William Miller made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in front of the Mount Carmel bench as the No. 5 Cougars (25-8) beat visiting Calvert Hall, 66-63, in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference semifinal Thursday night.

The Cardinals (14-18) clawed their way back into the game with a rally in the fourth quarter.

“We were up 25 [points] and they cut the lead down,” Mount Carmel coach Hakeem Hibbert said.

Calvert Hall took a 61-60 lead with two minutes to go before the Cougars claimed it back, 63-61. The Cardinals tied the score with seven seconds left. After getting the inbound pass with seven seconds left, Jordan Jones (15 points) dribbled to midcourt and passed to Miller (11 points) in the corner for the game-winner.

The Cougars face No. 3 Mount Saint Joseph in Sunday’s championship at Harford Community College at 5:30 p.m. The Gaels (31-3) beat No. 7 McDonogh (20-10), 54-46, in the other semifinal.

Annapolis Area Christian 80, St. Mary’s 54: Kori Rawlings had a team-high 20 points and Brandon Joseph was dominant in the interior, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds, as the Eagles (19-7) defeated the visiting Saints (11-18) in a MIAA B Conference semifinal.

St. Mary’s Josh Wallace had a game-high 27 points.

AACS, winners of 10 straight, advances to its third straight championship game appearance. After a loss to Boys’ Latin two years ago and a heartbreaking defeat to St. John’s Catholic Prep last season, will the third time be the charm?

“It has definitely been an honor for us, and this feels like it will be the year,” Rawlings said. “This would be the icing on the cake for us, to go out my senior year with that win. We have a lot of momentum going in.”

—Brian Burden,

Baltimore Sun Media Group

St. Paul’s 65, Severn 57: Senior guard Michael Ward’s 3-pointer on the game’s first possession gave the host Crusaders (18-8) a lead they would not give back over the Admirals (18-10) in a MIAA B Conference semifinal.

St. Paul’s advances to the championship game on Tuesday at Gilman at 7 p.m. against Annapolis Area Christian School, which topped St. Mary’s, 80-54, in the other semifinal.

St. Paul’s built a 10-point lead by the end of the first quarter, which was cut to five points on a buzzer-beating layup.

—Nelson Coffin,

Baltimore Sun Media Group

Key School 76, Cristo Rey Jesuit 62: The Obezags (13-5) beat the Hornets (11-13) at Gilman to advance to the MIAA C Conference championship for a second straight year.

Key School led 32-20 at the half and 45-36 to start the fourth quarter.

Saints Peter & Paul 52, Beth Tfiloh 38: The host Sabres (14-9) beat the Warriors (10-12) to advance to the MIAA C Conference championship.

Milford Mill 58, Lansdowne 40: Jamal McDermott and Ugo Obasi scored 11 points each to lead a balanced attack in the Millers’ win over the Vikings (9-12) in the first round of the Class 3A North Section I playoffs.

Host Milford Mill (16-6) led 28-26 early in the third quarter when it went on a 14-0 run to put the game away.

Marcus Sessoms (13 points) and Nimrod Westcott (10) led the Vikings.

—Craig Clary,

Baltimore Sun Media Group

Girls

Milford Mill 76, Woodlawn 8: The host Millers (18-4) beat the Warriors (4-15) in the first round of the Class 3A North Section I playoffs and will host today’s Poly/Douglass winner Monday at 6 p.m.