Desperate for a win after three straight setbacks, the John Carroll boys basketball team reverted back to what's brought its extended success this season when Mount Saint Joseph visited on Monday.
The No. 6 Patriots responded favorably when adversity came in the fourth quarter, getting the needed defensive stops while making free throws at the end to come away with a 51-43 win over the No. 7 Gaels in Bel Air.
Senior guard Kimbal Mackenzie scored a team-high 16 points as John Carroll (23-4) improved to 12-4 in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and 10-2 atop the Baltimore Catholic League. Mount St. Joseph, which got a game-high 21 points from junior Randy Miller, falls to 19-8 overall, 11-5 in the MIAA And 6-6 in the BCL.
The Gaels started the fourth quarter with the first five points and had the ball trailing 42-40 when the Patriots got the game's biggest stop. Mackenzie followed with an easy basket in transition to make it 44-40 with 5:17 left. The Gaels would go five-plus minutes without a field goal down the stretch with the Patriots hitting seven of eight free throws in the final 1:33 to seal the win.
"It was a very good bounce-back win for us after the [three-game] slide. We know we're a team that is just going to grind it out, we're a defensive-minded team and we did what we had to do tonight," Mackenzie said.
The Patriots, playing without injured point guard Elijah Long, got 11 points each from freshman guard Immanuel Quickley and junior guard Kevin Kangu.
Girls
Manchester Valley 57, Westminster 51: When the pressure was on the inexperienced Manchester Valley girls, the youthful Mavericks kept their composure.
When they were nursing a one-point lead in the final minute and Mackenzie DeWees was triple-teamed at midcourt, the freshman guard somehow found Marlee Dzergoski under the basket for an easy score.
When defending county champion Westminster had the opportunity to then tie the game, DeWees pickpocketed Arianna Cottom and scored an easy layup. The Mavericks held on for an upset win on Monday night, just their second against the Owls in the program's history.
"We were down by two most of the game, or by seven or by five," DeWees said. "Still, we knew that if we just kept our cool and played our press really well, we knew we would score."
Manchester Valley (9-7, 6-4 Carroll County) trailed 51-50 with just less than two minutes to go. With 1 minute, 52 seconds remaining, DeWees beat the Owls' press and found Rayna Deltuva for an open look.
Westminster never answered, committing three turnovers and missing a 3-pointer in the final 1:34. DeWees did it all for the Mavs, leading the way with 26 points, 12 rebounds, eight steals, and eight assists.
And after the final eight seconds ticked down with the ball in DeWees' hands, the freshman leaped into a mob of her MV teammates to celebrate what might have been the team's biggest win of the season.
"This was kind of our breakout moment where we actually started believing and seeing one another and trusting one another," Mavs coach Heather DeWees said. "You can really see that they're starting to grow as basketball players and understand that this is a process and you just don't get better after playing for a few weeks, it takes a while."
The Mavericks lost to Westminster (12-4, 7-3) by 12 points earlier this season. It didn't take long for them to be down nearly that much again on Monday. The Owls had their way for most of the first quarter, using their size advantage to score in the paint with ease and jump out to a 17-7 lead with 19 seconds to go in the period.
—Jake Rill, Baltimore Sun Media Group