Throughout the season, Mount Carmel boys basketball has gotten a whole lot of everything from senior point guard Rodney Scott.

In the closing minutes of the No. 1 Cougars’ rivalry game Wednesday against No. 3 St. Frances — when it was still any team’s game — Scott dug in to help make the difference.

Two of his steals turned into baskets, and a nifty assist soon followed. His handy work played a big role in eight straight points that led the Cougars to a 63-58 home win over the Panthers in front of an electric and packed gym.

Forward Gage Howard scored a game-high 16 points and played big inside, while Scott, Ralph Rudusans and Samartine Hill all scored 10 points as Mount Carmel improved to 25-4 overall, 8-2 in the Baltimore Catholic League and 11-2 in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference’s Red Division.

The satisfying team win was a strong response to Monday’s 61-52 loss at Glenelg Country, which ended a 12-game winning streak. It also showed that the Cougars learned from their 74-64 overtime loss to St. Frances on Dec. 20.

“The first time we played them, we slipped up at the end. And then in the first half tonight, we couldn’t get rebounds and loose balls — they were just outhustling us and got up on us,” Scott said. “So, in the second half, we just felt like we had to put all our energy toward the game — get those rebounds and loose balls and play together.”

Down 37-32 at the break — the Panthers connected on seven 3-pointers in the first half — the home team climbed back behind Howard’s inside play and Hill’s perimeter game in the third quarter. When Howard finished a lob feed from Rudusans with one second left in the quarter, the game went into the fourth tied at 46.

With the defensive intensity level cranked up in the fourth quarter, the Cougars finally got the necessary separation to close out the win in the final two-plus minutes.

They led 53-51 with 2:10 to play when Scott scrapped to steal the ball from Kam Lawson (team-high 14 points) as he tried to get to the basket for the Panthers.

Howard ended up converting two free throws to push the lead to 55-51. Scott thwarted the Panthers’ next possession with another steal, and Tristen Wilson scored on the other end to make it 57-51 with 1:46 left. Another defensive stop turned into two more points, with Scott finding Junior Mancho in transition to help secure the win.

“Rodney Scott is a coach on the floor and, in my opinion, he’s the best defensive player in Baltimore,” Mount Carmel coach Tony Martin said. “His ability to lead — he called a couple of key plays without me calling them — he’s a coach on the floor.”

The Panthers (22-6) had their three-game winning streak ended as they fell to 7-3 in the BCL and 8-3 in the MIAA A Red. Jasiah Cannady finished with 13 points and Terence Jones III added nine.

“It was a close game through the four quarters and we just didn’t execute the way we needed to. We just got to be more disciplined down the stretch as a whole,” St. Frances coach Nick Myles said.

Both teams return to action on Friday with home games. Mount Carmel hosts Loyola Blakefield at 5:15 p.m. and St. Frances takes on McDonogh at 7 p.m.

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