The decisive moment in the boys basketball showdown between No. 1 St. Frances and No. 3 Mount St. Joseph happened to be the final one Tuesday night in Irvington.
It was one that St. Frances senior point guard R.J. Williams made his very own.
With the Panthers trailing by a point with 58 seconds left, Williams hit a fade-away jumper to give his team the lead back. He made sure they maintained it by hitting six straight free throws -- scoring all eight of the game's points in the final minute -- to lift St. Frances to a 50-43 win at Mount St. Joseph.
Williams finished with a game-high 20 points, hitting all 11 of his free throws, and senior center Greg Lewis added 15 points as the Panthers improved to 8-0. They are 3-0 in the Baltimore Catholic League and 2-0 in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference.
"We had to stay focused," said Williams, a four-year starter who also contributed a key steal and rebound in the final minute. "I had to settle down my game a little. I was turning the ball over in the beginning, but I knew I had to pick it up and stay focused. Coach [Mark Karcher] just told me to play basketball, relax out there … just play my game."
The Panthers' biggest lead came midway through the second quarter when Lewis hit a jumper for a 22-14 advantage. But every time the visitors appeared poised to pull away, Mount St. Joseph (12-4, 2-1 in the BCL, 1-1 in the MIAA) -- behind a 16-point performance from Kameron Williams -- managed to stay close.
Trailing 40-36, the Gaels got a 3-pointer from David Windsor (10 points) and then took their first lead since the opening minute when Trey Clinton (nine points) hit two free throws for a 41-40 advantage with 2:01 to play. After Windsor hit two free throws for a 43-42 Gaels lead with 1:10 left, Williams took control for the Panthers.
"He kept saying 'Coach, I got it. Don't worry, I got it,'" said Karcher. "Games are won in the fourth quarter and that's when he stepped up. He continues to play tremendous basketball to help the team win."
Despite the setback, Mount St. Joseph coach Pat Clatchey found plenty of positives from a young group that is still getting comfortable with expanded roles. The Gaels lost their top three scorers from last season to graduation, but still managed to match the more experienced Panthers for 31 of the game's 32 minutes.
"This is kind of a new group and some of the guys are in roles and expectations they've never been in before," Clatchey said. "I think sometimes you have to experence these types of games, learn from them, grow from them, and hopefully history doesn't repeat itself."
Boys basketball
1 St. Frances 50, 3 Mount St. Joseph 43
SF -- Lewis 15, Williams 20, Tarver 8, Brown 3, Code 4. Totals: 12 21-24 50.
MSJ -- K. Williams 16, Clinton 9, Long 3, Windsor 10, Nardolilo 2, Stephenson 2, Morton 1. Totals: 15 12-15 43.
Half: SF, 22-18.