The holiday season is often full of surprises, but for Old Mill coach Paul Bunting, the surprises continued last night.
His underdog Patriots (4-3) won the Red Bracket championship of the Wes Unseld Holiday Tournament with a 54-44 victory over Catonsville in the final at Catonsville Community College.
Meanwhile, the cliches describing Broadneck's dominance at the tournament are running out. The No. 11 Bruins won the Green Bracket championship, defeating No. 17 Loyola, 67-56.
"I'm pleased with any win these guys have this year," said Old Mill's Bunting, "and they are surprising more and more, pleasantly I might add. I wasn't really really sure how good this team would be at the beginning of the year and they're turning out a lot better than I anticipated."
Junior guard Joe Barnes led all scorers with 21 points for Old Mill. Matt O'Connell led Catonsville (3-3) with 14.
Both were involved in what was the decisive moment of the game.
The Patriots had the ball and 46-44 lead when Barnes missed a jumper. Demar Thompson saved the ball for Old Mill, tossing it over his head. Barnes out-leaped a Catonsville defender for the ball and was fouled by O'Connell, his fifth of the game.
O'Connell's departure left the Comets with no serious scoring threat.
Old Mill, which reached the final with a 63-54 upset of No. 8 Randallstown on Tuesday, scored the game's final 10 points.
"We knew we had a chance coming in," said Barnes, who scored four of his team's final 10 points. "We almost let turnovers hurt us, but our defense step up."
Senior guard Jason Smith scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Bruins (6-1). John Williams added 16 and Josh Grover scored 10.
It was the fifth title for Broadneck in nine appearances at the Unseld Tournament, which include a record 17 triumphs. The Bruins, who won consecutive titles from 1987 to 1990, lost in last year's finals to Woodlawn, 52-46.
There was no real suspense last night. Broadneck led 36-24 at halftime and led by as many as 20 points in the second half.
"We have been here so long we get used to it," said Smith, the tournament's MVP. "Tonight, we played good defense and passed the ball well, but it was mainly defense."
Loyola (6-3), which knocked off two-time defending champion Woodlawn the night before, received 18 points from Jason Vogtman. Adam Shigley added 10.
The Bruins took command early, going on a 9-0 run for an 11-2 lead. The Bruins led 22-12 after the first quarter.
"We just got outplayed," said Loyola coach Jerry Savage. "We got off to a very slow start and we had a hard time making it up. When we got behind, it was difficult because they got a good ballclub."
In the Red Bracket Consolation, Randallstown (7-1) routed Hammond (3-4), 95-58, as Daron Ward scored 17 points.
All 13 players scored for the Rams and the 95 points fell five shy of the tournament single-game record set by Mount St. Joseph in 1990.
Lance Anderson scored 15 points and Troy Lewis had 14 for Randallstown. Anthony Curry, Ted Crews and Tom Salkeld each scored 12 points to lead Hammond.
In the Green Bracket consolation, Karl Sorrell set a tournament single-game scoring record with 42 points as Woodlawn (4-3) beat Edmondson (5-4), 97-79.
Sorrell, a 6-foot-3 junior, eclipsed the record previously held by the late Eddie Rivers, who scored 39 points for Edmondson in a 1991 game against Hammond.
"I didn't know I broke the record until I came out of the locker room," said Sorrell, who also tied the single-game record for field goals with 17.
Marc Bragg added 16 points for the Warriors, whose two-year reign as champions of Unseld Tournament ended with an 86-68 loss to Loyola on Tuesday night. Kevin Parsons had 13 and Keion Carpenter scored 12 for Woodlawn.
Joining Broadneck's Smith on all-tournament team were Sorrell (Woodlawn), Jamaine Young (Broadneck), Barnes (Old Mill), Vogtman (Loyola) and Terrell Smith (Edmondson).