Meanwhile, ACIT this, that and the other …
MIKE BURKE
Allegany Radio Corporation Sports
After a two days of postponements, the Bishop Walsh Spartans were able to get back on the court Sunday afternoon to take on Glenelg Country in the Maryland Private School Championships, then put together a 73-59 victory over the Dragons to advance to the quarterfinals Monday, 7:30 p.m., against fourth-seeded Riverdale Baptist, which beat top-seeded National Christian to reach the quarters.
Jalen Miller led the Spartans (17-12) with 21 points, 20 of them coming in the second half. Wilson Ramabu scored 12 points and Travis Roberts 10.
The Spartans once more will be the host school of the 60th Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament March 12-14 at Frostburg State University.
Meanwhile, in Baltimore … St. Frances Academy is the undisputed Baltimore Catholic League champion, making amends on Sunday for a disturbing loss (at least in their eyes) to their top rival Mount St. Joseph, 81-65, at Loyola Maryland’s Reitz Arena for their third straight BCL tournament championship.
The Panthers (38-4), the BCL regular-season champion and ranked No. 17 in last week’s ESPN National Top 25 (this week’s comes out today), split the two regular-season games with the Gaels, then lost to them last Sunday in the MIAA A Conference title game.
Thus, for the six days that followed, the Panthers put themselves on a mission to avenge that loss on their way to winning their third straight BCL tournament championship.
“This meant a lot to us,” BCL Tournament Most Valuable Player Adrian “Ace” Baldwin told the Baltimore Sun after the game. “We took it very personal from last week; we didn’t take the loss very well. So we just stayed locked into the gym all week, focused and we came out and fought hard to the end.”
Baldwin scored 23 points in the championship game, with 10 rebounds and five assists, after dishing 16 assists in the Panthers’ semifinal win over Loyola Blakefield, in becoming just the third player in BCL history to be named tournament MVP three straight years.
The first two back-to-back-to-back BCL tournament MVPs were St. Frances’ Mark Karcher and St. Maria Goretti’s Rodney Monroe.
Karcher, former ACIT Most Valuable Player and Most Outstanding Player, who led the Panthers to their only ACIT title, and the BCL’s last, in 1996, went on to star at Temple University before returning to St. Frances to coach the Panthers. Monroe, a former ACIT Most Outstanding Player, went on to star in college for North Carolina State University.
Baldwin, thus, has put himself into pretty heady company, as Karcher and Monroe are clearly two of the best players in the history of the BCL and the ACIT.
Meanwhile, in Virginia … one-time ACIT champion St. Paul VI defeated soon-to-be first-time ACIT participant and defending state champion St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division I State Tournament Saturday at Virginia State University.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C. … The Gonzaga College High School Eagles, six-time ACIT champion, beat Wilson, 55-49, to win the District of Columbia State Athletic Association championship Sunday at the George Washington University Smith Center.
Meanwhile in Canada … The Cathedral High School Gaels (44-7) finished third in the first National Senior Circuit National Championship over the weekend. After winning two games on the first day of the tournament, the Gaels fell in the semifinals to Canada Top Flight, 89-84, in a back-and-forth contest that Cathedral had the chance to tie in the final nine seconds.
Malcolm Maganda scored 33 points for the Gaels, including 24 points on the strength of five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter alone. It marked the second consecutive 30-point game for Maganda.
The 60th ACIT will tip off Thursday, March 12, 4 p.m., at Frostburg State University when Baltimore Catholic League champion St. Frances Academy (38-4), the No. 17 team in the ESPN National Top 25, takes on tournament newcomer St. Stephen and St. Agnes School (31-4), of Alexandria, Virginia.
At 5:45 p.m., Cathedral High School, Hamilton, Ontario, makes its first ACIT appearance in 10 years when it plays Paul VI (27-8), of Fairfax, Virginia, the Washington Catholic Athletic Association runner-up and Virginia Independent Schools state champion.
Game 3 has defending champion DeMatha (30-3), WCAC champion and the No. 7 team in the country, opening its title defense against host school Bishop Walsh at 7:30 p.m.
The final game of the night is scheduled to begin at 9:15 p.m. when ACIT newcomer Malvern Prep (22-5), of Malvern, Pennsylvania, makes its debut against six-time ACIT and current DCSAA champion Gonzaga College High School (25-10), of Washington D.C.
Meanwhile, against the current ACIT field …
DeMatha (5-1) beat St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes once; beat Gonzaga twice; won two out of three over Paul VI.
Paul VI (4-3) won two of three over Gonzaga; lost two of three to DeMatha; beat St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes once.
Gonzaga (2-4) beat St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes once; lost to Paul VI two out of three and lost twice to DeMatha.
St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School (0-3) lost to Gonzaga, DeMatha and Paul VI.
Mike Burke writes about sports for Allegany Radio and Pikewood Digital. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s County Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984. He was the sports editor of the Times-News for nearly 30 years. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @MikeBurkeMDT