What was expected to be an intense, hard fought contest between a pair of local basketball powers never materialed. Instead, #6 St. Frances spoiled senior night for rival Towson Catholic by dominating the #7 Owls from start to finish in a 81-63 rout at the College of Notre Dame, Friday evening.
In a match-up that will go a long way toward determining the second seed in the MIAA A Conference playoffs and the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament, not to mention an invitation to the prestigious Alhambra Catholic Inivitational Tournament, in mid-March, the Panthers completed a season-sweep of TC with an outstanding defensive effort and their second consecutive 81-point output.
St. Frances senior Anthony Oquendo, who has rounded back into form after an knee injury several games ago, had a big night on both ends of the floor and ignited his team early with a spectacular dunk.
“My knee is better, and now I’m able to play my game again,” said Oquendo. “I concentrated on what we need to do, and we’re looking forward to the playoffs. We’re playing real good defense now.”
Assistant coach Marc Karcher, who has an ever expanding role as he continues to be groomed as the eventual successor to his former coach and current Panther leader William Wells, says it all about leadership and defense.
“We’re asking our veterans to step up; it’s that time of the season,” said Karcher. “We’re stressing defense and rebounding. We practicing hard and telling our guys not to leave anyone open; no easy baskets.”
Last night, the Panthers executed the formula to perfection, forcing numerous turnover and displaying absolute efficiency on the offensive end. This, combined with an all-around off night for Towson Catholic, led to a 12-point St. Frances advantage at the half and Panthers continued to grow it from there.
With the victory, St. Frances (22-8 overall) moved to 13-3 in the A Conference, where it has a one game lead on the Owls (17-10, 12-4). In the BCL, the team’s have identical 10-4 marks, but St. Frances does own the season sweep and the tie-break advantage.
Mount St. Joseph 74, McDonogh School 45
Senior guard Justin McCoy had a game-high 16 points and sophomore Eric Atkins added 15 as top-ranked Mount St. Joseph won its eighth straight decision. Junior forward Gerald Hill scored 10 points for the Gaels (24-2, 14-1), ranked No. 17 in ESPN High Elite Top 25 national poll.
The Gaels led 42-16 as the Irvington school maintained first in the MIAA A and Baltimore Catholic League with three games remaining. Mount St. Joseph hosts No. 7 Towson Catholic Sunday afternoon, then has Calvert Hall Wednesday at home and No. 11 John Carroll Friday evening in Bel Air. Mount St. Joseph (11-1) has a one-game advantage over No. 6 St. Frances (10-2) in the BCL, and one-and-half game in the MIAA A.
Senior forward Gerrard Sheppard had 12 points for McDonogh (8-18, 1-17) which dropped its 14th straight to finish the regular season. The Owings Mills school will be the No. 10 seed for the upcoming A Conference tourney.
Mount St. Joseph: Atkins 15, McCoy 16, Hill 10, Olsen 6, Sims 8, Jones 5, Miller 5, Stephenson 4, Deboy 4, Pearson 1. Totals 26 13-22 74.
McDonogh: Hess 8, King 6, Sheppard 12, Hardy 1, Ford 6, Kennedy 3, Kirkwood 2, Fiorito 2, Goldberg 2, Allen 2. Totals 16 12-15 45. Halftime: Mount St. Joseph 42, McDonogh 16.
Loyola Blakefield 50, Archbishop Spalding 45
Matt Rum scored a game-high 17 points, leading No. 20 Loyola Blakefield past Archbihsop Spalding in Severn. Senior guard Steele Stanwick chipped 12 for the Dons (15-7. 8-7), who have a half-game lead over Cardinal Gibbons for fifth.
Andrew Moore led Spalding (6-20, 2-14) with 12 points and sophomore forward William Udoh added 10. The Cavaliers, who will be the No. 9 seed for the upcoming A Conference playoffs, and eighth-seed for the Baltimore Catholic League, hosts Calvert Hall Sunday afternoon.
Loyola: Stanwick 12, Schittino 9, Cotherman 3, Floyd 4, Dauses 3, Kirby 2, Rum 17. Totals 17 11-15 50.
Spalding: Moore 12, Howard 9, Jones 6, Sauls 2, Greco 4, Uhou 10, Kane 2. Total 19 5-12 45. Halftime: Loyola 22, Spalding 21.
Cardinal Gibbons 51, Calvert Hall 50
Senior guard Jamar Briscoe and senior forward Paul Kouvaris each scored 14 points as Cardinal Gibbons finally was able to get a close decision Friday evening in Towson. The Crusaders (15-11, 8-8) had dropped their prior three decisions by a total of 10 points.
Sophomore center/forward Jonathan Graham led all scorers with 18 points for Calvert Hall (14-14, 6-9), and Sean Holmes added 11. Gibbons, standing a half-game behind Loyola Blakefield for fifth, will host No. 6 St. Frances Sunday afternoon. The Crusaders won the first meeting, 69-66, in east Baltimore.
The Cardinals who have slipped to seventh, has time to make a push up the standings, but first must win at Archbishop Spalding Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals won the first meeting, 52-45, Jan. 17.
Gibbons: Briscoe 14, Wright 13, Kouvaris 14, Byers 6, Jones 2, Cormier 2. Totals 23 5-11 51.
Calvert Hall: Boone 2, Wise 2, Graham 18, Holmes 11, Jackson 8, Morgan 5, Terry 4. Totals 22 3-9 50. Halftime: Gibbons 28, Calvert Hall 27.
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