Boys Basketball: John Carroll Beats Mount Carmel, 59-49

Mount Carmel held a lead late in the third quarter and played close throughout, but John Carroll pulled away late en route to a 59-49 opening-round win in the Baltimore Catholic League tournament at Calvert Hall.

John Carroll jumped out to a 19-10 lead in the first quarter as six players scored in that time for the Patriots, including five points each by Rodney Elliot and Jarred Jones.

Malcolm McMillan led the Patriots with 13 points, while Elliott, Ronald Scott and Lionel Owana all had nine.

Mount Carmel clawed their way back into the game in the second quarter when guard Malachy Onwudiegwu scored eight of his team-high 16 points.

The Cougars, who trailed by two at halftime, ralled to take a 34-33 early in the second half when Lucas Gallina knocked down the foul shot after connecting on a jump shot.

Mount Carmel eventually increased its lead 38-33 before John Carroll went from a man-to-man to a 2-3 zone and the Cougars had a hard time adjusting.

“I thought we did well in the first half,” Mount Carmel coach Tom Rose said. “Unfortunately we didn't score well after that. They switched to a 2-3 zone and we settled for outside shots. We also missed some lay-ups.”

The Patriots took the lead late in the third quarter, and never looked back as they outscored the Cougars 14-11 in the final period.

The BCL regular-season champions in its first year in the league, John Carroll will face Mount St. Joseph at 5 p.m. Sunday at Loyola University.