By Jon Buzby
MaxPreps.com
It was No. 2 vs. No. 3 for all the marbles Sunday afternoon at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County Retriever Athletic Center, as St. Frances faced Calvert Hall for the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A championship.
The Panthers and Cardinals played to three overtimes during their regular season battle, but this one would not play out that way as St. Frances’ defensive intensity jump-started its offense on the way to a convincing 56-38 win over Calvert Hall.
On the offensive end of the court, senior forward Terrell Vinson helped lead the Panthers to their first title with 19 points and nine rebounds. But it was St. Frances’ stingy defense that proved to be the difference as they held the Cardinals to 28 percent shooting from the field and recorded 10 block shots.
“We came out and executed really well today,” Vinson told the Baltimore Sun. “We've been working very hard since the preseason, and we play together as a team – that all pays off.”
Vinson received scoring help from point guard R.J. Williams’ nine points and six assists, and Dante Holmes also chipped in 11 points for the Panthers.
But it was on the defensive end of the court, where sophomore center Greg Lewis (five points, seven rebounds) shut down high-scoring center Jonathan Graham, limiting him to just 10 points following his 29-point outburst in the team’s previous meeting on Jan. 30. Calvert Hall’s 38 points were a season low.
The Cardinals were led on offense by junior forward Damion Lee’s 15 points, but undoubtedly missed the play of their floor general, starting junior point guard Kyle Wise, who missed the game after being ejected in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s semifinal win over Towson Catholic.
“Overall, we just didn't finish shots, we didn't get many offensive rebounds and they killed us on the offensive boards,” Calvert Hall coach John Bauersfeld told the Baltimore Sun. “When you don't finish plays against a team like that, they're going to score on you because they have a lot of weapons.”
St. Frances (28-3 overall, 18-0 MIAA) knocked off Loyola in the semifinals to reach the title game and will now look ahead to defending its Baltimore Catholic League title when it opens up as the tournament’s No. 1 seed against St. Moria Goretti Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
No. 2 Calvert Hall (27-5) will take on Archbishop Spalding at 5:15 p.m. Both games will be played at Loyola College’s Reitz Arena.
MIAA B: St. Mary’s secures championship
In a perfect sports world, championship games should match-up the two best teams from the regular season. That was exactly the scenario in Sunday afternoon’s MIAA B Conference title game — the two top teams in the Conference’s southern division battling to the bitter end for the right to call themselves champions.
St. Mary’s senior guard Nick Groce completed a perfectly executed left-handed layup with just four seconds remaining in the game, then watched as St. Vincent Pallotti senior guard Leon Porter’s desperate 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim, giving the Saints a hard-fought 62-60 victory and the conference championship.
Groce finished with a game-high 26 points, while junior forward Mark McNeill chipped in with 19 points for St. Mary’s (21-8). The title was the third in the last seven seasons for the Saints.
Pallotti (23-5) advanced to the conference title game by defeating defending champion Mt. Carmel in the semifinals. They were led by senior guard Kendal Watkins’ 14 points. Porter and junior forward Leslie Addy each finished with 13 points.
MIAA C: Sts. Peter & Paul wins title rematch
After splitting its regular season games against the Key School, Sts. Peter & Paul brought a 14-game winning streak into Sunday’s MIAA C Conference title game against the defending champion Obezags.
By the end of the night that winning streak would be pushed to 15 as senior Micah Steinmiller’s game-high 20 points and a stingy Sabre defense, which limited Key to 10 first-half points, were crucial in leading Sts. Peter & Paul to a 61-46 win in a rematch of last year’s title game.
Senior guard John Kaestner scored 19 points, and senior forward Sebastian Kremer added 15 in leading Sts. Peter & Paul (19-3) to the program’s first championship.
The Key School (12-9), which advanced to the title game by defeating Chapelgate Christian Academy in Tuesday’s semifinal, was led by senior guard Jacob Maldonado’s 15 points.
Jon Buzby is the Maryland correspondent for MaxPreps.com.
