Top-ranked and top-seeded Mount St. Joseph put on a shooting clinic inside and out to humble No. 15 and fourth-seeded John Carroll, 72-54, in last night's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference semifinal played at Archbishop Spalding in Severn.
The Gaels (28-2) made it a sweep of three games with the Patriots (20-12) this season by shooting 61 percent (14-for-23) from the field in the first half and 50 percent (23-for-46) overall. Henry Sims led the Gaels with 20 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.
"I thought we played really, really well," said coach Pat Clatchey, whose Gaels also shot well at the foul line, hitting 22 of 27 (82 percent).
"Eric [Atkins] and Justin [McCoy] played just tremendous, and Henry was a monster in the first half," Clatchey said of Sims, who had 14 points and three blocks in the first 16 minutes. "You know 28-2 is pretty good. It's been a great season even though we have been battling injuries."
McCoy (17), Atkins (16) and Quentin Jones (12) joined Sims in double figures for the balanced Gaels.
"They had a triangle-and-two on Eric and Henry to start the second half and went on that [11-2] run and it left me open," said McCoy, who scored 11 of his points in the second half.
"I expected us to win, but not like this."
Mount St. Joseph will meet defending champion and No. 8 Towson Catholic (19-11) on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at Towson University in the A Conference final. The Gaels' three-year grip on the "A" title was broken by the Owls last season.
The third-seeded Owls upset No. 4 and second-seeded St. Frances, 78-74, in overtime Wednesday night at Towson.
Mount St. Joseph and John Carroll were scheduled to play in Wednesday's nightcap but Harford County school buses were not running because of the bad weather. That prevented the Patriots from making the trip to Towson.
pat.omalley@baltsun.com