Calvert Hall could not find a way to beat St. Frances in three meetings last season, including a triple-overtime defeat in the regular season and a loss in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship game.
In this year's first matchup between the teams Friday night, the visiting Panthers continued that dominance by controlling most of the game in a 60-51 victory before an estimated 1,400. No. 4 St. Frances takes over sole possession of second place in the MIAA A Conference and Baltimore Catholic League behind top-ranked Mount St. Joseph.
"I just prepare the guys for each game and to play hard," St. Frances coach Mark Karcher said. "Coming into Calvert Hall is always tough. The hostile crowd is good for the kids because once they get to college, the crowds is going to be even bigger. I loved the atmosphere."
Dante Holmes led St. Frances with 15 points, Greg Lewis finished with 13 and Wayne Sparrow had 11. Jonathan Graham was the No. 2 Cardinals' leader with 19 points, and Damion Lee added 18.
A jumper by Holmes gave the Panthers (14-6 overall, 6-1 MIAA, 4-1 BCL) their biggest lead, 36-23, with 2:50 left in the first half, forcing the Cardinals to call a timeout. On the ensuing possession, back-to-back putbacks by Graham rolled around the rim before falling out, exemplifying a frustrating first half for Calvert Hall (15-4, 6-2, 5-2).
The Cardinals pulled within 36-28 at the break when Lee was fouled as he finished a layup and made his free throw. St. Frances, however, continued to pull away in the third quarter, and a jumper by Sam Cassell Jr. increased the lead to 13 with one minute to play. The Cardinals then put together a rally in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to four on a pair of free throws by Graham with 4:45 remaining.
The Panthers ended any chance of a comeback on back-to-back steals and dunks by Sparrow and Holmes in the final minute.
"Calvert Hall is a good team," Holmes said. "All of our hard work in practice is paying off. We practiced defense all week. We wanted to bang bodies with them, and we eventually took over the game. We're confident."
Sparrow scored seven consecutive points midway through the first quarter to give the Panthers a 15-10 lead. The Cardinals eventually tied the score on a 3-pointer by Cameron Cook with 40 seconds left. However, a 3-pointer by Cassell gave St. Frances back the lead, 18-15, at the end of the first quarter.
"We just didn't play well or make shots when we needed to," Calvert Hall coach John Bauersfeld said. "We played pretty well defensively in spots. But you have to be able to make shots and we didn't do that."
SF-Holmes 15, Sparrow 11, Williams 9, Cassell 9, Tarver 2, Lewis 13.Totals 21 11-20 60.
CH-Graham 19, Lee 18, Wise 3, Cook 5, Jackson 6. Totals 16 15-17 51. Half: SF, 36-28.