Seton Keough's Asha Bussie (right) battled Sophy Ngobeni for a rebound during the regular season. The No. 1 Gators, who went unbeaten in the league's regular season, is the favorite in the A Conference tourney which starts Friday afternoon.
Now comes the hard part for Seton Keough High girls' basketball team. After being the dominant entity during the IAAM A Conference regular season, the top-ranked Gators know it's championship or bust.
"Teams have nothing to lose and they will come out and play us hard, so we can’t take anything for granted," said Boswell after Seton Keough finished a perfect run in league play with a rout of No. 8 Towson Catholic Wednesday. "We're going to take one practice day at a time and one game at a time. We’re not looking past anybody or anything. We know we have a lot of work to do."
Their task begins Tuesday afternoon against either St. Paul's School or Institute of Notre Dame. The chase to Villa Julie College kicks off Friday afternoon with three opening round matches, and another on Sunday morning.
In an all-Anne Arundel County matchup, Archbishop Spalding hosts St. Mary's. The Cavaliers (18-7 overall), who handled the Saints (6-19), 61-37, in December, have one of the league's up-and-coming teams, but their inexperience has bit them in the late stages of several matches this season. The winner advances to a quarterfinal match at No. 9 Mercy (19-5) Tuesday.
St. John's Catholic Prep (1-15) will travel to Towson Friday for a matchup with Towson Catholic (14-6), with the winner heading to McDonogh School Tuesday. The Eagles (14-9), looking to return to the championship round, routed the Frederick school twice during the regular season, but dropped a 57-48 decision on the Owls' home court last month.
St. Paul's welcomes IND to Brooklandville, with Seton Keough (24-3) waiting in the wings. The Gators (14-12) posted a 49-28 home victory over the Indians (4-15) last month.
The final opening round matchup features Notre Dame Prep (8-13) playing Roland Park Country School (6-18) at Gilman School Sunday morning at 11 a.m. The Blazers won 35-29 early last month in Towson. The winner will play No. 2 St. Frances Tuesday in east Baltimore.
The five-time defending champion Panthers (21-3) ended their regular season with a victory Wednesday over McDonogh. With senior forward/center Kandice Green healthy, St. Frances may be in line for a return trip to the finals. It's only loss in league play came at the hands of Seton Keough in January.
The semifinals are next Thursday at the higher seed, leading up to "Championship Sunday" at Villa Julie Feb. 17. The A title game will tip off around 5 p.m. after the B Conference championship game.