When Mount St. Joseph boys basketball coach Pat Clatchey was asked what the difference was in the final key minutes of his No. 1 Gaels' 69-68 win at No. 2 St. Frances on Sunday, he didn't hesitate with a reply.

"What was at stake, to be honest," he said.

With the win, the Gaels (26-2) clinched the Baltimore Catholic League regular-season title with an 11-0 mark, and they have a stranglehold on the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference at 12-0.

No. 3 Calvert Hall and No. 2 St. Frances both have two MIAA losses.

"I tell our guys all the time, I think the regular-season championship is the true championship," Clatchey added. "The playoffs, those are nice and we're going to try to win those, but you look at the regular season and you have to protect your home court and go on the road and win -- it's over a duration of games. In the playoffs, somebody gets in foul trouble or somebody gets hot and anything can happen."

Once the playoffs do arrive, the Gaels have firmly established themselves as the team to beat in what originally appeared to be a dead-even, three-team race with Calvert Hall and St. Frances as the other viable candidates.

Strong senior leadership from point guard Eric Atkins and forward Ryley Beaumont -- both have been a model of consistency all season -- and a talented group around them that plays well together have given the Gaels a slight edge from the other teams.