Mount Carmel Proves Its Staying Power, Edges St. Frances in OT for Repeat MIAA A Title

Mount Carmel repeats in the MIAA A while St. Paul’s denies Severn’s three-peat in the B, as championship double-header at UMBC delivers plenty of late drama.

Tristen Wilson (holding plaque) is elated after Our Lady of Mount Carmel won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) A Conference basketball title Tuesday evening at UMBC. The Cougars defeated Saint Frances Academy for their second straight championship. / Derek Toney

The celebration looked familiar. The path to get there did not.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel entered this season no longer the upstart — but the standard. And Tuesday night at UMBC’s Chesapeake Employees Insurance Arena, the Cougars showed the poise of a program that has learned how to win the hardest way.

Junior Mancho’s putback with 2.9 seconds left in overtime lifted Mount Carmel to a 59-57 victory over St. Frances and a second straight MIAA A Conference championship.

With the win, the Cougars (28-10) became the first program in more than a decade to repeat in the Baltimore area’s premier league, in consecutive years, matching John Carroll’s 2011-12 run. Mount St. Joseph won two straight championships, 2019-20 and 2021-22 with COVID-19 wiping out the 2020-21 season.

New Faces, Same Championship Cackbone

Last winter’s team leaned on veteran anchors Rodney Scott and Mario Tatum. This one had to discover its identity on the fly.

What didn’t change was the core.

Tristen Wilson orchestrated the offense with 10 assists, adding nine points and six rebounds. MVP Gage Howard controlled the interior with 16 points and seven boards. And when the decisive moment came, it was Mancho — the defensive-minded 6-foot-8 junior — finishing the play that mattered most.

Mount Carmel's Gage Howard, the MIAA A championship game MVP, sports his MIAA championship t-shirt after leading the Cougars to second straight title. / Derek Toney

After ripping the ball away in the final seconds of overtime, Wilson pushed the tempo and lofted a pass toward the rim. Mancho gathered and banked in the winner through contact.

The sequence captured the evolution of a team that took its early stumbles and turned them into trust.

“We had to believe in each other again,” Mancho said. “Once we did that, everything changed.”

Momentum Swings Define Championship Battle

The game mirrored the teams’ evenly split regular-season series — physical, tactical and decided in spurts.

St. Frances carried a 25-19 lead into halftime, controlling tempo and forcing Mount Carmel into uncomfortable half-court possessions.

The Cougars flipped the script coming out of the break.

A 17-7 run — punctuated by a Howard basket off a Wilson feed — gave Mount Carmel its first real control at 36-32 late in the third quarter. The Cougars’ improved spacing and patience began to wear on the Panthers.

Still, the defending champions couldn’t shake free.

Holding a five-point lead in the final three minutes of regulation, Mount Carmel watched St. Frances claw back behind Carter Fisk, whose three-point play with 34 seconds left forced overtime.

Overtime Delivers Another Classic

The extra session added another layer to an already tense final.

St. Frances grabbed the early edge on a Terrence Jones three-pointer and another Fisk three-point play. Mount Carmel answered when Antwan Williams finished inside with 33 seconds remaining, tying the game for the sixth time.

After a Panthers timeout, Brian McMahon’s reverse layup rolled off. Wilson secured the rebound — and seconds later, the Cougars were champions again.

Respect Between Heavyweights

Fisk finished with 16 points and five assists for St. Frances (33-7), which has now fallen to Mount Carmel in consecutive title games.

“They made one more play than we did,” Panthers coach Nick Myles said. “That’s what championship games come down to.”

Cougars coach Tony Martin — who also guided John Carroll’s last repeat — saw a different kind of title from his group.

This one required patience.

“This team had to grow into it,” Martin said. “But they never stopped believing.”

Sweep Still Within Reach

The celebration was brief.

Both teams now turn their focus to the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament at Loyola’s Reitz Arena, where St. Frances is the No. 1 seed and Mount Carmel is No. 2.

No program has captured both the MIAA A and BCL crowns in back-to-back seasons.

The Cougars are three wins away from history.

“We’re proud of this,” Wilson said, glancing down at his championship shirt, “but we’re not finished.”

St. Paul's Captures the MIAA B Title

Mount Carmel and St. Frances provided the nightcap to a championship double-header at UMBC, with the opener featuring St. Paul's and Severn squaring for the MIAA B title.

In a back-and-forth battle, St. Paul’s closed with the stronger push to end Severn’s bid for a third straight title, pulling away for a 61-53 victory for the Crusaders first title since 2017. St. Paul's (17-7) answered a 10-0 Severn run to start the fourth quarter with a decisive 13-4 finish, fueled by senior guard and MVP Kaden Edwards. His baseline three-pointer halted the Admirals’ surge and sparked the game-winning stretch, and he later added a layup off a diving steal by Andrew Cooper to help create separation in the final two minutes.

Kaden Edwards sparked St. Paul's offense and earned MVP honors in the MIAA B championship game. / Derek Toney

Cooper finished with 13 points and key second-chance baskets, while Cole Edwards and Cahron Wheeler combined to go 4-for-6 at the foul line down the stretch to seal St. Paul’s first league crown since 2017. Kaden Edwards also beat the third-quarter buzzer with a three that helped the Crusaders turn a halftime deficit into a nine-point lead entering the fourth.

Severn (18-8), led by 17 points apiece from DJ Lee and Sean Harvey, briefly grabbed momentum but couldn’t regain the lead. The victory added another chapter to one of the league’s emerging rivalries and prevented the Admirals from completing a three-peat.