One big shot after another came from the St. Frances boys basketball team starting late in the third quarter at Calvert Hall on Wednesday. With that came a burst of energy on defense.
It all came together and didn't stop until the final whistle for the No. 7 Panthers, who rallied from a 13-point deficit to come away with a stunning 70-65 win over No. 1 Calvert Hall.
Guards Daquan Bracey (17 points) and and Kurk Lee Jr. (16 points) led the impressive fourth quarter performance. Senior Josh Ayeni finished with 10 points and freshman guard Jordan Goodwin, just called up from the junior varsity on Tuesday, had seven points and played solid defense in the closing minutes.
St. Frances improved to 8-1 overall and 1-1 in both the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and Baltimore Catholic League. Calvert Hall, which led until there was 5:30 to play in the fourth quarter, fell to 4-1, 2-1 in the MIAA A Conference and 1-1 in the BCL.
The Panthers hit six 3 pointers, starting with Bracey's with 2:08 to play in the third quarter to cut the lead to 44-34. Lee, who scored 12 of his points during the stretch, said it came down to one thing: "Team chemistry."
He added: "Just the stuff we work on, getting up shots in practice, finding our rhythm and playing together."
Both teams played without standout players. St. Frances was without guard Khalil Richard because of a knee injury and Calvert Hall didn't have senior forward Nico Clareth, out for one game after violating a league rule in the previous game.
In the midst of the Panthers taking over, Calvert Hall lost senior point guard Reggie Rouse to a knee injury in the final minute of the third quarter. The Cardinals lost their rhythm while the Panthers surged.
"We struggled down the stretch getting into our offense and St. Frances made some big shots to get back in the game," Calvert Hall coach John Bauersfeld said. "We rushed some shots and they hit some big shots."
Calvert Hall senior guard Drew Edwards finished with 16 points and scored the game's first six points to give the Cardinals a lead they would maintain throughout the first half.
When TJ Duckett spun to the basket and scored with 2:29 to play in the third quarter, the Cardinals had their biggest lead, 44-31.
But the Panthers responded in the big way. With the lead cut to 50-43 going into the fourth quarter, Bracey hit three 3-pointers and Goodwin hit another to give the Panthers their first lead, 52-51, with 5:30 to play. They never looked back.
"We just stayed together, we played together," St. Frances coach Nick Myles said. "I think we made plays and we made shots. We stayed together and we stayed within our offense. Today we played good team ball and it showed with some big plays.
Justin Gorham (13 points), Kenji Bahar (11) and Duckett (10) also reached double figures for the Cardinals, with Andre Rafus adding 14 points for the Panthers.