Trailing by eight points with a minute to play in regulation, host Mount St. Joe scored eight straight points to tie McDonogh in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference semifinals.

James Bishop (game-high 32 points) hit the game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer and added six points in overtime and Tyler Brelsford (13 points) made six straight free throws in overtime to seal the 69-64 win.

“That was probably the craziest game ever,” Bishop said. “I’ve never been a part of anything like that to get that win with this group of guys, it just feels great to compete for a championship on Sunday.”

The Gaels will play for the MIAA title Sunday against St. Frances, an 81-47 winner over Boys’ Latin.

Bishop described the sequence that led to his game-tying shot.

“My teammate [Chandler Johnson] made a great defensive play, he got his he got his hands on the ball and was able to tap it to me and once they it to me and I just reverted back to my training and just tried to lock in and hit the shot,” Bishop said. “It was crazy how open I was, the ball rolled and I was able to get a wide open shot and was able to hit it.”

Ausar Crawley added 16 points for the Gaels (26-6).

As good as Bishop was in the fourth quarter and overtime, McDonogh’s Dave Brown was equally steady in the game. He scored the Eagles’ first 15 points and helped them to a 20-11 lead after one quarter. Brown finished with a team-high 30 points.

“It was crazy, he was on a roll, he was hitting shots and their crowd was feeding off him it gave them a lot of momentum and we were just able to weather the storm and get a win,” Bishop said.

Drew Green added 13 point for the Eagles.

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