When senior guard Jason Sealing connected on a first-quarter buzzer-beating shot to give John Carroll a one-point lead, it would be hard to imagine the Patriots' staying in front against favored St. Paul's.
Backed by 20 points from senior Jared Marmen, 17 points from Jeff Miles and some clutch foul shots from junior David Padrino, John Carroll (15-11) defeated St. Paul's (20-4) for the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference championship, 63-54, at Goucher College yesterday.
John Carroll, which had lost to the Crusaders by 74-45 a month ago, used a 12-5 spurt in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to open a 56-46 lead, and Padrino made five free throws down the stretch.
The Bel Air school, which had been in the B Conference final in 1989, but had not won a title in 10 years (St. Paul's had won six of the last nine, its last in 1992), held three-point leads at the end of the second and third periods, got a third and last three-point shot from Miles and a basket by Marmen, then made its last 12 points at the line.
John Carroll starts two seniors and three juniors, and has only one other senior on the squad. St. Paul's starts one senior, three juniors and sophomore Justin Singleton, who was his side's high scorer with 12. Its first backcourt reserve is a freshman.
"That first meeting was a horrible one for everybody, but since then Jared and Jason have stepped up," said John Carroll coach Pat Goles. "St. Paul's killed us with pressure [defense] the first time, and tried to again this time, but Jason did a great job of controlling the offense."
"John Carroll has a good inside-outside game, but with our pressure, we were getting five-second calls during the season," St. Paul's coach Rick Collins said. "We didn't get them here, and we picked up a lot of defensive fouls inside."