The 53rd Baltimore Catholic League Basketball Tournament starts on Friday

Regular season champion Mount St. Joseph will go for its third straight tournament title; St. Maria Goretti makes its farewell appearance

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – After an eventful 56-game regular season with tremendous individual and team performances that ended with Mount St Joseph capturing its record-tying 12th BCL regular-season title, the eight Baltimore Catholic League schools will gather to play the 53rd-annual Baltimore Catholic League Tournament, presented by Brooks Financial Group over three days, starting Friday, March 1 at the Decker Sports & Recreation Center Arena on the campus of Goucher College. At 53 consecutive years, the BCL Tournament is the current longest-running boys’ postseason tourney in the state.

Four games make up the first round on March 1 at 3:00, 4:45, 6:30 and 8:15 pm. The semifinals are Saturday, March 2 with two games at 6:00 and 8:00 pm. Sunday, March 3, the junior varsity championship is set for 1:00 pm, and the BCL will crown the varsity tournament champion for the 12th time at Goucher with the title game at 3:00 pm.

Advance tickets ($15 for adults and $10 for children ages 6-18/high school students) for each day of the tournament are available by clicking the link on the front page of the league’s website at BCLBasketball.com. Beginning March 1, admission will be $20 per day for adults, and $15 for children ages 6-18/high school students. Children under six years old receive free admission. Tickets are being sold online ONLY (no cash tickets available at Decker SRC Arena).

In 2023, Mount St. Joseph won its second consecutive BCL Tournament title, and ninth overall. This weekend the Gaels, who won the 2023-24 regular season crown, will seek a three-peat as the 53rd BCL Tournament takes place at Goucher College / Photo by Derek Toney

A tradition in Baltimore since the first tournament at the then-Essex Community College in 1972, the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament features the current eight-team lineup of Archbishop Spalding, Calvert Hall, John Carroll, Loyola, Mount Carmel, Mount St. Joseph, St. Frances and St. Maria Goretti.

Calvert Hall, Loyola and Mount St. Joseph have participated in all 53 seasons and tournaments in the league’s history. St. Maria Goretti played in the 1983 and 1984 tournaments before joining the league as a full member in 1984-85. The 2024 BCL Tournament is the final one for Goretti, as the school announced its closure effective at the end of the current academic year. St. Frances became a BCL member school in 1988-89. Archbishop Spalding, a 1977 and 1978 invited participant when the school was known as Martin Spalding, became a league member in 1997-98. John Carroll, a 1974 invited participant, became a BCL member in 2010-11. Mount Carmel, a 2011 invited participant, brought the BCL membership back to the current eight teams when it was added for the 2011-12 season.

2024 BCL TOURNAMENT BRACKET

The winner of the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament receives possession of the Brother D. John Smith, FSC Memorial Trophy, named for the second president of the BCL from 1973-76 who served as the athletic director at Calvert Hall. The BCL Tournament MVP receives the John M. Plevyak Most Valuable Player Award, named for the longtime Mount St. Joseph athletic director who was instrumental in the founding of the current league. The BCL honors the late longtime Archbishop Curley head coach and BCL Hall of Famer Dan Popera, who passed away in March 2023, with the re-named Dan Popera Sportsmanship Award.

The 2024 tournament opens at 3 pm on March 1 when No. 7 seed John Carroll (4-10 BCL; 16-18 overall) takes on No. 2 seed St. Frances (9-5 BCL; 23-12 overall). John Carroll looks to win the program’s third tourney title and the first since 2021. John Carroll’s sixth-year head coach Seth Goldberg led the Patriots to a historic three-upset run over the No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 seeds in the 2021 tournament. St. Frances 13th-year head coach Nicholas Myles looks to bring the Panthers back to a tourney title for a record 11th time and the first since 2020. This will be the eighth meeting between the schools in the BCLT, and John Carroll holds a 5-2 advantage over the Panthers in the tournament series. During the regular season, St. Frances swept both games over John Carroll with an 87-72 victory in Bel Air on December 6 and an 86-74 victory on Chase Street on January 24.

The first game features John Carroll sophomore Aidan Able, a 2023-24 All-BCL second-team performer and junior Theartis Battle, an honorable mention All-BCL player for the Patriots. St. Frances sophomore Jasiah Cannady and senior Josiah Legree are both second-team All-BCL, and senior Donovan Flamer is part of the BCL honorable mention group.

