Throughout the regular season in the Baltimore Catholic League and the MIAA A Conference Mount St. Joe, St. Frances and Calvert Hall were known as the big three, as the talent level between these three schools and the rest in each league seemed pretty lopsided. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, when talk of the big three arose, they were usually thought of as the weakest of the group. They lost to both St. Joe and St. Frances in the regular season, and then lost again to St. Frances in last week's MIAA semifinals.

Coming into tonight's Baltimore Catholic League semifinals at Loyola College's Reitz Arena it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Mt. St. Joe and St. Frances would each claim victories and meet for the fifth time this season in Monday evenings final. Some one forgot to relay that message to Calvert Hall

Number one ranked Mount St. Joseph went on the road to face the second ranked Panthers of St. Frances, looking to lock up the outright BCL championship and at worst, a share of the MIAA championship. Though it wasn't easy, their mission is accomplished.

The battles between Mt. St. Joseph, St. Frances and Calvert Hall this year should be some interesting contests. So far St. Joe and St. Frances have each had a shot at each other, with the Panthers winning the first matchup last week down in South Carolina at the Beach Ball Classic, and the Gaels returning the favor this evening on their home court in Irvington.

Behind a solid defensive effort and strong performances by their two star players(Eric Atkins and Riley Beaumont) St. Joe took a lead late in the 1st quarter and never trailed again in their 56-46 victory over St. Frances.

On Monday Night, the 2nd Annual Crab Bowl took place on a frosty cold night at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium. Once again it was a great display of the best football players in the state of Maryland, with the squad from DC holding to a 24-21 victory over Baltimore, taking a 2-0 series lead. After watching the game and evaluating the tape, I am going to take a look at some of the players that turned in impressive performances.

Most Outstanding Player

Earlier in the week MIAA and BCL powerhouse Calvert hall went on the road to face one of the counties top public scool programs, Milford Mill, and were given all they could handle before pulling out a late victory. This evening, another top tier MIAA and BCL program, St. Frances, also traveled to a Baltimore County favorite, Parkville. The Panthers of St. Frances got off to a tremendous start and seemed to be in control of the game before a furious 4th quarter comeback by Parkville left the Knights just short.

The Cardinals of Calvert Call College came up with just enough key plays down the stretch to hold off a feisty crew from Milford Mill, 65-56, in front of a packed house at the Millers home gymnasium. Holding on to a slim 1 point lead with 1:27 to play Damion Lee came up with a clutch rebound off a missed shot from the Cards Michael Wade and then assissted nicely to Donya Jackson to up the Cardinal lead to 3. On the Millers following possession the Cards Jonathan Graham got a huge blocked shot and nice outlet pass, which led to a layup for Wade, and the Cards could breathe a sigh of relief.

Watching pregame warmups for tonights matchup between the Dematha Stags, of the WCAC, and the Archbishop Spalding Cavaliers, of the BCL and the MIAA, it looked like it may be a long night for the home standing Cavaliers. The Cavaliers had no player over 6'3", while the Stags had at least 6 players over 6'4". The pregame warmups didn't lie.

Great articles from local papers

-Anne Arundel County

-Baltimore Area

-Carroll County

-Eastern Shore

-From Brandy Simms