Two-horse show rest of the way

But after losing four seniors from that squad to the college ranks, Gaels? coach Pat Clatchey said his team is in a “regrouping” mode.

“I don?t think we?re in a rebuilding mode by any stretch,” Clatchey said, with his second-ranked team at 20-6 heading into Sunday?s game with St. John?s Catholic Prep (13-14).

All four of his team?s losses in MIAA play have come to No. 1 Towson Catholic (25-4) and No. 3 St. Frances (21-7).

This past week, the Owls took down St. Joe twice in a very tough stretch of games that included the likes of St. Frances and DeMatha, a Washington Catholic league power.

“The last two weeks have been a really good test for us,” Owls coach Josh Pratt said. “We?re a lot more mature now, a lot more together. The goal is high this year. We have a special team. It would be nice to finish strong.”

The growing process for the Owls has come in those tough contests, including against the Gaels.

“They?re the defending champions and they have a lot of pride in their program,” Pratt said. “You always want to beat them. They?ve been on top for so long.”

Towson Catholic won Friday night, 55-53, at the Towson Center, after winning Tuesday, 63-59.

The Gaels had won four straight league titles, but have found out how important those four seniors were to that run. Clatchey said he?d like to see his squad start “playing with a purpose, a sense of urgency. Every possession on both sides of the ball is crucial in a game like that.”

Towson Catholic will head into both the MIAA and Baltimore Catholic League tournaments as the No. 1 seed after wrapping up regular-season titles. Despite having two high-profile recruits on the roster in Virginia Tech-bound guard Malcolm Delaney and Syracuse-bound forward Donte Greene, the Owls haven?t been getting much national acclaim.

“To be honest, its more of a motivation because we didn?t win the title last year. We?re in it to win a championship,” Pratt said. “The icing on the cake would be a national ranking.”