Those that say defense wins championships would have loved the effort by St. Frances yesterday at Mount St. Joseph to clinch the regular-season Catholic League crown.
The No. 5 Panthers (21-4 overall) limited the host Gaels (13-11, 5-7) to nine points in the first half on 3-for-21 shooting and rolled to a 58-30 victory to finish atop the Catholic League with a 10-2 record.
"This was a great way to clinch the championship," said St. Frances coach William Wells. "I'm really proud of the way we played today. In fact, since we lost to Calvert Hall and Goretti we've seemed to mature.
"Those two losses really shocked us, and in the last three games we finally played some full four-quarter games of controlled basketball."
It was the inside strength of sophomore center Mark Karcher, who led all scorers with 22 points, and sophomore forward Charles Beaufort, who had 11 points, that shut down St. Joe's leading scorer, Dan Whye. Whye had nine points for the Gaels, who finished with nine field goals.
The Panthers scored the first eight points, hitting four of their first six shots and then went three minutes without a score. But the Panthers defense was superb in the first half and never allowed St. Joe to get into an offensive flow.
Leading 10-4 after the first quarter, St. Francis built its lead to 21-6 after a steal and layup by Alphonso Jones (12 points) with 3:36 left in the first half.
Ten days ago Whye helped the Gaels rally from a 21-6 deficit at Calvert Hall to take the lead in the third quarter before losing by seven.
This time, there was no second-quarter rally. The Gaels went from 1-for-11 shooting in the first quarter to 2-for-10 in the second quarter. And Whye, who had scored all four of Mount St. Joe's first-quarter points, didn't get a shot in the second quarter, as Karcher and Beaufort hounded him inside.
"We knew that defense would be the key," said Beaufort. "I knew I had to collapse on [Whye] down low and help Mark."
The Gaels opened the second half with a three-pointer by Cory McNeill and a follow by Cheo Thomas, but the Gaels never got closer than nine points.
"It's good to get the regular-season championship," said Karcher. "But we want to win the tournament too, especially after last year."
The Panthers will have off until the Catholic League tournament starts on Feb. 24 at UMBC.