The Calvert Hall basketball team came into Wednesday's game at John Carroll shorthanded and came across additional adversity in the first half. The host Patriots were quick to take advantage.
Behind a 23-point performance by senior forward Malik Tyne and 27-point second quarter, No. 2 John Carroll claimed a comfortable 69-48 win over the No. 3 Cardinals in Bel Air.
The Patriots (17-1 overall) solidified first place in the Baltimore Catholic League with a 7-0 mark and in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference at 7-1. Calvert Hall (14-4) dropped its second straight and is 4-2 in the BCL and 6-3 in the MIAA A.
With starters Nico Clareth and Reggie Rouse already out with injuries, the Cardinals lost All-Metro guard Drew Edwards early in the second quarter when he was ejected for using foul language. The Patriots, who led 20-19 at the time with 5:25 to play until intermission, sensed an opportunity to take hold of the game and wasted no time doing so.
They scored the next seven points, with Elijah Long's three-point play building a 27-19 lead and then Tyne's consecutive 3-pointers in the final minute of the half pushed the lead to 42-27 at the break. Tyne finished with 11 points in the game's most decisive quarter.
"First and foremost we knew they were down a little bit, but it doesn't matter in this league," John Carroll coach Tony Martin said. "It's an absolute war, so we had a chance to take advantage of some matchups offensively and you saw Malik Tyne play one heck of a ball game. And really our guys just battle and once we got that 15-point lead we weren't going to relinquish it."
Tyne was one of four Patriots to finish in double figures, with freshman guard Immanuel Quickley (13 points), senior guard Kimbal Mackenzie (12) and junior forward Mike Tertsea (10) also playing well in a balanced performance.
Early results in the two leagues showed possible parity with just about any team capable of knocking off another. But John Carroll, which was coming off an impressive 51-41 road win at No. 9 Mount Saint Joseph on Monday, has found its way to the front with consistent play. The Patriots have won six straight,with their only loss coming 58-55 against No. 15 McDonogh on Dec. 23.
Calvert Hall, which got 14 points from junior forward Justin Gorham and 11 from senior guard TJ Duckett, will try to work hard through the trying stretch of injuries. Clareth, an All-Metro forward who's been out with a concussion, is expected to return next week and Rouse, the team's senior point guard, is battling a knee injury for the second time this season. Edwards will have a to serve an automatic one-game suspension in MIAA A play, which will take place next Monday at Loyola Blakefield. The Cardinals will look to bounce back against St. Maria Goretti on Friday.
"You can either stand here and make excuses or just continue to move forward and have different guys step up," Calvert Hall coach John Bauersfeld said. "So some guys that maybe we haven't leaned on as much before need to step up and make some plays. We've got to learn from that and keep getting better."