SENIOR'S 29-POINTS AND SEVEN DUNKS LEAD SPALDING TO A CONFERENCE TITLE, 64-45 by Gary Adornato MIAA.com In a season filled with scores of heart-stopping finishes, last second heroics and several overtime classics, many expected more of the same last evening when top-ranked Cardinal Gibbons and #3 Archbishop Spalding met at Gilman in the MIAA A Conference Championship Game. Instead, this one was over nearly as quickly as it began, with Spalding, behind the rim rattling play of senior All-American Rudy Gay, rolling to an easy, 64-45, win in front of a capacity crowd of more than 1,600 fans. It took less than 10-seconds for Spalding point guard Jesse Brooks to spot Gay open on the right baseline and he delivered a perfect feed to the 6'-8" sky walker who promptly converted a two-hand flush for the first of his seven dunks. Gibbons responded with a three-point field goal by senior Kenny Hasbrouck, for its only lead of the game, but the Cavaliers closed the quarter with a 14-2 rush, capped by a one-handed slam by Gay, to lead 16-5. The second quarter followed a similar script, as Gay netted 19 of his game-high 29-points before intermission and, with Gibbons struggling through one of its worst shooting nights of the season, the Cavaliers (25-6) were already well on their way to their third A Conference crown. "This is my first championship ever and, especially in my senior year, it was important for me to come out here and win," said Gay, as young fans scurried for his autograph. "I just tried to leave it all out there on the court. Everybody put their heart in the game and it shows." As spectacular as the offensive highlight reel was, Spalding's defense was just as impressive. With Gay anchoring the center of a tightly packed zone, Gibbons was denied access to the interior and challenged on nearly every jumper. The Crusaders managed just five field goals on 32 attempts in the first half and only 16-of-56 for the game (29%). Off the misses, frequent long rebounds set up the Spalding transition game, leading to several easy scores, including most of Gay's dunks. In addition to the 29-points, Gay finished with six blocks, 11 rebounds and three steals. "Rudy is a complete player and where he helps us out the most is on the defensive end of the court, with his shot-blocking and shot-altering ability," said a gleaming Mike Glick, Spalding's head coach. Glick was also impressed with the performance of the rest of his team. "I would say this was our best game of the season, especially defensively. To hold a team like Cardinal Gibbons to 45-points with all of that offensive fire power is a credit to our effort," he said. "I feel great for our seniors. They get to win a championship." Hasbrouck and Leon Williams combined for 26-points to lead the Crusaders (27-6), but, struggling with foul trouble, neither senior star ever got completely on-track. Junior Justin Castleberry backed up Gay with 11-points for Spalding, while Brooks and Lawrence Dixon combined for 14. Both squads will now move on to this weekend's Baltimore Catholic League Tournament, which gets underway Friday at Goucher College. Spalding, which is seeded second, will face Calvert Hall (15-15) in a 7:00 pm quarterfinal game, while fourth-seeded Gibbons will battle fifth-seeded Towson Catholic (17-13) at 8:45 pm. The other first round games have top-seeded Mount St. Joseph (25-4) facing eighth-seeded Loyola (7-23) at 3:30 pm and St. Frances (22-7), the third seed, facing seventh-seeded St. Maria Goretti (16-14) at 5:15 pm.