Steve Luse
Cumberland Times-News
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FROSTBURG — The Gonzaga Eagles will be going after their third straight championship when they face Washington Catholic Athletic Conference rival DeMatha in the final game of the 50th edition of the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament today at 8:15 p.m. at Frostburg State’s Bobcat Arena.
The Eagles came up with answers to Baltimore’s Mount St. Joseph runs and converted their foul shots in the final period for a 74-67 victory in the semifinals Friday night. DeMatha disposed of Benedictine, of Richmond, Va. 66-54, in the final game last night.
Mount St. Joseph’s, a Baltimore Catholic League champion, will be taking a 31-5 record into tonight’s third-place game against Benedictine at 6:30.
DeMatha defeated Gonzaga 72-51 in the WCAC championship game after the team’s split two close regular-season games. The Eagles won the first 67-65 in overtime, while the Stags won the return bout, 73-69.
Gonzaga, which is going after its fifth ACIT title, was ranked No. 3 in the Washington Post poll. DeMatha is the top-ranked team in the Washington, D.C. area and is No. 14 in USA.
Gonzaga converted 20-of-24 foul shots in the final period to hold off the never-say-quit Gaels.
Duke-bound Tyler Thornton was a perfect 12-for-12 at the charity stripe and made nine in the final eight minutes as he led four Gonzaga players in double figures with 20 points.
Cedrick Lindsay added 16 points, and Ben Dickinson made a major contribution off the bench with a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Kris Jenkins had 10 points.
Mount St. Joseph’s was led by Baltimore Catholic League Player of the Year Eric Atkins with 27 points. The 6-foot-1 senior guard is headed to Notre Dame. Riley Beaumont contributed 16 points and seven rebounds and Matt Miller had 11 points.
Gonzaga led by as many as nine points, but trailed 49-48 early in the fourth period before putting on the foul-shooting exhibition.
“We were making our free throws and times when we needed it we did a good job of getting the ball in the hands of the right players where we wanted to make the play,” said Gonzaga coach Steve Turner. “They didn’t win 30 games with nothing and they have one of the best high school coaches in the country.”
The first period had four ties and three lead changes and ended with Gonzaga up 16-12.
Dickinson came in and came up with a big three-point play and two more foul-shots by Jenkins had the Eagles up 30-22 with 56 seconds left in the half. After the Gaels cut the lead to four, Lindsay nailed a three-pointer right before the buzzer for a 33-26 halftime lead.
Gonzaga was up eight points (45-37) after a Dickinson bucket with three minutes left in the third period.
But after Phillip Lawrence scored on a drive for the Gaels, Gonzaga was nailed for a technical foul on one of its players.
Atkins converted four straight foul shots and Beamont hit a jumper on the possession as Mount St. Joseph’s got six points in one possession to tie the score at 45 at the 1:40 mark in the quarter.
Lindsay answered with a crucial three-pointer, but a rebound follow by Trey Clinton made it a one-point game going into the final eight muntes.
After the Beaumont bucket gave the Gaels a short-lived lead, Cahli Thomas connected on a crucial trey for the Gaels. One foul shot by Lindsay and two by Thornton made it 54-49 with 4:52 left.
Mount St. Joseph’s was down by only four points (68-64) after an Atkins three-pointer with 51.7 seconds left. Thornton answered with two more foul shots and the Eagles were able to hold on.
“Gonzaga has a very good team and is very experienced and athletic,” says coach Pat Clatchey. “I was proud of the effort of our players but they had answers for our runs. If they would have missed some foul shots it could have been different.”Steve Luse is a sports writer for the Cumberland Times-News. He can be reached at sluse@times-news.com.
