Early barrage of 3-pointers pushes Franklin past Catonsville
Indians stay on pace to win Division II boys basketball title; Roland Park romps
By Craig Clary
Baltimore Sun Media Group
After an extended pregame ceremony for senior night at Catonsville High, it was the visiting Franklin Indians who came out with more energy at the start of Friday night’s basketball game.
The Indians (14-4) got three 3-pointers from three different players and built a 9-2 lead 90 seconds into the game.
The Comets (4-14) never got closer then six points the rest of way and the Indians cruised to a 69-40 victory.
Franklin’s Ben Murphy led all scorers with 24 points and Reggie Truitt (11) and Quinten Conwill (10) also scored for the winners.
“Knowing what is at stake for us because we knew if we win our last two division games, we are county champs in Division II,” Franklin coach Dave Iampieri said. “That’s a big deal because Franklin hasn’t been there anytime recently.”
If they beat Towson in the final division game (Feb. 19), they would play the Division I champion in the county title game.
New Town currently leads Division I.
No. 1 Boys’ Latin 60, Gilman 58: Kendall Walker made a pull-up jumper with 5.8 seconds left to lift the host Lakers (26-4, 12-1 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference) over the Greyhounds (6-16, 3-10). Cameron Spencer had 22 points for Boys’ Latin and Gilman lost its seventh straight.
No. 4 St. Frances 54, No. 14 Loyola Blakefield 44: The loss broke a five-game winning streak by the visiting Dons (17-11, 10-6 MIAA A Conference Red Division). The Panthers improved to 26-4. 12-1.
No. 6 Lake Clifton 67, Digital Harbor 23: Armon Harried scored 24 points to lead the host Lakers (16-3) past the Rams (4-8).
No. 8 Edmondson 71, Reginald F. Lewis 60: Markus Mocker scored 16 points to lead the host Red Storm (18-2) past the Falcons (4-11).
John Carroll 69, No. 9 Annapolis Area Christian 64: Tyson Commander had 36 points and Cesar Tchilombo had 10 blocks as the visiting Patriots (5-20, 3-11 MIAA A Conference Black Division) upset the Eagles (14-6, 9-5).
No. 11 Mount Saint Joseph 70, St. Vincent Pallotti 57:James Bishop scored 28 points and Wes Chairs had 14 points, including four 3-pointeres, to lead the Gaels (21-6, 14-2 MIAA A Conference Red Division) past the host Panthers (12-10, 6-5).
Severn 56, St. John’s Catholic Prep 49: AJ Burch had 18 points to lead the host Admirals (12-9, 8-3 MIAA B Conference) past the Vikings (13-9, 4-7).
St. Paul’s 59, St. Mary’s 50: Ziggy Reid had 21 points to lead the host Crusaders (17-6, 12-1 MIAA B Conference) past the Saints (5-15, 3-8).
Ben Franklin 73, Green Street 61: Tayvon Williams scored 30 points to lead the host Bayhawks (12-5) past the Chargers (9-6).
Edgewood 63, Fallston 46: Travis Dean finished with 19 points and the host Rams (5-11) held the Cougars (1-15) to 13 points in the first half.
Girls
No. 1 Roland Park 60, Institute of Notre Dame 26: The visiting Reds (24-1, 14-0 Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference) completed a perfect regular-season in league play. The Penguins (10-12, 5-8) trailed 31-12 at the half.
No. 4 South River 60, Arundel 57: Julia Fitzwater scored a game-high 22 points and a second-half comeback lifted the host Seahawks (17-2) over the Wildcats (12-7). South River used a 25-20 run in the third quarter to pull ahead. The victory marked the third straight for the Seahawks.
No. 11 Pikesville 65, Loch Raven 23: Tyra Robinson scored 20 points to lead the visiting Panthers (14-4) past the Raiders (12-4). The victory secured a spot in the Baltimore County Championship on Feb. 26 versus Western Tech, which beat Chesapeake-BC, 58-49.
Northeast 45, No. 12 Chesapeake-AA 43: The visiting Cougars (14-5) shot 8-for-29 from the free-throw line and were upset the Eagles (11-7). Corinne Castle had 15 points and 18 rebounds for Chesapeake.
Baltimore Sun staff contributes to this article.