St. Joe and Spalding prevail MIAA A basketball semifinals

Severn and St. Paul's to meet for the B Conference crown, while Beth Tfiloh and Saints Peter & Paul advance in the C Conference

Fresh off an upset of defending champion St. Frances, in Tuesday's quarterfinals, Glenelg Country pushed top-seeded Mount St. Joseph to the brink, Thursday in Irvington, before the host Gaels survived with a 52-50 victory to advance to Saturday's MIAA A Conference basketball championship.

St. Joe will meet Archbishop Spalding, which went on the road to knock off Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 60-56, in Thursday's other semifinal. St. Joe and Spalding will now meet in the championship game, Saturday (6:00 p.m.) at UMBC's Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.

Early on it did not appear St. Joe would have as difficult of a time reaching the final, as the Gaels built and 11-point halftime lead. The upstart Dragons, however, battled throughout the second half, twice cutting their deficit to three points before St. Joe finally put the contest away at the free throw line.

Sophomore BJ Ranson paced the Gaels with 14 points and St. Joe won for the 39th consecutive time on their home court.

MIAA A CONFERENCE BASKETBALL BRACKET

Mount St. Joseph's Smith Center where the Gaels varsity basketball team has won 39 straight home games, including Thursday's, 52-50, MIAA A Conference semifinal win over Glenelg Country

Severn and Gerstell reach MIAA B Conference basketball championship

Top-seed Severn, which is undefeated in conference play this season, punched its ticket to Saturday's MIAA B Conference basketball championship game as the Admirals will attempt to win their first conference championship since 1993 and only their third since 1966.

Star Kingston Price paced the scoring with 20 points and the entire roster contributed to a lock-down defensive effort as Severn stymied St. Paul's, 43-33, in Severna Park. St. Paul's, which was paced by 13 points from Bryce Matthews, only scored 10 points in the second half as Severn turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 10-point win.

MIAA B CONFERENCE BASKETBALL BRACKET

Severn will meet Gerstell Academy in Saturday's championship game at UMBC (4:00 p.m.). Gerstell reached the final with its second straight playoff upset, knocking off division winner Concordia Prep, 58-49 in Towson.

Top seeds Beth Tfiloh and Saints Peter & Paul will battle for the MIAA C Conference basketball title

The top seeds in the MIAA C Conference basketball playoffs both held serve on Thursday, winning semifinal contests on their home courts, as top-seeded Beth Tfiloh and second-seeded Saints Peter & Paul advanced to Saturday's league championship game at UMBC (8:00 p.m.).

Beth Tfiloh got all it could handle from neighborhood rival Park School, before pulling out a 56-53 victory, while Saints Peter & Paul dispatched Cristo Rey, 56-49, in Easton.

MIAA C CONFERENCE BASKETBALL BRACKET