Keon Lattimore

FROSTBURG - Mount St. Joseph's bid to advance to the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament final at Frostburg State University ended in the final minute last night. The No. 11-ranked Gaels, the last entry into the prestigious boys basketball tournament, were downed by St. John Neumann of Philadelphia, 53-48, in the semifinals. The bitter loss came one night after the Gaels had upset defending champion DeMatha. Neumann (20-7) meets Gonzaga (27-7), a 77-42 semifinal winner over Roman Catholic, at 8:15 tonight in the championship game.

Known for its football team in recent years, the Eastern Tech boys basketball team is etching its own mark these days, and nearly pulled off a huge upset in Irvington yesterday. The visiting Mavericks gave Baltimore Catholic League power Mount St. Joseph all it could handle before bowing, 67-61, as J.J. Outlaw led the Gaels with 29 points to overcome 24 points by the Mavs' senior point guard Ricky Benson. Eastern Tech has never been ranked as high in The Sun's top 20 than it was going into last night's game, at No. 11. The Mavericks dropped to 11-2 with the loss - their other loss was to undefeated No. 8 Dulaney - but still may have answered the skeptics.

Jazwyn Cowan, a 6-foot-8 junior, scored 12 of his game-high 29 points in the final quarter, including the game-winning basket with four seconds remaining as No. 13 McDonogh upset No. 7 Mount St. Joseph, 60-59, last night in Owings Mills. McDonogh (6-3), which moved up to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference this season after winning three straight B Conference titles under coach Matt MacMullan, is off to a 2-0 start in league play. The Eagles and Gaels (8-2) battled back and forth all night long, with the biggest lead a 43-37 advantage by McDonogh late in the third period.