BCL Semis Produce Expected Results

Ron Bailey, Publisher

March 5, 2008 – Loyola College hosted the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament’s semi-final round yesterday evening, with the outcomes following conventional wisdom: Game one saw Mt. St. Josephs easily send Loyola packing, 52-32, while St. Frances produced a similar outcome against Towson Catholic, winning 84-63.

Mt. St. Joes (30-3) extended a 21-13 halftime lead to 33-17 by the third quarter’s 3:12 mark, in large part due senior Henry Sims. A 6’11” pivot player headed to Georgetown, Sims scored both around the rim and at the foul line, both results of exploiting his physical and skill advantages.

Henry Sims pounds the rim.

When asked afterward to pinpoint the cause of his team’s success, Sims deflected attention from himself, stating “It was excellent team defense first. We really stepped it up”.

That defensive effort throttled Loyola (18-9), holding the team’s leading scorer Matt Rum scoreless.

Sims finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks, a performance that garnered a standing ovation when he finally left the contest with 2:06 to play for the Gaels (30-3), ranked number two in B’More. Not to be ignored was the contribution of sophomore guard Eric Atkins, a provider of 12 points who not only got to the rim, but found open teammates for shots and operated from the perimeter himself.

Having been defeated by Towson Catholic in the recent Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association ‘A’ Conference championship, Sims relished an opportunity for payback, a desire that will go unmet as St. Frances (26-8) used a 30-12 second half run to earn a berth in tonight’s 7pm final, also at Loyola.

“We just had to pick up the tempo” said freshman point guard Ronald ‘R.J.” Williams of eighth ranked St. Frances’ second half game plan, which included creating defensive stops with an aggressive, periodically trapping defense, and pushing the tempo.

Of course senior and future Maryland Terp Sean Mosley was the linchpin, as in addition to scoring a game high 23 points, Mosley constantly found teammates for buckets, something he indicated “has been my role all year on this team, to get everyone involved”.

Mosley on Williams (pictured): “He stepped up big time”.

That selfless focus contributed to all of St. Frances’ starters scoring in double figures, including Mosley, Williams, senior Anthony Aquendo (17 points), sophomore Wayne Sparrow (16 points) and senior Donald Washington (11 points).

Senior point guard Larry Bastfield, a future Toledo student-athlete led Towson (19-12) via 19 points, and fourth year student Devin Spencer chipped in 15.

The diminutive, quick, and fearless Williams on the victory: “We just needed the win. For the coaches (which include outgoing legend William Wells along with assistants Mark Karcher and Nick Myles) and the seniors”.