The battles between Mt. St. Joseph, St. Frances and Calvert Hall this year should be some interesting contests. So far St. Joe and St. Frances have each had a shot at each other, with the Panthers winning the first matchup last week down in South Carolina at the Beach Ball Classic, and the Gaels returning the favor this evening on their home court in Irvington.

Behind a solid defensive effort and strong performances by their two star players(Eric Atkins and Riley Beaumont) St. Joe took a lead late in the 1st quarter and never trailed again in their 56-46 victory over St. Frances.

Atkins scored 15 of his game high 20 points in the 1st half, including 10 in a row during one stretch, as the Gaels jumped out to a 24-18 halftime lead. After shooting over 65% in last weeks victory St. Frances was held to just 32% shooting in the first half and 41% for the game.

The second half belonged to Beaumont as he scored 15 of his 18 points in the half, including a three pointer towards the end of the 3rd quarter which gave St. Joe their largest lead of the night at 38-27. The Gaels seemed to be in control with a ten point lead halfway through the 4th quarter and the Panthers not knowing where to go for offense. Wayne Sparrow then tried his best to get his team back into it. He hit a short runner in the lane and the first of two foul shots to cut the Gaels lead to 45-40 with just 2:46 remaining. After St. Joe was able to up the lead back to 10 Sam Cassell Jr. hit a long jumper, RJ Williams stole the inbounds pass and fed Sparrow for another short jumper, and the lead was just six, 50-44, with 1:09 left. That was as close as the Panthers would get though as Beaumont converted a layup after some nice passing by the Gaels and Matt Miller sealed the victory converting on 4 straight free throws.

Greg Lewis led the Panthers with 12 points and Sparrow finished with 10 points, 9 coming in the 4th quarter. Panthers leading scorer, Dante Holmes, who was held to just 4 points in last weeks matchup, was shut out.

The victory moves St. Joe to 14-2 on the season and 5-0 in the MIAA A Conference. The loss drops St. Frances to 8-6 and 2-1 in the conference. St. Frances will host Cardinal Gibbons, and the red hot Ryan Cormier, on Friday while St. Joe travels to Maret High School. Round 3 will come January 31st at St. Frances.