No. 5 Mount Carmel trips Spalding, moves into second in BCL basketball; Perry scores 19
Deon Perry paced Mount Carmel to a key Baltimore Catholic League/MIAA A Conference basketball road win Friday evening. The senior guard scored a game-high 19 points as the No. 5 Cougars defeated fourth-ranked Archbishop Spalding in Severn for their third consecutive victory.
by Trevor Colgan
Special to VSN
Our Lady of Mount Carmel basketball coach Trevor Quinn emerged from the visitor’s locker room at Archbishop Spalding a happy man.
He knows how tough any given game is in the MIAA A Conference and Baltimore Catholic League is difficult, especially. The fifth-ranked Cougars put together a solid effort in a 76-58 victory over the fourth-ranked Cavaliers in Anne Arundel County.
Loyola University-bound guard Deon Perry finished with 19 points for the Cougars (21-5 overall), and sophomore Andrew Dixon added 16. Senior guard Jordan Pennick led Spalding with 17 points.
The Essex school broke open a close game at halftime, outscoring the Cavaliers, 25-9, in the third quarter to slide a half-game ahead (8-4) of Spalding and Mount St. Joseph (both 7-4) for second in the BCL standings. The Cougars (11-3) are a game behind the Gaels (12-2) for first in the MIAA A Red Division.
“It’s going to be good teams going against each other every other night pretty much,” Quinn said. “It’s just who got the best approach, and who’s consistent is going to be there at the end.”
Tjay Beckles and center Luke Bamgboye finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively, for Mount Carmel, which won its third straight. The Cougars were able to get easy transition scores in the second half.
“Deon’s great at pushing the ball, Andrew Dixon as well,” Quinn said. “We have a lot of bigs who can run. So if their bigs might be wearing down, we’ll bring in our next group and they’ll sprint the lane. That wears on teams.”
Perry was leading the charge in transition. He was able to get to the basket, and if the shot wasn’t there, he distributed to his big men running down court for some emphatic finishes.
The Cougars, who gave up 96 to the Cavaliers last month, did a much better job defensively. Spalding guard Ty Peterson, who had career-best 47 points in the first meeting, had eight Friday.
The Cavaliers (21-6) threw different defensive looks at Mount Carmel, and was able to take the lead, 33-32, going into halftime off a Josh Rivers 3-pointer. In the second half, however, Spalding could not find its footing, and the Cougars took advantage of a tiring Cavalier defense.
“We didn’t execute,” Spalding coach Josh Pratt said. “We took quick shots, we didn’t play how we normally play.”
Spalding won’t have much time to reflect with a visit to BCL pacesetter and top-ranked St. Frances Academy Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Panthers outlasted the Cavaliers, 73-72, in the teams’ first meeting in Severn last month.
The Cavaliers hope to have senior forward and reigning BCL Player of the Year Cam Whitmore back. The McDonald’s All-American and Villanova University recruit has missed the past six games with a sore ankle.
“I’ll be ready,” said Pratt, whose team has gone 3-3 without Whitmore. “We challenged the kids in the locker room. It’s not the end of the world.”
No. 5 Our Lady of Mount Carmel 76, No. 4 Archbishop Spalding 58
Mount Carmel – Perry 19, Dixon 16, Mordi 5, Bamgboye 14, Beckles 15, Kalu 4, Williams 3. Totals 28 6-12 76.
Archbishop Spalding – Scott 7, Peterson 8, Pennick 17, Rivers 8, Robertson 3, Washington 12, Wilburn 3. Totals 20 10-18 58.
Mt. Carmel 19 13 25 19 — 76
Spalding 15 18 9 16 — 58
