St. Mary's senior guard Josh Hartman knew all season that his team had the chemistry to make a run at the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference title.
Last night, Hartman scored 26 points, including four three-pointers, and hit six of eight free throws in the closing minutes to lead the Saints to a 76-70 victory over defending champion Mount Carmel in front of an overflow crowd at Johns Hopkins University.
It was St. Mary's first conference championship since 2003.
"I was pretty sure we could come together and win this championship," Hartman said. "This is a great group of guys. We worked hard all season and it all came together during the playoffs."
Both St. Mary's and Mount Carmel like to run the floor, and the game was played at a frenetic pace on both ends as players dove for loose balls.
The Saints (24-7) took a 34-28 lead into halftime. Mount Carmel (19-13) trailed for most of the game but managed to cut the lead to 52-51 with 7:20 left on a Stanford McNair (eight points) layup. The Saints, however, went on a 10-3 run and then made 10 of 14 free throws in the final 2:18 to seal the win.
Troy Franklin led Mount Carmel with 17 points.
Glenelg Country 52, Annapolis Area Christian 50 -- Sophomore guard Tim Schenk scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Dragons over the Eagles and to their first MIAA C Conference championship. Sophomore guard Colin Gibbons continually fed the ball to Schenk, who responded with six three-pointers. With his team trailing by four late in the fourth quarter, Schenk hit back-to-back three-pointers in the closing minutes and made two free throws in the final seconds to clinch the win. After trailing for most of the opening quarter, Christian Parker and Matt Gierl got Annapolis Area Christian School going, combining for 16 points in the second quarter, to help their team take a 30-25 lead into halftime. However, Glenelg Country School clamped down on defense, allowing only four points in the fourth quarter. Evan Williams added 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots for Glenelg Country (21-11). Parker led the Eagles (15-9) with 18 points.