Mount Saint Joseph outscored John Carroll 32-11 in the second half to overcome a nine point half-time deficit, and the surge allowed the Gaels to win the 41st Baltimore Catholic League Tournament, with a 52-39 victory over the defending champions in Sunday's championship game at Stevenson University.
The Gaels were led by tourney MVP Kameron Williams and Lavon Long, who was named to the All-Tournament team. In winning their first BCL crown since 2006, the Gaels (27-6) avenged last Sunday?s loss to John Carroll in the MIAA A Conference finals at UMBC. The Irvington school is now tied with St. Maria Goretti with four championships, fourth most in history.
Williams hit an NBA three mid-way through the third quarter that ignited the Gael offense. The Williams' jumper cut the John Carroll lead to five (29-24), and it changed the momentum of the game. St. Joe held John Carroll to one field goal in the third quarter, and their stifling play on defense continued into the fourth quarter.
The Gaels held high scoring Jarred Jones to just six points on the day, and only sophomore Kamau Stokes reached double figures for John Carroll. The Patriots were coming off a dramatic one point win over St. Frances in the semifinals, as well as a triple overtime win over Goretti in the quarterfinals, and may have run out of steam in the second half Sunday.
Williams and Long each finished with 17 points. Long was 11-for-11 from the free throw line in the second half, and he scored 11 points for coach Pat Clatchey in the fourth quarter. Williams scored twelve in the second half, and he was 6-for-6 from the line on the day.
The Gaels were 22-24 from the line on the day, a blistering 92%.
"The free throws helped us win the game, and we stepped up our defense in the second half," said Williams, who was held to just five points by the Patriots in last week's loss in the MIAA championship game.
Long said that he had to redeem himself after a poor performance in the Gaels semifinal win over Spalding on Saturday.
"I came in with the mentality that I was going to score and work hard the whole game."
John Carroll coach Tony Martin gave the Gaels credit.
"They played great in the second half. Our legs gave out a little after the hard fought wins in the first two rounds," said Martin.
It was career win 470 for Clatchey, and his fourth BCL championship. Clatchey is 175-93 in BCL play, the third winningest coach in league history behind Loyola's Jerry Savage (190) and the late Ray Mullis (Cardinal Gibbons - 183). Sunday's win allowed Clatchey to move one win ahead of St. Frances' William Wells, who retired after the 2008 season with 174 wins.
The Gaels have more BCL wins (294) than any team in league history, and they also have the most playoff wins (44) in league history.
Jones, who made a pressure-packed free throw to send the Pats to the finals at the end of regulation on Saturday, was also named All-Tournament, as was Stokes for John Carroll. Archbishop Spalding's Greg Brown was also named All-Tournament, while Calvert Hall's Justin Beck was given the tournament's Sportsmanship Award.
St. Joe has already been granted a spot in the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament, March 15-17 in Frostburg State University. The BCL is guaranteed two teams and most likely John Carroll will receive an at-large bid this week