Kimbal Mackenzie knew his reputation had placed him on a big stage. On Sunday night, he showed why he belonged there.
The senior, who will play for Bucknell next season, hit a 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining in double overtime to give No. 5 John Carroll (27-6) a 69-68 victory over No. 9 St. Frances (25-11) in the first semifinal of the Baltimore Catholic League tournament at SECU Arena.
The shot capped a night when the Patriots found themselves digging out of hole after hole on the scoreboard. The victory was keyed by a huge defensive effort that held St. Frances to three points in the final 6:46 of the fourth quarter.
"Our coach preaches defense as the No. 1 thing for our team," said Patriots senior guard Elijah Long, who led all scorers with 22 points. "The offense will come. Defense is a John Carroll staple, and we live to play defense."
Joshua Ayeni led the Panthers with 21 points before fouling out in the first overtime. The Patriots will face No. 1 Calvert Hall, an 82-58 winner over No. 3 Mount Carmel in the other semifinal Sunday, in Monday night's 7 p.m. championship. That game also will be played at SECU Arena.
St. Frances dominated most of the first three quarters, and held a 14-point lead, 41-27, with 4:17 left in the third quarter. Try as they might, John Carroll could not seem to solve the bigger and stronger Panthers.
St. Frances used a dunk by Eric Cobb with 6:43 left in the fourth quarter to take a 50-38 lead. Then the Patriots started to rally.
"In our timeout, I told them to look at the scoreboard," Patriots coach Tony Martin said. "We had given up 50 points, and we've averaged allowing 43 on the season. I told them we needed to tighten it up on the defensive end."
To say the Patriots took the talk to heart would be an understatement. John Carroll continually thwarted the St. Frances offense with a tough man-to-man defense each time they went down the court.
At the same time, they were capitalizing on their own offensive opportunities. The Patriots went on a 14-0 run, and took their first lead of the game, 51-50, on a layup by Mike Tertsea with 1:47 left in regulation.
With three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Ayeni hit a layup for St. Frances' first field goal in 6:43 to tie the game at 53-53 at the end of regulation.
St. Frances built a 58-55 lead in the first overtime, but John Carroll used a layup by Immanuel Quickley and two foul shots by Long to take a 59-58 lead. Quickley's foul was the fifth for Ayeni, ending his night.
After a jumper by Daquan Bracey gave St. Frances a 60-59 lead with 25.2 seconds left in the first overtime, John Carroll reclaimed the lead, 61-60, with 8.2 seconds left on a shot by Malik Tyne. On the next series, the Panthers' Tarik Johnson was fouled under his own basket as time expired. He made the second of two free throws to extend the game to a second overtime.
The Panthers again took a lead, this time 68-66 with 22.4 seconds left on a field goal by Bracey. John Carroll called a timeout, and ran a play to Mackenzie, who calmly buried the 3-pointer near the top of the key with 1.2 seconds left to give the Patriots the win.
"As a team, we work for moments like that," Mackenzie said. "I knew our guys trusted me to take that shot. [Elijah] made a great move, and I was open and took it. There's that famous Michal Jordan quote about missing shots and having confidence, so I just let it go, and it went in."
The loss was a tough one for the Panthers.
"Basketball is a game of runs, and they went on one and gained the momentum," St. Frances coach Nick Myles said. "I'm proud of the way we fought and never gave up, but it just wasn't our day."
Baltimore Catholic League
SEMIFINALS
(at Towson Univ.)
John Carroll 69, St. Frances 68, 2OT
ST. FRANCES – Cobb 15, Lee 7, Goodwin 2, Ayeni 21, Johnson 4, Richard 8, Bracey 11. Totals: 25 13-21 68.
JOHN CARROLL – MacKenzie 13, Quickley 7, Long 22, Kangu 8, Tyne 10, Tertsea 9. Totals: 26 12-25 69. Halftime: SF 30-24. End of Reg. 53-53. End of first OT, 61-61.