Calvert Hall deals favored St. Frances an 8-1 parting shot Top seed's ouster a first

T.C., Gaels, Dons advance

Catholic League boys

Calvert Hall finally got it right.

After three straight losses to St. Frances in the Catholic League Tournament finals, the unranked Cardinals stunned the second-ranked Panthers, 58-56, in a quarterfinal game yesterday Goucher College.

Don Bradenburg's 18-footer as time expired gave Calvert Hall (16-15) the win and a semifinal date with No. 12 Mount St. Joseph at 7: 30 p.m. tomorrow.

The Cardinals' victory was the first time in the tournament's 27-year history that an eighth-seeded team had beaten the top-seed.

With 27 seconds left, Bradenburg, a 6-foot-3 swingman, grabbed a loose ball after a missed free throw teammate Reggie Bryant, and the Cardinals called timeout with 21 seconds to go.

When play resumed, sophomore guard Jared Woodley found Bradenburg near the top of the three-point line. Bradenburg pump faked, avoiding St. Frances' Tim Payne (10 points, 11 rebounds), stepped inside the arc, and drained the game-winner.

Bryant led all scorers with 23 points for Calvert Hall. Shawn Hampton, the league's Player of the Year, scored 21 points for St. Frances (19-4), which was attempting to become the first team since Loyola 20 years ago to win four consecutive tournaments.

The Cardinals were without coach Mark Amatucci, who is serving a two-game suspension for an dispute with a Mount St. Joseph assistant coach last Sunday.

Calvert Hall trailed 56-53 with 1: 03 remaining yesterday, before Delbert Randall's basket brought the Cardinals to within one.

The Panthers turned the ball over near midcourt, and Bryant was fouled by Hampton, his fifth of the game. Bryant hit his first free throw but missed the second, and Bradenburg got the loose ball.

"We didn't get loose balls or grab key rebounds," said St. Frances coach William Wells, whose team beat Calvert Hall by 22 and 20 points during the regular season. "That's what wins basketball games. They got the second chances, and they won the game."

T.C. nips Gibbons, 57-54

Lafonte Johnson scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 6-ranked Towson Catholic outlast the long-range bombers from Cardinal Gibbons, 57-54.

Johnson made a running jumper, a three-pointer, and hit seven of eight from the line in the fourth quarter as second-seeded Towson Catholic (21-9) advanced.

Gibbons (17-16 and the tournament's seventh seed) cut the lead to one point in the final two minutes, and at the buzzer, Brandon Jones barely missed a 55-foot three-pointer that would have knotted the score.

Todd Sykes (11 points) had a big game on the boards for the Owls. He alone out-rebounded the smaller Crusaders, finishing with 17 boards as Towson Catholic held a 31-16 advantage for the game.

Thirteen of the 19 Gibbons baskets were three-pointers, and the Crusaders didn't even make a two-point basket until 4: 44 remained in the third quarter.

Jones and Gil Goodrich (18 points) combined for 45 of the team's 54 points. They also combined for all 13 of the team's three-pointers, despite the fact that the Owls played solid defense and in the fourth quarter held the ball for more than two minutes.

Loyola wins as OT ends

Adam Melchor's basket with one second left in overtime gave No. 17-ranked Loyola a 48-46 upset of Hagerstown's St. Maria Goretti (19-12), the tournament's third-seeded team.

The sixth-seeded Dons (16-15) advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year, against Towson Catholic, which won both regular-season games.

Melchor, who had 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, snatched Reggie Gray's miss under the basket and was fouled putting in the winning shot. He missed the free throw, but Goretti's last shot was way short.

"When I saw Reggie [Gray] throw the ball up and it was going to be short, I knew I had to do something," said Melchor, a 6-foot-8 senior center. "Coach [Jerry Savage] always tells me go to the baseline, get around my man, and grab the rebound. I just put it up."

St. Joe rally tops Spalding

No. 12-ranked Mount St. Joseph scored nine of the game's final 13 points, rallying for a 63-60 quarterfinal win over No. 13 Archbishop Spalding last night.

Fourth-seeded St. Joe (22-8), which will play eighth-seeded Calvert Hall in a semifinal at 7: 30 p.m. tomorrow, trailed 56-54 after Derrick Goode (20 points, 9-for-10 shooting) hit a layup for Spalding (17-17) with 3: 09 left.

But Torrey Butler (17 points) tied it with a layup, and Aaron Goode gave the Gaels the lead for good at 59-56 with a three-pointer from the right corner with 1: 30 left. Goode sliced it to one with a tip-in, but Howard Randall (13 points) made it 61-58 with a steal and a layup with 30 seconds left.

Spalding tried to tie, but it missed a pair of three-pointers.

Pub Date: 2/28/98