Basketball Game Preview: St. Mary's Saints vs. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cougars

St. Mary and Our Lady of Mount Carmel are an even 4-4 against one another since December of 2016, but not for long. The St. Mary's Saints will welcome the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cougars at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. St. Mary's has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel is facing St. Mary's at the wrong time: St. Mary's suffered their first home loss of the season on Saturday and they're likely out for redemption. They fell just short of the Magic by a score of 52-49.

Despite the defeat, St. Mary's got top-tier performance from Bailey Harris, who posted 23 points in addition to eight boards and three steals. That was a full 46.9% of St. Mary's points, marking the third time in a row she's had more than a third of the team's points. Casey O'Hare was another key player, putting up 11 points.

Meanwhile, Our Lady of Mount Carmel lost to Roland Park Country on the road by a 54-40 margin on Wednesday. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Cougars came into the game with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Maryland basketball rankings (they are ranked 18th, while the Reds are ranked 76th).

Our Lady of Mount Carmel's loss dropped their record down to 11-6. As for St. Mary's, their defeat ended an eight-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 7-8.

St. Mary's came up short against Our Lady of Mount Carmel when the teams last played back in December of 2024, falling 66-54. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Our Lady of Mount Carmel's Jaylah King, who went 10 for 12 on her way to 32 points along with eight rebounds and seven steals. Now that St. Mary's knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.