February 23, 2004 by Mark Thomas MDVarsity.com Magazine Staff Rudy Gay made sure that he won't have an asterisk next to his name as one of the great players who didn't win a championship, putting on a "Slam-Fest", with 7 highlight reel dunks leading Spalding to a 64-45 win in the MIAA Tournament Title game. Gay was sensational, scoring 29 points on 12-15 shooting (including a made 3-pointer), grabbing 8 rebounds, 3 steals and blocking 6 shots (one took place right in front of the large Gibbons student section and Gay saluted them after the block). 19 of the points and 5 of the blocks came by halftime when the competitive portion of the game was largely over, with Spalding up 30-12. With a big second half lead, the only challenge left for Gay was to shut up a good-natured Gibbons heckler who was camped out on the baseline with the rest of the overflow crowd. In the Gilman gym a Fire Marshall sign read "Capacity 1000", which was clearly surpassed by at least 500. Even players' parents were turned away at the door. "The Rudy show is over!" the jean jacket wearing, burly man kept yelling in a voice that was a dead on impersonation of former Hollywood star Mr. T. After making a basket, Rudy would give the man a cold glance as if to ask if the man had more to give. The heckler stayed on Rudy and Rudy kept answering. In the 4th quarter, the two counterparts were only a few feet apart as free throus were being shot. The heckler had a few more words for Gay. One of Gay's friends got Rudy's attention by yelling "Hey Rudy, I'm going to push him out on the court so you can dunk on him. Gay laughed and moments later, it almost came true. With under 2:00 to play in regulation, Gay's teammates got him the ball ahead of the pack. The only question was what trick would Rudy pull out of his bag? And after 6 previous dunks, how much did his legs have left in them? Gay received the pass and his eyes locked on the basket like a heat-seeking missle. The flames of which were only fanned by the show-stopping, windmill slam in which Gay brought the ball back down to his waist as he wound up and then threw down with vicious force. The place went ballistic and the fans mobbed the heckler. A smile broke out on Rudy Gay's face as for the night, the Rudy Gay show was now officially over and on his own terms. Play stopped and Rudy checked out of the game, exchanging a big embrace with head coach Mike Glick. The hug said so much about all they'd been through together since Gay's arrival at Spalding for his junior year. The appearance in the MIAA title game was Spalding 6th straight trip to the finals, three of which the Cavaliers had won. Two years ago, Spalding won both the MIAA and BCL titles, something they'll try to match again this year. One down, one to go. The BCL tournament takes place on 2-27, 2-28 and wraps up at Goucher College on 3-1. Spalding looks like a good bet to get invited to Alhambra and that would mean that the March 7th game vs. Montrose Christian is likely on. The game would be a good tune-up for Alhambra and fun for area fans. Gibbons got jumped right from the start tonight- literally. Spalding's very first possession resulted in an alley oop from Jesse Brooks to Rudy Gay. By the end of the first quarter, Spalding was up 16-5 and Gibbons star guard Ken Hasbrouck already had two fouls. As soon as that happened, Glick called Gay over and made sure he was aware of Hasbrouck's two fouls, telling Gay that its time to post him up and get #3. The third came with 2:27 to go in the first half and Hasbrouck's hot shooting was never allowed to become a factor. Gibbons big man Leon Williams picked up his third foul just before the half as well. In Gibbons 75-60 regular season win over Spalding, Hasbrouck and Williams were two of three Gibbons players that had hot hands. They were extinguished before ever getting lit tonight. The two teams split their two regular season match-ups. Just for symmetry's sake, Spalding started the 2nd half the same exact way they started the first half- a Jesse Brooks lob to Rudy Gay for a big slam. On the next Spalding possession, guard Justin Castleberry parted the red sea that should've been the Gibbons defense and scored an easy lay up to push the lead to 37-13. At that point, it was clear that a miracle comeback wasn't going to happen. Spalding improves to 25-6 on the season and 20-0 when holding opponents under 60 points.