The 4:45 pm game has No. 6 seed Loyola (4-10 BCL; 20-14 overall) against No. 3 seed Mount Carmel (8-6 BCL; 24-11 overall). Loyola, under first-year head coach Josh Czerski, looks to win the BCLT for the sixth time, and the Dons’ first since 1978. Czerski is the seventh BCL coach to have played in the current league (Towson Catholic, 2007), and he came to Loyola after winning a Maryland 4A state title at Parkville. Mount Carmel, under first-year coach Tony Martin, is looking for the Cougars’ first BCLT title. Martin is no stranger to the BCL as he previously coached at Archbishop Spalding and John Carroll, winning three BCLT titles (one with Spalding and two with John Carroll), and he holds the current mark for the highest BCLT coaches winning percentage (minimum 20 games – 15-6; .714). This will be the second tourney meeting between the schools, as Mount Carmel beat the Dons 66-63 in the 2021 first round. The teams split the regular-season series as Loyola at Blakefield 62-58 on January 3, and Mount Carmel won in Essex 69-66 in overtime on January 29.

The Loyola-Mount Carmel game features Loyola junior first team All-BCL player Mason Ellison and senior second-team choice J’Lin Brown. Mount Carmel counters with senior first-team selection Andrew Dixon and two honorable mention players – freshman Junior Mancho and sophomore Tristen Wilson.

At 6:30 pm, nine-time overall and two-time defending BCL Tournament winner and 2023-24 regular-season champion Mount St. Joseph (13-1 BCL; 35-4 overall), led by the dean of BCL coaches, Pat Clatchey, who is in his 32nd season leading the Gaels and is in third place all-time among Maryland boys’ high school coaches in victories (827), plays No. 8 Calvert Hall (3-11 BCL; 16-19 overall), under third-year coach Gary Neal. The Cardinals have won seven BCLT championships, the last in 2015. This will be the 18th BCLT meeting between the schools and the second consecutive first-round matchup in the tourney, with the Cardinals holding a 9-8 edge. The Gaels won both meetings over the Cards this season with a 59-54 victory in Irvington on December 8 and a 59-40 victory in Towson on February 9.

The Calvert Hall-Mount St. Joseph game features Cardinals senior Brendan Johnson, voted as the league’s 2023-24 Jerry Savage Player of the Year, and senior Tyrin Bizzelle, who was an honorable mention recipient. Mount St. Joseph is paced by a pair of first-team All-BCL players in seniors Jordan Brathwaite and Tyonne Farrell. The Gaels come into the BCL Tournament after winning the MIAA A Conference title over Archbishop Spalding on February 24 at UMBC.

The final game of the first round at 8:15 pm has No. 5 seed St. Maria Goretti (7-7 BCL; 17-15 overall) under sixth-year coach and the repeat winner of the BCL’s O. Ray Mullis Coach of the Year award Sidney McCray against No. 4 seed Archbishop Spalding (8-6 BCL; 22-9 overall) under Cavaliers’ fifth-year head coach Josh Pratt, who looks to become the second coach in BCL history to win the tourney at two different schools (Towson Catholic, 2007). Goretti looks to win the title for the fifth time overall and the first time since 2001, while Spalding looks to take home the program’s first BCL tourney title since 2002 and the Cavaliers’ fourth overall. Archbishop Spalding was the MIAA A Conference runner-up this season. Spalding leads the all-time BCLT series over Goretti 4-1. The Cavaliers swept the season series with a 72-60 victory in Severn on January 11 and a 71-69 victory in Hagerstown on February 9.

St. Maria Goretti has the repeat Mark Amatucci Defensive Player of the Year winner and first-team All-BCL senior Caleb Embeya as well as senior Jarvis Wright, the league’s Cokey Robertson Most Improved Player of the Year honoree and second-team All-BCL performer. Archbishop Spalding is led by junior first-team All-BCL player Malik Washington.

The first-round winners meet in the semifinal round on Saturday, March 2. The winners of the 5/4 and 8/1 games play at 6:00 pm, and the winners of the 6/3 and 7/2 games meet at 8:00 pm. Championship Sunday, March 3 has two games. The junior varsity title game is at 1:00 pm, and the 53rd BCL varsity tournament championship between the semifinal winners is set for 3:00 pm.

2024 BALTIMORE CATHOLIC LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

(Decker Sports & Recreation Center Arena; Goucher College)

Friday, March 1

First Round

7 John Carroll (16-18 overall; 4-10 BCL) vs. 2 St. Frances (23-12 overall; 9-5 BCL) – 3 pm

6 Loyola (20-14 overall; 4-10 BCL) vs. 3 Mount Carmel (24-11 overall; 8-6 BCL) – 4:45 pm

8 Calvert Hall (16-19 overall; 3-11 BCL) vs. 1 Mount St. Joseph (35-4 overall; 13-1 BCL) – 6:30 pm

5 St. Maria Goretti (17-15 overall; 7-7 BCL) vs. 4 Archbishop Spalding (22-9 overall; 8-6 BCL) – 8:15 pm

Saturday, March 2

Semifinals

5/4 winner vs. 8/1 winner – 6:00 pm

6/3 winner vs. 7/2 winner – 8:00 pm

Sunday, March 3

Championship

JV Championship – 1:00 pm

Varsity Championship – 3:00 pm

- Report courtesy of Chris Pike of BCLBasketball.com