By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer In an ideal world, Archbishop Spalding would have christened its new gymnasium with a resounding upset of highly-rated Towson Catholic in boys basketball. Unfortunately, the multi-million dollar facility wasn't quite ready and the Cavaliers absorbed a thorough whipping from the Owls in their old gym. Junior forward Donte Greene overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points to lead Towson Catholic to a convincing 66-49 victory over Spalding. Greene, a 6-foot-8 slasher who has committed to Syracuse, was 10-for-10 from the free throw line and also grabbed 11 rebounds. Guard Malcolm Delaney scored 15 points while freshman swingman Le'Shon Edwards added 14 for Towson Catholic, now 16-5 overall and 5-2 in the Catholic League. "I thought we kept our composure, handled the defensive pressure and ran our offense well," Towson Catholic coach Josh Pratt said. "Every game is important in this league and it's always tough to win on the road." Pratt, a Crofton resident, served seven seasons as an assistant at Spalding under head coach Mike Glick. He spent a year as head coach at St. Mary's before taking over Towson Catholic this past summer. Last night was the first time Pratt had faced Spalding since leaving the private school in Severn. "I was very proud to coach against Josh and I'm impressed with his development as a coach," Glick said. "He's doing a fantastic job. Towson Catholic is one of the best teams in the area." That was apparent during the second quarter as Greene, Delaney and Ronald Nicholson (10 points) keyed a strong surge that broke open a close game. The Owls outscored the Cavaliers 23-12 in the period to take a 37-23 halftime lead. Spalding never got closer and the lead ultimately ballooned to 20 before both coaches inserted the reserves. Navy-bound guard Derek Young scored 16 points to lead Spalding, now 10-11 overall and 1-4 in the league. Senior forward Danny Quinn totaled eight points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who shot a miserable 16-for-50 (32 percent) from the field. "I was impressed with the way we competed and the way we played together tonight," Glick said. "We're starting to play more team-oriented basketball." Glick is fielding a young and inexperienced squad that is still learning the level of intensity required in the high-powered Catholic League. "We still need to show more patience on offense and we need to do a better job of competing on every possession," Glick said. Athletic director Lee Dove said the Spalding Athletic Center will officially open today with a wrestling tri-meet against Glenelg and Poly. Spalding will host St. John's-Prospect Hall on Sunday in the first basketball game at the $5.2 million facility, which took two years to build and will seat 1,000. Towson Catholic (16-5) 14-23-14-15=66 Spalding (10-11) 11-12-11-15=49 Towson Catholic (66) Delaney 5(3) 1-3 15, D. Greene 4 10-10 18, Nicholson 2(2) 4-4 10, Bastfield 0 1-2 1, B. Greene 3 1-2 7, Edwards 5(1) 3-4 14, Brekinridge 0 1-2 1, Bruce 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19(6) 20-24 66. Spalding (49) Young 5 6-9 16, Palumbo 2(1) 0-0 5, Quinn 2 4-4 8, Bald 3 0-0 6, Cassilly 0 1-2 1, Moore 3 0-0 6, Wood 1 2-2 4, DeSouza 0 3-4 3. TOTALS: 16(1) 16-19 49. Published January 14, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md. Top Stories | Search | Classifieds | Archive | Local Directory | Buy the paper | Contact Us |