St. Frances tries to solve John Carroll, again
Could four times finally be the charm for the St. Frances boys basketball team?
St. Frances coach Mark Karcher has played and coached basketball at an extremely high level all his life, and he can't recall losing to the same team three times in a season. Not when he was a standout at St. Frances, playing his college ball at Temple or now coaching his alma mater. Until this season.
Following the No. 5 Panthers' 60-53 win over Calvert Hall in Sunday's Baltimore Catholic League semifinals, it didn't take long for Karcher and his Panthers to think about the next task at hand -- beating No. 2 John Carroll. So far this season, it's been a frustrating mystery.
The Panthers (18-6) get another chance tonight when the they take on the Patriots (31-2) for the Baltimore Catholic League title. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Loyola University.
To say the Patriots have been a thorn in the Panthers' side is an understatement. On Jan. 7, John Carroll handed the Panthers their first loss, 63-54 in Bel Air, and knocked them out of the No. 1 ranking in the area. On Feb. 3, a regular-season game at St. Frances, the visitors again handled the Panthers, 88-74.
More recently, John Carrroll was the better team for the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship -- a 70-58 win for the program's first title -- at UMBC on Feb. 20. Could the storied history of the BCL -- celebrating its 40th postseason -- give St. Frances the needed boost?
The Panthers are well aware of the the league's rich tradition, making a good chunk of it with a league-high seven titles. John Carroll is a league rookie, but has made itself right at home, steamrolling through the regular season with just one late loss after already clinching first place.
On the court, both teams will lean on their experienced senior points guards: St. Frances' R.J. Williams and John Carroll's Malcolm McMillan. The two shared co-BCL Player of the Year honors.
John Carroll also features fellow senior guard Ronald Scott and versatile junior Jarred Jones, while the Panthers have to get a big game from senior center Greg Lewis, who was in foul trouble and scored just two points in the MIAA title game.
