Gaels, Cougars to play in rematch of MIAA A final
No. 3 Mount Saint Joseph holds off No. 12 St. Frances
Just enough defense. Just enough offense from standouts Jalen Smith and Darryl Morsell. And for the Mount Saint Joseph boys basketball team, two clutch free throws at the end from James Bishop.
The No. 3 Gaels were able to stave off a considerable push from No. 12 St. Frances in Saturday night’s Baltimore Catholic League semifinal — getting the two makes from Bishop with 17 seconds left and then their hands up to defend two 3-point tries from the Panthers to come away with a 54-51 win at Goucher.
Mount Saint Joseph, which won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship last Sunday, will meet No. 5 Mount Carmel — a 75-63 winner over St. Maria Goretti in Saturday’s other semifinal — in today’s title game, back at Goucher at 1 p.m. It’s a rematch of the MIAA A title game, which the Gaels won, 65-54.
Smith finished with a game-high 20 points, and Morsell added 13 for the Gaels. The two scored the Gaels’ first nine points of the fourth quarter before Bishop provided the final margin. Playing from behind for much of the game but staying close, the Panthers (16-18) had two chances to tie in the closing seconds, but 3s from Rajear Jones and Elijah Epps were off the mark.
“Glad we won, not happy with how we played — that’s not March basketball right there,” Mount Saint Joseph coach Pat Clatchey said. “We’re glad to be in the BCL championship, but we’re going to have to play a lot better whoever the opponent.”
Leading 29-27 at the break, the Gaels appeared to take hold of the game with a big third quarter. They went up 11 later in the quarter before the Panthers rallied to tie the game at 48.
After a dunk by Smith made it 54-51 with 3:26 to play, defense took over until a basket from Epps cut the lead to 52-51. But the Gaels held on. No. 5 Mount Carmel 75, St. Maria Goretti 63: Leading by one after three quarters, the Cougars hit big shots, got defensive stops and made their free throws at the end to get another chance at the Gaels today.
Senior guard Terry Nolan Jr. led a balanced attack with 21 points, while Jordan Jones (14), Christian Evans (14) and Will Thomas (12) also scored in double figures.
The Cougars’ attention is now set on finding a way to beat Mount Saint Joseph, which won both regular-season games in addition to last Sunday’s MIAA A championship.
“It’s big,” Nolan said. “They got us in the MIAA A championship and we’re just happy to get the rematch. It’s going to take [defense]. We’ve got to contain [Smith] and we should be pretty good.” SF—E. Penn 10, Baldwin 10, Epps 15, Jones 5, Sydnore 2, Toles 7, V. Penn 2. Totals 19 12-19 51. MSJ—Morsell 13, Smith 20, Bishop 8, Robinson 7, McMillan 6. Totals 21 12-20 54. Half: MSJ, 29-27.