alhambra Catholic Invitational began at Frostburg State University on Thursday, it was conceivable that No. 3 Mount St. Joseph and No. 7 Archbishop Spalding could meet in the final. Not going to happen -- neither team will be there. The chance of the top two teams in the Baltimore Catholic League meeting in the final ended when BCL champion St. Joe dropped its first game Thursday while runner-up Spalding was victorious. The hopes of one Baltimore team in the final disappeared last night as Jesse Brooks' desperation three-point shot from just over midcourt hit the side of the rim and out to give Philadelphia's St. Joseph's Prep a thrilling 54-52 victory. "It didn't miss by much, but praise the Lord it didn't go in," said St. Joseph's veteran coach Speedy Morris. The Cavaliers (26-7) lost at the buzzer much the same way they did to Mount St. Joseph in the BCL tournament final, 49-48. They had the ball and the chance to win, and once again, 7-footer Will Bowers had a big game with 23 points, scoring eight in the final quarter as Spalding rallied. "It just didn't happen, but I'm so proud of our players," said Spalding coach Mike Glick, whose Cavs were emotional in their locker room afterward and unable to talk to the media. "They played a great game and battled back the whole time [continually behind by six or seven points], and it typifies our season, just one possession away." Coach William Wells' 1996 St. Frances Panthers with Mark Karcher are the last BCL team to win the tournament. St. Joseph's has never won the Alhambra and was third last year under Morris, who won the prestigious tournament in 1975 and 1976 with Philadelphia's Roman Catholic. The Hawks (27-1) will play at 8:15 tonight for the crown against Bishop O'Connell, while Spalding plays in the championship third-place game at 6:30 p.m. against Judge Memorial of Salt Lake City. Morris, who also coached at La Salle University before returning to the high school ranks with St. Joseph's Prep, knows his Hawks did not do the things they usually do to win. "I'm happy with our defense to hold a team like that to 52 points, but we just got a little shaky at the end," said Morris, whose team's only loss was to Roman Catholic, 65-59, but the Hawks went on to win the Philadelphia Catholic League. "With an eight-point lead [50-42 with 2:28 left], we missed two layups, turned it over twice and missed four foul shots. We gave them a chance to win the game." St. Joseph's made three of its last seven shots at the foul line to finish 12-for-17. Spalding only went to the line three times the entire game and made all three. Dave Douglas sank a pair for the Cavs with 30 seconds remaining to put his team within 52-50. T.J. Valerio sank the second of two for the Hawks to make it 53-50, but a drive and layup by Brooks cut it to 53-52 with 20 seconds on the clock. Douglas stole the inbounds pass, but the Cavs missed a shot and turned it over. John Griffin, who combined with Mark Zoller for 31 points, was fouled and sank the first of two with 2.5 seconds left for a 54-52 lead. Spalding immediately got the ball to Brooks for the last shot. St. Joseph's (Pa.) 54, Spalding 52 (semifinals) S--Bowers 23, Brackney 3, Brooks 5, Douglas 2, Dixon 2, Durr 8, Gay 6, Latonick 3. Totals 22 3-3 52. SJ--Zoller 15, Griffin 16, Clark 8, Valerio 9, Eisenmann 6. Totals 17 12-17 54. Half: SJ, 24-22. Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun
By Jeff Seidel Special To The Sun Originally published March 14, 2003 FROSTBURG - Will Bowers made outside shots and ruled the lane, Rudy Gay pitched in with some bone-rattling dunks and Jesse Brooks did almost anything he wanted. Simply put, No. 8 Spalding overwhelmed DeMatha. Bowers scored a game-high 21 points and Brooks added 10 points and eight assists as Spalding recovered from a slow start for a 68-39 victory over DeMatha in the first round of the 43rd Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament last night at Frostburg State. The Cavaliers advanced to tonight's semifinal against St. Joseph Prep (Pa.), a 93-47 winner over Bishop Walsh. St. Joseph Prep, which improved to 26-1, is considered by many to be the tournament's best. But Spalding (26-6) gave a performance yesterday that will be hard to top. The Cavaliers shot 54 percent from the field (20-for-37) - including going 7-for-11 on three-pointers - and controlled the game for the last three quarters in recording their first victory ever over the Stags. The Stags had 18 points in the first 10 minutes, but Spalding switched from a man-to-man to a 1-2-2 with a tall player up top that stopped DeMatha from sending the ball inside. After that, the Stags stuck mostly to outside shots and didn't hit many. They finished only 11 of 37 from the field and hit only 11 of 21 free throws. They also missed nine of 11 free throws. "That was our best overall team performance of the year," Bowers said. "It was just great." He led an offense that DeMatha couldn't stop. The 7-foot center, who's headed for Maryland next season, hit a three-pointer from the deep corner early and several high-percentage shots down low, shaking off DeMatha double-teams throughout. "He was just great," Spalding coach Mike Glick said. "He did everything tonight." Point guard Brooks helped the Cavaliers find shots inside and outside, and they pretty much dictated play after a slow start left them trailing, 18-17, early in the second period. Tim Brackney (12 points) made four three-pointers to open up DeMatha's defense. Gay fnished with eight points, including some dunks that brought the crowd to its feet. Spalding broke the game open with a 26-4 run that gave it a 43-22 lead midway through the third quarter. Mamadi Diane led the Stags with 18 points. S-Bowers 13, Brackney 12, Brooks 10, Douglas 2, Durr 5, Galinat 5, Gay 8, Latonick 3, Sullivan 2. Totals 20 7-10 68. D-Henry 2, Green 10, Dickerson 1, Diane 18, Danley 6, Adedeji 2. Totals 11 11-21 39. Half: S, 32-20. Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun