by Derek Toney
About this time a year ago, St. Mary’s High was standing atop the MIAA B Conference boys’ basketball mountain. Things are a little different as the Annapolis school prepares for its title defense.
The league tournament begins Friday with St. Paul’s School traveling to St. Vincent Pallotti and Archbishop Curley hosting Severn School. Mount Carmel and St. Mary’s have byes and will play Tuesday.
The Saints (17-9 overall) will not have guard Josh Morgan-Green for the postseason as coach Brian Konik said Green’s broken hand needs several more weeks to heal. Konik said St. Mary’s has had to change its approach over the last several weeks.
“We’re kind of running on flumes,” said Konik, whose team finished first in the South division. “We’re not eight deep. Confidence-wise, the kids feel they can compete and being a smaller team, we have to use our speed and pressure to our advantage.”
The Saints will host either Severn or Curley Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. The Admirals-Friars contest is arguably the most intriguing of the two opening-round matches as Severn (14-10) defeated Curley, 58-57, in east Baltimore after trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half.
“We’ve been able to right the ship,” said Admirals coach Tank Duckett, who’s been at the Anne Arundel County school since 1992. “We got a real good of mix of senior leadership and inside play, and our guards have steadily shown progress.”
Duckett thinks Curley has been the most improved team in the conference this winter. The Friars (18-7) are enjoying their best showing in six seasons, thanks in part to senior guard Brandon Carroll, who’s been one of the top scorers in the conference.
Pallotti (13-9), a perennial semifinal participant, looks for a fifth consecutive appearance as it takes on St. Paul’s. The Laurel school handled the Crusaders, 85-53, last month as four players scored in double figures. St. Paul’s (12-12) has an up-and-coming squad with sophomore guard/forward Winfield Willis, freshman guard/forward Miles Code, and soohomore guard Virgil Davis leading the way.
After losing in last year’s title game, No. 11 Mount Carmel (23-3) enters the postseason as a prohibitive favorite. Only an one-point loss at Curley kept the Old Eastern Avenue school from a perfect regular season in league play. The Cougars have the league’s most experienced and talented team with seniors Troy Franklin, Dwayne Wheeler, Rummell King, Marcanthony Franks and Stanford McNair, but coach Tom Rose said his team can’t afford to be complacent.
“I think we have to continue to prepared ourselves and make sure we’re getting better everyday,” said Rose, whose team’s other losses came against No. 1 Mount St. Joseph and Pennsyvlania’s Hill School. “We’ve had some tough games. Of course, the goal is to win a championship.”
The semifinal winners will advance to “Championship Sunday,” Feb. 24 at the Towson Center at 3:15 p.m.
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