by Joe DiBlasi
Heading into last week's MIAA A Conference Championship Game, Mount St. Joseph was viewed in much the same way as the New England Patriots were seen prior to last month's Super Bowl - dominant and unstoppable.
And, just as the Patriots fell to the upstart New York Giants, the nationally ranked Gaels suffered a surprising upset to rival Towson Catholic in the MIAA final. Unlike New England, however, the Gaels will get a second shot at glory as they roared into tonight's Baltimore Catholic League Tournament Championship Game (7:00 pm at Loyola College) against second-seeded St. Frances with an extremely dominant, 52-32, win over the fifth-seeded Loyola Dons.
St. Joe got things rolling early as it scored the first six points of the night on buckets by Henry Sims, Justin McCoy and Gerald Hill. From there it was much more of the same, as the three combined for 31 points, led by a game-high 16-point effort from Sims, while sophomore guard Eric Atkins netted a dozen points.
The Gaels (30-3), who will play in the BCL final for the fifth time in last six years, all under head coach Pat Clatchey, were even more impressive on defense.
Loyola, an excellent shooting team known for making big runs, was coming off a thrilling quarterfinal win over Cardinal Gibbons, on the strength of a 23-point night from junior Matt Rum. But, the Gaels stomped that momentum immediately as they hounded Rum from the outset and held the sharp-shooter scoreless. Sims' 6-10 presence made the interior off limits to the smaller Dons and the Gaels played outstanding perimeter defense against the Loyola three-point threats.
In the end, not a single Loyola player reached double figures
"Our guys came out focused; people underestimate our defense," said Clatchey, whose team hit the 30 win mark for the third time in the past four years. "We play tough man-to-man and that's what has been the true identity of our program."
Sims, who is getting over a groin injury suffered in the MIAA title game, played effectively and it was his 10 second quarter points that allowed the Mount to pull away from an always scrappy Loyola squad.
"It's still a little hard to get up and down the floor, but it's coming along", said the BCL Co-Player of the Year and future Georgetown Hoya. "During the game the adreline kicks in, and I really don't feel it, but afterwards it stiffens up. I'm proud of the way we played on defense tonight. I think we held them to about 30."
"Our number one goal tonight was to stop Matt Rum, and we did that," said St. Joe's All-BCL sophomore Eric Atkins.
Coach Josh Davalli's team finished the year at 18-10.
"We got great performances from our seniors all year and Matt [Rum] came into his own this year as a true offensive threat," said Davalli. "I give St. Joe a lot of credit; they played hard on both ends of the floor tonight. They are a solid team."
Now, St. Joe and St. Frances will square off for the third time this year in the BCL final. The game matches Sims against St. Frances senior guard Sean Mosley, who shared Co-Player of the Year honors with the Gael big man.
St. Frances advanced with a dominant 84-65 win over Towson Catholic, which knocked off the Panthers and Gaels to win this year's MIAA crown, as Mosley scored a game-high 23 points.
In coordination with DigitalSports, tonight's game will also be taped for broadcast on the Fox 45 digital channel (check your local listing for the channel number) and aired this Saturday at 6:00 pm and again on Sunday at 6:00 pm.
Baltimore Catholic League Tournament
Semifinals
At Loyola College
Mount St. Joseph 52, Loyola 32
MSJ 9 12 17 14 - 52
LOY 4 9 9 10 - 32
Mount St. Joseph: Sims 16, Atkins 12, McCoy 7, Hill 8, Olsen 2, MJiller 1, Jones 3, Pearson 2.
Loyola: Stanwick 2, Davenport 7, Neacock 7, Schittino 5, Kirby 2, Cotherman 2, Dauses 2, Floyd 5.
Half: Mount St. Joseph, 21-13.
