Stanford McNair had a huge night in his final regular season home. The senior forward posted 22 points and 10 rebounds as the No. 13 Cougars defeated Archbishop Curley, securing a first-round bye for the upcoming postseason tournament.
More Photos
View All


by Tim Brackney
(playoff overview by DigitalSports.com staff)

Go hard or go home.

That was the attitude of Mount Carmel High senior forward Stanford McNair in Friday night’s matchup with Archbishop Curley. The No. 13 Cougars did just that, ending their regular season with a 69-56 win and avenging their loss in league play.

McNair’s double-double effort of 22 points and 10 rebounds led Mount Carmel (22-3, 14-1 in MIAA B North), which secured a first round bye. Curley (17-7, 11-3) was led by senior point guard Brandon Carroll’s 23 points.

“They beat us earlier this year in a really tough game.  We knew we had to come back and prove a point tonight if we wanted to reach our goal of winning a championship,” said McNair.  

Despite the score, the game was closer then it appeared.  Both teams played extremely hard in front of a packed crowd and rowdy gymnasium on Old Eastern Avenue. 

The Cougars led for almost the entire game, but the Friars never let up, benefiting from the unstoppable penetration of Carroll and frequent trips to the foul line.

Trailing by 15 points at halftime, the momentum seemed to turn in Curley’s favor at the start of the second half when Mount Carmel senior guard Troy Franklin fouled out.  The Friars pulled to within 11, but McNair took over.

He scored eight straight points in a variety of ways, from putbacks on the offensive glass to bringing his defender out to the perimeter and taking him one on one. 

“I’m used to doing everything and playing against bigger and older players,” said the 5-foot-11 forward.  “My mentality is to play tough and either go hard or go home.”

He wasn’t alone as fellow seniors Dwayne Wheeler and Marcanthony Franks each contributed nine points. Franks had an emphatic dunk early in the fourth quarter that brought the crowd to its feet. In the end, nine Cougars scored in the game.

The next step for Mount Carmel is the postseason tournament. The Cougars’ goal is clear as day.

“We want to win a championship,” said McNair, whose team lost to St Mary’s in last year’s title game.  “We fell short last year, but we’re back and we’re stronger then ever.”

Curley (17-7, 11-3), which has one regular season league game left, will finish in second place in the North Division and host Severn, the third place team in the South Division in a B Conference quarterfinal game next week.

Severn (13-10, 7-6) earned its playoff wings in dramatic fashion last night, as the Admirals christened their new St. John's Activity Center with a thrilling 53-51, come from behind win over arch-rival St. Mary's (19-9, 10-4) , which has already locked up the top seed in the South Division.

Marvin Smith scored a game-high 17 points to lead Severn and Ben Montgomery added 11, while Marcus Snipes led the Saints with 14.

St. Mary's, the defending B Conference champion, will have a first round bye and then will host the Curley/Severn winner in the semifinals.  With one league game to go, Severn is one game behind second place St. Vincent Pallotti (12-7, 8-5) and half game in front of Glenelg Country, which closed its league schedule with a 71-58 win over Annapolis Area Chrisitan, but the seeds will not change.

If it ties Pallotti for second, Severn will still remain the third seed, by virtue of two losses to the Panthers, and if the Admirals fall back into a tie with Glenelg Country, they still move to the post-season by virtue of two wins over the Dragons.

This means Pallotti will host St. Paul's (12-10, 6-8), which clinched the third seed in the North Division, last night, with a 67-51 win over Friends, in next week's other quarterfinal.  The youthful Crusaders are returning to the playoffs for the first time in four year and, last night, they were led by a 29 point effort from sophomore Winfield Willis.  Freshman Miles Code and sophomore Virgial Davis combined for 26 more.  St. Paul's does have one game and left and if it loses, it will fall into a tie with Boys' Latin.  However, the Crusaders won both of their meetings with the Lakes and thus own the tiebreak.

Also last night, senior Evan Williams closed out a spectacular career at Glenelg Country (16-12, 7-7) with a 27-point performance as the Dragons downed Annapolis Area Christian (8-15, 3-11), 71-58, in a rematch of last year's C Conference title game.

Both teams aquitted themselves well in their first season in the B Conference.

Mount Carmel 69, Archbishop Curley 56
Archbishop Curley: Graves 5, Jennings 4, Harris 2, Scarbath 5, Carroll 23, Franklin 3, McCray 6, Petrides 4, Kobakhice 3. Totals 19 17-29 56.
Mount Carmel: Groom 6, Wheeler 9, Small 6, Johnson 3, Macey 4, McNair 22, King 5, Franklin 6, Franks 9. Totals 24 19-31 69.
Half: Mount Carmel, 42-27.

Severn 53, St. Mary's 51
St. Mary's: Snipes 14, Groce 2, McNeil 11, Hoffman 3, Akpapunam 10, Quinn 8, Doub 2. Totals 20 7-9 51.
Severn: Testoff 5, Thurston 8, Adams 5, W. Smith 7, Montgomery 11, M. Smith 17. Totals 22 6-12 53.
Half: St. Mary's, 21-16.

St. Paul's 67, Friends 51
Friends: Prushansky 11, Mundschenk 10, D. Smith 11, Green 2, Richardson 9, Bukzukowski 6, Goldman 2. Totals 19 11-23 51.
St. Paul's: V. Davis 11, Johnson 6, Code 15, Sydnor 6, Willis 29. Totals 17 27-33 67.
Half: St. Paul's, 22-17.

Glenelg Country School 71, Annapolis Area Christian 58
Glenelg Country: Tangires 2, Gibbons 8, Schenk 12, Williams 27, Johnson 22. Totals 23 21-28 71.
Annapolis Area Christian: Scantlin 2, Parker 12, Kelley 7, Gierl 20, Hilliard 10, Lipinski 5, Okonkwo 2. Totals 25 3-7 58.
Half: Glenelg Country, 36-33.