BALTIMORE — The 55th annual Baltimore Catholic League tournament is underway at Loyola University, and two of the state's best high school basketball teams punched their tickets to the semifinals Sunday afternoon.
Saint Frances 74, Loyola 57
The No. 1-seeded Saint Frances Panthers took on the 8th-seeded Loyola Dons in the first quarterfinal matchup. Loyola came out strong, shooting 56.5% from the field in the first two quarters, but the No. 2 team in the state took over in the second half.
Saint Frances opened the third quarter with a 12-0 run, forced Loyola into 21 turnovers, and scored 27 points off those turnovers. Chance McCoy led the Panthers with a game-high 20 points as Saint Frances cruised to a 74-57 win.
"Just had to stay focused coming off a loss from the championship game. Me and my guys we just had to stay locked in and stay together," a Saint Frances player said.
“Defensively, we had to be intentional about getting stops and being aggressive. I think we did a great job of that in the second half, but we got to bring that from the first half of next game," another Panthers player said.
Saint Frances will play Archbishop Spalding Monday at 6 p.m.
Mount Carmel 53, Saint Mary's 46
In the second quarterfinal, the No. 2-seeded and defending BCL champion Mount Carmel Cougars faced the 7th-seeded Saint Mary's Saints.
The Cougars came out scoring early, with Junior Mancho leading Mount Carmel with 14 points. Saint Mary's fought tough and kept it close, with Chisholm Easy leading the Saints with 16 points and Noah Kearney hitting a key 3-pointer.
Despite 17 turnovers, Mount Carmel advanced to the semifinals with a 53-46 win.
"Our goal was just to play everybody from A to Z. For us, we know this is a marathon — three games in 4 days if we're fortunate. We didn't play particularly well, but we played well enough.
"In the history of Maryland, no one has won back-to-back MIAA and back-to-back BCL tournaments. For us to be able to do something like that, it takes a lot of motivation on a daily basis," the Mount Carmel coach said.
Mount Carmel will face Mount Saint Joseph's at 8 p.m. Monday.
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