Mount St. Joe vs St. Frances- Takeaways

It was a Super Bowl Sunday primer as two of the best programs in Baltimore faced off. In what has been the best rivalry you'll find in the Baltimore Metro area, Mount St. Joe defended their home court with an impressive 82-64 win over St. Frances. With the win, the Gaels improve to 31-3 overall and 11-1 in BCL play. The Panthers fall to 23-9 and 9-3 in BCL play.   Let's check out some takeaways from the matchup   Hansberry too much to handle   Coming into this game, the advantage was clear for Mount St. Joe and that was in the paint where they could utilize the No. 1 ranked player in our 2023 MD/DC rankings and Illinois commit, [player_tooltip player_id='957018' first='Amani' last='Hansberry']. The 6'7 forward took the first half to really settle in and get his footing while operating on the block, but in the second half he asserted his dominance from the start of the third quarter by scoring 19 of his game-high 26 points in the last 16 minutes. If he wasn't scoring, Hansberry was holding down the fort on the defensive glass. The high level of production has been a standard that Hansberry has set over his high school career and it was evident today that he wouldn't allow any St. Frances run to overwhelm his team.   Carrington and Lamothe carry the load   It has been much of the same this season for St. Frances in regards to leaning heavily on their two high major guards in [player_tooltip player_id='1114066' first='Carlton' last='Carrington'] and [player_tooltip player_id='957025' first='Jahnathan' last='Lamothe']. Carrington, a Pittsburgh commit, led the way with 21 points. The 6'5 guard scored 15 of his 21 in the second half where he got to his spots in the mid-range in limited bounces. The balance, confidence and feel that he has has a scorer give plenty of reason to believe he'll make his impact next season for head coach Jeff Capel in the ACC.   Lamothe was especially good today in spurts where St. Frances desperately needed a spark. It started with ending the first quarter in buzzer-beating fashion on a three. In the second quarter, he had a couple of strong takes and finishes through contact, but his loudest moment came in the third quarter when he threw down a monster one-handed dunk in transition over a MSJ defender. Lamothe has been stacking consistent scoring performances over the last few weeks and doing his damage from multiple levels.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/JahnathanLamot1/status/1624863160229396481?s=20&t=2I-in9phjYI6LljXzo4Fiw </div></figure>   Steady efforts from Valentine and Farrell   MSJ senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1049863' first='Ace' last='Valentine'] and junior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1280947' first='Tyonne' last='Farrell'] have established themselves as top prospects in their respective classes for MD/DC due to their consistent production. Today was the same as Valentine controlled the pace, remained aggressive when scoring opportunities came his way and checked the boxes defensively that you'd want as a coach. Valentine scored 15 points in the victory.   Farrell brings his hard hat each time he takes the floor, but today he was letting everyone know about it. He brings the edge that his team needs and a toughness that can overwhelm opponents inside at both ends. He doesn't let his intense energy get the best of him and instead, plays with an effective patience that adds even more value for his team. He scored efficiently from mid-range, initiated contact on attempts around the bucket and made timely passes once double-teams rotated from the weak side. Farrell finished with 16 points.   Role players thriving   There were a few role players in this contest who took advantage of the stage playing in front of a sold out crowd. Unsigned MSJ senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1164830' first='Sean' last='Clark'] was tremendous today by registering 13 points off the bench. It didn't take long for him to make and impact in the first half by putting together a personal 8-0 run that included two triples. In the second half he provided more spark by picking his matchup's pocket at half court, scooping up the 50/50 and drawing a foul on his layup attempt before converting both free-throws. Shortly after, he entered the ball into Hansberry on the block, relocated and buried a catch-and-shoot three after a crisp delivery.   St. Frances junior guard Edrees Farooq was a bright spot for head coach Nick Myles as a reserve. Farooq has been showing progressions within the last month and displayed some impressive confidence today scoring all nine of his points from deep. With so much of the scoring responsibility on Carrington and Lamothe's shoulders, any production from others shined a little brighter than usual and Farooq's ability to cash in on his looks kept the Panthers in reach before MSJ made their final run.

It was a Super Bowl Sunday primer as two of the best programs in Baltimore faced off. In what has been the best rivalry you'll find in the Baltimore Metro area, Mount St. Joe defended their home court with an impressive 82-64 win over St. Frances. With the win, the Gaels improve to 31-3 overall and 11-1 in BCL play. The Panthers fall to 23-9 and 9-3 in BCL play.