In Tuesday's opening round of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference basketball playoffs, No. 5 John Carroll and No. 9 St. Frances flexed their muscles with dominating wins against McDonogh and Mount Saint Joseph, respectively.
Next up are two interesting matchups in Thursday's semifinal round with St. Frances traveling to No. 1 Mount Carmel and John Carroll visiting No. 3 Calvert Hall. Both games are set for 7 p.m.
The championship game will take place at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at UMBC's RAC Arena.
Here's a closer look at each semifinal game:
No. 9 St. Frances (24-9) at No. 1 Mount Carmel (25-6)
The host Cougars have been the surprise of the Baltimore metro area with their steady climb to the No. 1 spot in The Baltimore Sun's Top 15 poll. They have done it with special team chemistry and balance.
Senior forward Will Jenkins III is the main cog, but you can't really call the rest of the Cougars lineup a supportiung cast because they all make consistent contributions and take turns standing out when necessary. Senior guards Brian Jefferson and Frank Webb can both score distribute and take care of the ball; freshman small forward Montez Mathis can find his shot, and junior center David Erebor is a strong two-way player.
Guard play will be a big key against St. Frances, which is coming off an impressive 80-52 win over Mount Saint Joseph. Kurk Lee Jr. and Khalil Richard combined to score 45 points in the win over the Gaels.
Inside, the Panthers will look to go to Josh Ayeni and Eric Cobb. The Panthers played against Mount Saint Joseph without standout guard Daquan Bracey, who is day-to-day with an ankle sprain.
Mount Carmel is in unfamiliar territory as the team to beat this time and has to find immediate comfort on its home court to keep the Panthers from picking up where they left off against Mount Saint Joseph. The teams split their two regular season games with both winning comfortably at home.
There's also plenty of interesting playoff history in the past couple of years. In the 2012-13 Baltimore Catholic League quarterfinals, Mount Carmel, seeded eighth, stunned top-seeded St. Frances, 59-50. Last season, St. Frances avenged two regular-season losses to Mount Carmel with wins in the MIAA and BCL playoffs.
No. 5 John Carroll (25-5) at No. 3 Calvert Hall (24-5)
Both teams have had to work around injuries this season, but they have impressively stayed on course to put themselves in position to bring home postseason hardware.
Calvert Hall opened the season as The Baltimore Sun's No. 1 ranked team in the preseason poll and now, fully healthy, has looked the part by closing the regular season with seven straight wins.
The Cardinals have a wealth of experienced senior talent that has played in big games before. Shooting guard Drew Edwards, small forward Nico Clareth and forward Evan Phoenix can all take over offensively, and point guard Reggie Rouse does well to find the hot hand. Junior forward Justin Gorham has emerged as another key contributor.
John Carroll's injuries came later in the season -- senior point guard Elijah Long and senior forward Malik Tyne both missed time -- as they dropped three straight after going 22-1 to start the season.
The Patriots are at full strength now, and it showed in a comfortable 53-37 win against McDonogh on Tuesday that avenged two close losses to the Eagles during the regular season.
Senior guard Kimbal Mackenzie (17 points on Tuesday) has had a do-it-all season and is the Patriots' catalyst. Long is capable of taking over if too much attention is paid to Mackenzie, while Tyne and forward Michael Tertsea are options inside.
The Patriots play strong team defense with a number of different looks and slowing down the Cardinals will be the biggest key for the visitors.
During the regular season, John Carroll had a comfortable 69-48 home win Jan. 7 when the Cardinals were battling injuries. Calvert Hall claimed a tight 43-40 victory on its home court Feb. 4.