Five Takeaways: St. Frances vs Mt. Carmel

<p>As the shortened regular season hints toward a conclusion, we had one crucial matchup last night that including the hosting St. Frances Academy Panthers taking on the Mt. Carmel Cougars in a battle between two top teams. St. Frances flexed their muscles by displaying their talent and depth throughout by walking away with an 82-59 win to improve their overall record to 12-0. With the loss, Mt. Carmel falls to 10-2.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Ireland shines on senior night</strong></span></p> <p>St. Frances honored its senior class before last night’s game and senior guard Byron Ireland took complete advantage. The 6-foot-3 unsigned senior has been on an absolute tear as of late and led all scorers with 24 points including four triples. Ireland has yet to receive an offer, but it’s becoming clearer every day that he can help a roster at the Division I level. The combo guard offers translatable skills at both ends and continues to polish on the little things that will make him into a productive collegiate player.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Nnadozie shines for Mt. Carmel</strong></span></p> <p>Both Toby Nnadozie and Ireland were newcomers to the MIAA/BCL last season and the scouting report on both included a lack of a jump shot. That has officially become outdated as both players have put together consistent enough shooting seasons to earn defense’s respect from deep. The 2022 guard converted on three three’s, two of which were well beyond the three-point line and did so with comfort and confidence as he led his team with 20 points. He also had his fair share of athletic finishes at the rim and remained active defensively in the passing lanes even when St. Frances’ lead continued to grow.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Balanced scoring from the Panthers</strong></span></p> <p>One dynamic that makes this St. Frances team so tough to beat is their balanced scoring attack from 8-to-9 players deep in their rotation. It seems like any night someone can have the hot hand and go for 20+ points. Last night was Ireland’s turn, but others such as 2022 forward [player_tooltip player_id="1110545" first="Cortez" last="Johnson"] pitched in with 14 points as he becomes a welcomed returning piece to the lineup. Senior guards in [player_tooltip player_id="836491" first="Khyrie" last="Staten"] and [player_tooltip player_id="904668" first="Elijah" last="Davis"] scored eight points each while senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="1049644" first="Tevin" last="Curtis"] recorded seven points in the win. Balance will continue to be this team’s calling card heading into the BCL Playoffs.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Mt. Carmel still learning</strong></span></p> <p>The Cougars ascended to the top of the standings quickly this season and as it is with any successful teams, you have to take some hits on the chin before learning how to win in this league. Their two losses came against arguably the best two teams in the league in St. Frances and Mt. St. Joe. The Cougars earned a nice quality win over Spalding last week and will look to patch things up as the playoffs being next Monday.</p> <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>What’s next?</strong></span></p> <p>The Panthers will host Mt. St. Joe in their final regular season game. This has been Baltimore’s biggest rivalry for some time and this year’s matchup won’t be any different aside from their being no fans in attendance. These two teams always come down to a chess match that is a pleasure to watch progress. Mt. Carmel gets no easy finale as they’ll travel to John Carroll and take on a Patriot team that is the winner of five-straight games and has really found themselves over the last two weeks. These two games will have playoff seed implications all over them.</p>