No. 1 St. Frances boys basketball rallies from early deficit to beat No. 2 Poly, 65-57

Fans lined up hours ahead of time to see Monday night's boys basketball matchup between No. 1 St. Frances and No. 2 Poly. So high was the demand that fans broke open the doors of Goucher College's 1,200-seat Decker Sports and Recreation Center midway through the first quarter, allowing several hundred to stream in.

So frenzied was the atmosphere that even Jay Wright, the head coach of the top-ranked Villanova men’s basketball team, failed to gain entry, and was left out in the Towson cold.

By game's end, those who made it in had witnessed a classic.

St. Frances junior Bass Diop finished with 18 points and six rebounds but did some of his best work on defense, cooling off All-Metro guard Demetrius Mims in the second half as the Panthers rallied from an early nine-point deficit for a 65-57 win.

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The junior shortstop went 10-for-11 with five extra-base hits, drove in eight runs and scored nine runs in four games last week to lead the Falcons to their first state softball championship since 2003. During the playoffs, Kline set a state single-season record for hits with 69. The previous record of 59 was set by Northern-Calvert’s Lindsey Schmeiser in 2012. In the 13-0 victory over Northwest Saturday for the Class 4A championship, Kline went 2-for-2 with two triples, drove in three runs and scored two. In the state semifinal Wednesday, a 10-0 win over Flowers, Kline was 4-for-4 with a double and two triples. She drove in three runs and scored four. In a May 21 doubleheader, the No. 1 Falcons (25-2) defeated South River, 3-1, and Glen Burnie, 5-0, for the sectional and regional titles. Kline went a combined 4-for-5 with two walks, two RBIs and three runs scored. For the season, Kline batted .750 with 39 RBIs, eight home runs and 26 extra base hits. She drew eight walks and struck out just once. She also had 13 stolen bases. Defensively, she made just two errors and had a fielding percentage of .964. She was a first-team All-Metro selection last season. A veteran of the Wagners club softball team, Kline has committed to play for Maryland. Also considered: Caitlyn Bobb, Harford Tech, track; Tylar Colbert, Franklin, track; Crystal Johnson, Western Tech, track; Anna Ruby, Westminster, lacrosse; Jordan Vincent, South River, lacrosse. (By Paul W. Gillespie / Capital Gazette)

Though Mims, who's headed to Long Beach State next season, finished with a game-high 27 points, only nine came after halftime.

“We had to change up the matchup, cause he kept shooting the ball going right," Diop said. "They told me to guard him and just shut him down. Just force him left so he couldn't score anymore. That's what I tried to do. That was the biggest obligation I had to do. Don't worry about scoring… just shut him down.”

Jordan Toles (11 points), Adrian Baldwin (10 points, five assists, four steals), Rajeir Jones (10 points, four rebounds) and Elijah Epps (eight points, eight rebounds, four assists) made up the heart of a deep lineup that wore down the Engineers as the game went on.

After Diop's layup broke a tie game with 4:24 left in the third quarter, St. Frances (21-2) never relinquished the lead.

“Our guys got a little rattled at the beginning — Poly probably made their first seven or eight shots — but knew at some point that they wouldn't be so hot and they'd cool off a little bit," St. Frances coach Nick Myles said. "We said, ‘Let's stay together, let's run our stuff and let's play the same St. Frances basketball that we've been doing all year.’ ”

The Engineers (8-2) got within a point on Justin Lewis' buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third. In the fourth, however, St. Frances took control, forcing Poly into a series of poor shots and building a 52-46 lead on Baldwin's driving layup two minutes into the quarter.

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The key series, however, occurred with just over three minutes to play, when Jones scored on a baseline drive and dunk at one end, and teammate Koran Moore blocked Lewis' fadeaway jumper at the other.

“I think they're depth hurt us a little bit, as it has hurt teams all year,” Poly coach Sam Brand said. "As that happened, I thought late in the game, in a tight game, their experience hurt us. They just looked comfortable continuing to trust each other, and I thought we made some plays where each guy was trying to hit a home run.”

Myles said his team's depth was the difference.

“Like I told the kids before the game, it's going to take seven or eight of us … playing together," he said. "If we did that, I don’t think any team in this area could beat us.”

On a night when St. Frances broke its two-game losing streak to Poly, both teams wound up the winners.

“It brought the city out," Brand said. "I think our schools represent different strong points in our city, and I'm glad the city came out to watch. I wish we could've been on the winning end of it.”

St. Frances — Jones 9, Baldwin 10, Epps 8, Ferguson 5, Diop 18, Toles 11, Mare 4. Totals: 25 13-14 65. Poly — Mims 27, Horton 6, Walker 2, Lewis 5, Ali 17. Totals: 23 4-7 57. Half: Poly, 33-30.

Originally Published: Jan 15, 2018 at 9:33 pm