St. Frances wins its record 11th BCL Tournament Championship
TOWSON, MARYLAND – No. 2 seed St. Frances claimed its record-extending 11th tournament title as the Panthers rallied to defeat No. 4 seed Archbishop Spalding 58-53 in the championship game of the 53rd BCL Tournament, presented by Brooks Financial Group in Goucher College’s Decker SRC Arena.
Josiah Legree, a 6-0 senior, earned the John M. Plevyak Tournament MVP award after a 25-point performance that included six 3-pointers to give the Panthers (26-12) their first BCLT title since 2020. Head coach Nick Myles won his 10th BCL regular-season (6) or tournament (4) title in his 13-year stint at St. Frances - tying BCL Hall of Famer Jerry Savage for fourth all-time. His four BCLT titles also tied him with BCL Hall of Famers Mike Daniel and Cokey Robertson for fifth in league history.
2024 BALTIMORE CATHOLIC LEAGUE TOURNAMENT BRACKET
The Cavaliers (24-10) were trying to win their first BCLT title since 2002.
The two teams met in the BCLT championship game for the second time and the first since 1999. The schools split the 2023-24 season series with road victories.
Spalding jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first 4:41 of the opening quarter, and led 15-9 after one. The Panthers cut the lead to two twice before halftime, but the Cavs stretched out the advantage to 30-21 at the break.
St. Frances scored the first nine points of the third quarter to tie the game at 30. After the Panthers took the lead for the first time at 31-30, Spalding scored the next seven points to lead 38-32 with 1:37 to go in the quarter, and the Cavs ended the third up 43-40.
The lead changed hands five times in the final quarter, the last time on a Jasiah Cannady 3-pointer with 2:08 to play for a 52-51 Panthers lead, and St. Frances closed out the title run in the final moments.
Cannady scored 10 points and Trent Egbiremolen added eight points and six rebounds for St. Frances to make the All-Tournament team. Spalding’s Malik Washington scored 18 points and added eight rebounds to lead the Cavaliers, and Kam Carter had 17 points and seven assists as both were selected All-Tournament.
Mount St. Joseph’s Tyonne Farrell also was named All-Tournament, while Mount Carmel’s Andrew Dixon was the Dan Popera Sportsmanship Award winner.
Spalding will be the BCL’s lone representative to the second-annual Maryland Private School State Tournament, as the Cavaliers will enter the tourney in the quarterfinal round with a home game vs. Mt. Zion Prep on Tuesday evening in Severn.
-- Report courtesy of Chris Pike BCLBasketball.com
