Mike Mathews
Cumberland Times-News
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FROSTBURG — Gonzaga concentrated on the simple things and made life awfully difficult for Bishop Walsh in Thursday’s opener of the 50th Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament.
The two-time defending champion Eagles were strong inside and near perfect at times in running their fast break in rolling up an 84-43 victory over the Spartans at Frostburg State University.
Nate Britt and Malcolm Lemmons scored 14 points, Tyler Thornton had 12 and Cedrick Lindsay and Danny Williams 11 for Gonzaga (26-6), which has a seven-game ACIT winning streak and is 15-3 in tournament games since 1997.
Pat Jones scored 15 points and Quincy Redmon had 12 points and nine rebounds for Bishop Walsh (8-16).
The Eagles, of Washington, D.C., led 6-5 after three minutes, then outscored the Spartans 16-4 the rest of the quarter for a 22-9 lead. The run carried over into the second quarter, when Gonzaga got 20 of its 24 points on fast breaks or offensive rebounds.
It was Gonzaga’s first game since a loss to DeMatha two weeks ago, and head coach Steve Turner was pleased with what he saw after the well-deserved break.
“We were fresh again, and we did a very good job of sharing the basketball,” he said. “We were looking to make the extra pass for each other. We went back to the simple things and focused on them ... like running the break, filling lanes and making good passes.”
The Eagles’ quickness, led by guards Lindsay, headed to the University of Richmond, and Thornton, who will be at Duke next year, was too much for Bishop Walsh.
“To be off for three weeks and then see that ... it’s pretty tough,’’ said BW coach Jeff Rhodes. “The kids didn’t quit and we did a little better in the second half, but all that speed, strength and athleticism is something else. I thought we got into a little bit of an offensive rhythm in the second half, but defensively we gave up too many transition buckets. We just couldn’t get back.”
Lindsay was several buckets shy of his 18-point average, but made a huge impact with nine assists and six steals, both game highs. He had six assists in the first half. The Eagles finished with 23 assists and 20 steals.
“He’s our leading scorer and he was finding guys open for buckets all game,’’ Turner said of Lindsay. “That’s what makes him special.”
Kris Jenkins converted a 3-on-1 break and added a tip-in to open the second quarter and two transition baskets by Nate Britt, one a three-point play, extended the lead to 31-11 with 5:20 left in the half. A 3-point shot by Williams, two more fast breaks by Lindsay and another tip-in by Jenkins, made it 40-15 at the 2-minute mark. The half ended 46-18.
The Spartans matched their first-half output with 18 points in the third quarter, with Jones getting seven of them with a three-pointer and a pair of two-pointers.
Gonzaga led 67-36 after three quarters. The largest lead was the final score.
“We have to play better teams,’’ Rhodes said about how to prepare for the size and quickness of ACIT teams. “We tried to do that by going to Canada and went to D.C. for some scrimmages, but we have to do more of that. And we have to get stronger and work more in the weight room.”
BW’s last tournament win was 60-57 over Judge Memorial in 1996, a span of 40 games.
Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. He can be reached at mmathews@times-news.com
