With a showdown with St. Frances approaching, Mount St. Joseph basketball team’s non-league matchup with New Town Tuesday evening could be viewed as a tuneup.

It took a couple of minutes for the No. 1 Gaels to show they’re ready for their biggest local challenge, dismantling the 10th-ranked Titans, 95-43, in Southwest Baltimore. Junior forward Tyonne Farrell finished with 20 points for Mount St. Joseph (13-2 overall), and Amani Hansberry added 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The reigning Baltimore Catholic League and MIAA A Conference champ Gaels flexed on the Baltimore County public stronghold, scoring the final 19 points in the opening quarter. Eleven scored for Mount St. Joseph, ranked 26th nationally among four-year high school programs by MaxPreps.

“I was pleased with the effort on both ends of the floor, New Town is an athletic team,” said Gaels coach Pat Clatchey.

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Mount St. Joseph’s athleticism, as well as size and offensive ball movement overwhelmed the Titans, coming off a solid showing at the Governors Challenge in Salisbury last week. The Gaels made their first appearance at the huge Eastern Shore holiday event, beating St. Stephens & St. Agnes (VA) and Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic.

After suffering one of its worst losses in recent years, a 35-point loss to Washington Catholic Athletic Conference powerhouse Paul VI (VA), Mount St. Joseph has recalibrated, stunning Florida’s Montverde Academy, then-ranked No. 1 nationally among post-grad programs by MaxPreps, at the Iolani Classic in Hawaii.

The Gaels finished second in the tournament, falling in double overtime to Philadelphia’s St. Neumann-Goretti (No. 6 nationally among four-year schools by MaxPreps).

“Sometimes you have to go through some things to see what you’re made of. We told our guys that wasn’t acceptable (Paul VI loss),” said Clatchey. “We’ve gotten better. The two games we played in Salisbury, I think we were still recovering from Hawaii.”

“We knew we needed to have a different level of focus,” said Gaels senior guard Ace Valentine. “Practices got harder and I think it’s contributed to how we’re playing now.”

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The Gaels were locked in for their first game of the new year. They never trailed after Valentine, an UMBC recruit, dropped the first of nine Mount St. Joseph 3-pointers on the evening, giving the hosts a 5-3 advantage.

Farrell started the 19-0 run with two free throws and basket off an assist from senior Sean Clark and 6-foot-8 sophomore Brandon Holmes completed it with a follow-up right before the buzzer for a 34-10 advantage. Brashawn Galloway’s dunk made it 53-17 before Mount St. Joseph settled for a 53-20 halftime advantage.

The lead hit 40 late in the third, and 50 midway through the fourth quarter with the Gael reserves in. Valentine finished with 10 points and six assists and Holmes contributed six rebounds and a block.

Sophomore guard Justus Stanton led New Town (5-2) with 12 points and Jameel Suleman had 11 and three rebounds. Senior Cam Sparrow, coming off a strong showing at the Governors Challenge, was limited to three points Tuesday.

Sparrow dropped his lone score, a 3-pointer, bringing New Town to within 10-8 with about five minutes left in the first.

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Then came the final 27 minutes for the Titans, who battled the Gaels’ BCL rival St. Maria Goretti in the Bracket 7 final in Salisbury after handing previously undefeated New Jersey’s Linden its first setback in the semifinals last week.

“We want to play the best and tonight showed we’re not there yet,” said New Town coach Derrick Wise, whose team hosts upstart and 15th-ranked Catonsville in a Baltimore County match Wednesday. “They exposed a lot of things we need to work on, things I’ve been telling the guys we got to get better at. It was an eye-opener.”

Next for the Gaels is a trip to East Baltimore and second-ranked St. Frances in a rematch of last year’s BCL Tournament final. The Panthers swept the two regular season meetings before Mount St. Joseph flipped the script to win its eighth tourney championship.

“It’s always a battle, but it’s a January game and there’s a lot of basketball to be played,” said Clatchey. “Their guards are really good…our guards are going to have to defend and our bigs are going to have to play well.”

“It’s always a challenge,” said Valentine. “We’re going to have to play our best basketball.”

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NO. 2 MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 95, NO. 10 NEW TOWN 43

New Town - Stanton 12, Suleiman 11, Brown 6, Hopkins 4, Kirkland 4, Hawkins 3. Totals 15 5-7 43.

Mount St. Joseph - Farrell 20, Hansberry 20, , Valentine 10, Abrams 9, Hall 7, Holmes 7, Clark 6, Green 5, Galloway 4, Truitt 4, Wingfield 3. Totals 35 16-19 95.

New Town 10 10 12 11 - 43

Mount St. Joseph 34 19 21 21 - 95