Calvert Hall outscored Mount St. Joseph 11-2 in the last two minutes to capture a 54-47 Catholic League victory in Towson last night.
The No. 8 Cardinals, 17-6 overall and 6-2 in the Catholic League, had seen an early 15-point advantage wiped out by the spirited Gaels, who dropped to 11-9 overall and 4-5 in the Catholic League.
St. Joe took its first lead late in the third quarter, but the teams traded the lead through the first six minutes of the fourth quarter before a three-pointer by John McKay gave the Cardinals the lead for good, 46-45, with 2:03 remaining.
"On a bad night, we really sucked it up defensively and did what we had to do at crunch time," said Calvert Hall coach Mark Amatucci.
McKay led Calvert Hall with 19 points and Tavar Witherspoon added 17. Daniel Whye scored a game-high 25 for the Gaels.
The Gaels came out ice-cold from the floor and fell behind 11-4 in the first six minutes of the game while making only one of their first 10 shots.
Calvert Hall held a 13-6 lead after one quarter despite making just five of 18 from the field, and in the early moments of the second quarter it appeared that this game might be out of reach by halftime.
Witherspoon drove the baseline and scored to start the second quarter for the Cardinals. Then McKay made a steal and hit a three-pointer and Gary Williams made a steal and McKay pumped through another three-pointer and suddenly it was a 21-6 advantage for the Cardinals just two minutes into the second quarter. St. Joe had made only two of its first 14 shots from the field.
Then Whye, who had missed all five of his shots in the first quarter, took over the offensive flow of the game. The Gaels center scored on three baskets from inside and hit five of six from the foul line. The Gaels were breathing again, trailing by 25-20 with just over a minute left in the first half.
The teams each scored four points in that final minute, one basket coming on a Whye layup after the Mount St. Joe defense had caused a turnover. That gave Whye 13 points in the second quarter and 15 in the first half.
In the third quarter, it was Calvert Hall that turned cold from the field, making only two of 13. The Cardinals gave up their once-comfortable lead at 36-34 on a pair of free throws by Whye with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
But the Cardinals pulled even on Vince Williams' first basket of the game early in the fourth quarter and the lead went back and forth until the last two minutes.