No. 3 Mount Saint Joseph boys basketball claims a 66-56 win over Spalding in MIAA A Conference quarterfinal
Mount Saint Joseph basketball had an immediate stern challenge to open its postseason Tuesday against visiting Spalding.
The No. 3 Gaels proved plenty playoff tough.
Star senior guard BJ Ranson scored a game-high 26 points, sophomore guard Chauncey Word scored nine of his 15 points in the deciding fourth quarter and dogged interior defense and rebounding led them to a 66-56 home win over the No. 5 Cavaliers in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference quarterfinals.
Mount Saint Joe (30-6) will travel to No. 1 St. Frances — a 72-57 winner over St. Vincent Pallotti — in Thursday’s semifinal. Defending champion and No. 2 Mount Carmel will host No. 8 Glenelg Country in Thursday’s other semifinal.
Spalding (19-13) turns its attention on the Baltimore Catholic League playoffs, opening against John Carroll in the quarterfinals set for 6:15 p.m. March 1 at Loyola University’s Reitz Arena.
For Mount Saint Joe, which trailed 51-49 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter Tuesday, it was just a matter of digging in.
The Gaels made shots — Word’s four-point play with 6:20 left gave them the lead for good at 54-51 — played tough defense and hit their free throws at the end. Down low defensively, Saxton Simley and Zikom Etolue each blocked shots and Ranson came away with two steals.
“We definitely grinded out this one,” said Ranson, who was named the Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year on Monday. “We knew we had to have a must-win mentality and do what we had to do to get the win.”
The teams split two regular-season games in December with the visiting team claiming the wins.
On Tuesday, the most appealing matchup of the quarterfinal round lived up to the billing.
The Cavaliers got going early, getting consecutive 3-pointers from Kam Carter and Braxton Bogard to build a 19-9 lead late in the first quarter.
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But Ranson got going in the second to bring the home team back, scoring 12 in the frame with his off-balance 3 near the buzzer providing a 34-33 halftime lead.
The game stayed tight until the Gaels cranked up the intensity on defense, hit more big shots and sealed the win with six made free throws in the final minute, while the Cavaliers missed their last four. After struggling in the first half, Word made his mark with the long 3-pointer that he turned into the four-point play, followed by for more makes at the free throw line to help the Gaels pull away.
“In the first half I went through a little adversity, so I had to keep my head up and keep going. I knew I had to step up in the second half and help my team,” he said. “We were aggressive, got on the floor and made the plays we needed to make.”
The Gaels know they’ll go to St. Frances battle-tested. St. Frances won both regular season games — 70-66 in overtime on Dec. 1 and 84-73 on Jan 13.
“That’s a tough first-round game — [Spalding] is a very, very good team,” Mount Saint Joe coach Pat Clatchey said. “I think our interior defense showed a lot of grit and toughness and it was our frontcourt, but also our guards really digging in and chipping in as well.”
Bogard finished with 16 points to lead the Cavaliers with Carter, Colt Busse and Moe Lonergan each scoring nine.
“[Mount Saint Joe] played well — you got to give them credit. BJ hit some tough shots. I thought we played really well, but had to finish better at the end. We missed some free throws and you can’t turn the ball over,” Spalding coach Josh Pratt said. “Hopefully we’ll learn and the best thing is we have the BC left and a good while to get better.”
Have a news tip? Contact Glenn Graham at ggraham@baltsun.com410-332-6636 and x.com/GlennGrahamSun.
S — 21 12 15 8 — 56
MSJ — 13 21 15 17 — 66
S: Bogard 16, Busse 9, Carter 9, Lonergan 9, Moultrie 5, Avery 7, Farmer 1
MSJ: Ranson 26, Early Jr. 1, Ci. Word 2, Ch. Word 15, Simley 13, Etolue 7, Anthony 2
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