For top-ranked Mount St. Joseph?s boys basketball team and coach Pat Clatchey, Friday?s game against No. 3 St. Frances presented a tough challenge.
The Gaels, who graduated four starters to Division I college teams last season, had to find a way to slow down a deep, talented Panthers squad.
But St. Frances and junior guard Sean Mosley were too much, and the Panthers prevailed, 67-63. They improved to 7-1.
“It was a great high school game with a high level of play,” Clatchey said.
Mosley, a 6-foot-3 junior who led the way with 23 points, was the main focal point of both the Gaels? defensive effort and the scouts in the stands.
“He?s a tough matchup at the high school level,” Clatchey said.
Junior center Henry Sims led the Gaels (6-1) with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Maryland-bound senior Dino Gregory scored 16 points for Mount St. Joseph.
The game drew a huge crowd. Included in the packed gym was Baltimore Catholic League commissioner Jack Degele, who was impressed by the performance.
“It was a great game all the way down to the end,” Degele said. “It almost went to the last possession.”
That type of contest bodes well for Clatchey?s younger, more inexperienced team.
“That?s exactly the kind of games we need to play to get ready for league play,” Clatchey said. “We needed to get battle-tested together.”
His team will get another shot this week, playing in the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., which is regarded as one of the top showcases on the East Coast.
“We feel honored and excited to be participating in a tournament of that caliber,” Clatchey said.
This week will provide a number of tournaments in the area, as well as some, like the Beach Ball Classic, outside the area that offer programs the opportunity to travel during the holiday. St. Frances, in particular, will be traveling to a tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Elsewhere in the area last weekend, Aberdeen earned a key victory in the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference.
The Eagles beat neighboring rival Havre de Grace Friday, 57-49, behind guard Devon Sadler?s 20 points.
In Howard County, River Hill came up with a 51-49 overtime win over Wilde Lake.
Loyola improved to 8-1 with a 62-55 win over St. John?s Catholic Prep.
