Five Takeaways: St. Frances vs Loyola (BCL Semifinal)

Colby Giacubeno February 28, 2020 @ 05:45 PM

This evening at Reitz Arena located on the campus of Loyola University of Maryland, no.1 St. Frances faced off against no. 5 Loyola Blakefield. It took the first couple of minutes, but the Panthers eventually got into groove and from mid-way through the first quarter on, dominated the game. With the win the Pathers advance to the BCL title game where they'll have a chance to defend last year's championship against the winner of Mount St. Joseph/Mount Carmel. Here are five takeaways from the contest: Ireland was steady and efficient 2021 guard Byron Ireland has found his niche within this St. Frances team as of late and it's showing in his shot selection and the confidence in which he is shooting the ball. The 6-foot-2 guard saw plenty of easy looks come from the play making of 2020 Ace Baldwin, but Ireland was also effective in putting the ball on the floor, getting to pen spots in the mid-range and converting. Ireland finished the game with 16 points. Fischer ends his high school career 2020 forward Mitch Fischer played his final high school game this evening and the 6-foot-7 forward refused to go down easily. He led the Dons with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Fischer finished well around the basket and has improved on withstanding contact on the way. It'll be interesting to see what's next for Fishcer. He's a two-time All-BCL First Team player and seems to have the traits and skills to help a Division I program at some point. St. Frances bigs dominate The duo of 2020 <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jamal-west/"><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jamal-west/">Jamal West</a></a> and 2021 <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/julian-reese/"><a href="https://prephoops.com/player/julian-reese/">Julian Reese</a></a> were just too much inside for Loyola. West's impact was felt scoring off of Baldwin at least a handful of Baldwin no-look passes. Once he corralled the pass there was no stopping him from finishing at the rim. Reese did a nice job finishing with soft touch and even made a couple of plays off the bounce from 15 feet out. Baldwin on another level We've said this many times on Prep Hoops whether it be in our articles or on the DMV Dime Pocast, but every game watching Ace Baldwin play further strengthens the argument of him being one of the most underrated players in the country. His IQ is simply on another level. I feel comfortable with saying he has the court vision and feel for the game as many professionals do up to this point. His ability to see plays form long before they do is incredible. You can tell that he only scores if the situation absolutely calls for it. His first and second priority is to get open shots for others. You don't see many point guards with that mindset in today's game. Baldwin finished this game with 16 assists. St. Frances waits for a second shot at Mount St. Joe The Gaels are heavy favorites entering their semifinal game against Mount Carmel. If all plays as expected, we'll get a rematch of the MIAA A Conference Championship game from Sunday. This time it will be a little bit more personal for the Panthers. They'd like nothing more than to get another shot at Mount St. Joe. It'll certainly be one to see on Sunday at 1pm.