Mount Carmel tops St. Frances, wins the school's first MIAA A basketball championship

by Derek Toney

Tears flowed down Rodney Scott’s face as he walked off the court at UMBC’s Chesapeake Employees Insurance Arena Saturday evening. 

They were tears of overwhelming joy and unimaginable pain for the Our Lady of Mount Carmel guard.

The Cougars won the MIAA A Conference championship with a 55-50 decision over St. Frances Academy. Junior forward Ralph Rudusans finished with 17 points and Junior Mancho added 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Mount Carmel. 

The Cougars (31-4 overall) withstood a late Panthers charge to claim their first A Conference crown. The Essex school lost in the 2022 and 2015 title games.

The Cougars joined the A Conference from the B in the 2011-12 season. Mount Carmel won three championships (two B and one C) over a five-season span in the mid-2000s.

Cougars coach Tony Martin dedicated the win to former Mount Carmel president Larry Callahan, who retired at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Callahan hired Martin in 2023 to succeed Trevor Quinn, who moved into an administrative position.

“So many people have mentioned to me how important it is for him (Callahan) to see us win an A Conference championship or a BCL championship,” Martin said. “He had tears in his eyes and couldn’t even come into the locker room. So it means a lot to the school and community.”

Scott said the Cougars’ breakthrough Saturday was a collective effort.

“At the end of the game, Tristen (Wilson), Junior, Mario (Tatum), Gage (Howard), everybody kept playing hard,” said Scott. “It wasn’t my night, it was everybody else’s night.”

Scott scored three points Saturday, but contributed seven assists, two steals and five rebounds. The 5-foot-8 veteran snatched a long rebound from St. Frances’ 6-7 Camren Fleming, leading to a Wilson free throw with 16.9 seconds left in regulation for the game’s final margin.

“If heart had a height, he’d be a 7-footer,” said Martin. “I want the ball in his hands…this means more to him than anybody else in that room.”

Scott was a freshman on the Cougars’ 2022 squad that lost to Mount St. Joseph in the MIAA A final. He played alongside Deon Perry (Fairfield) and Andrew Dixon in the Mount Carmel backcourt during the past three seasons. 

Last spring, Scott's father died.

“I’ve just been through a lot the past year…I just had to do it for him,” said Scott. “Playing behind Deon and Drew these past years I just learned I got to keep playing forward no matter what.”

The Cougars kept their resolve Saturday against St. Frances, whom they split with during the regular season. Mount Carmel led 52-42 with 3:18 left in the game after a jumper from Rudusans, who was the game’s Most Valuable Player.

The Panthers stormed back, scoring eight straight points including a pair of three-pointers from Terence Jones, to close to 52-50 with 64 seconds left in regulation. Senior guard Mario Tatum converted two free throws with 35.8 seconds, giving Mount Carmel a 54-50 advantage.

Kamauri Lawson missed a three-pointer from the corner for St. Frances. Fleming tried to get the ball with his outstretched hand, but Scott got the ball. 

Rudusans, a methodical yet effective 6-6 forward from Latvia, knew the Cougars would find a way. 

“These are my guys. I practice every day with them. I believe in them with all my heart and I think the most important thing is just to fight together — that’s it,” Rudusans said. 

Junior guard Josiah Cannady had a game-high 18 points with four assists and Trent Egbiremolen added 14 for the Panthers (28-7), who rallied in regulation and overtime to eliminate Glenelg Country School in Thursday’s semifinals. 

St. Frances was unable to overcome a 11-point fourth deficit Saturday, thanks in part to 16 turnovers.

“We were low on energy and I don’t know why,” coach Nick Myles said. “I got to blame myself — we just didn’t play hard enough. I think the teams are even…we didn’t act like we wanted it until six minutes left in the fourth quarter.”

The postseason stage moves to Loyola University’s Reitz Arena and the 54th Baltimore Catholic League Tournament. St. Frances, the defending champs, play Calvert Hall College, which went winless in BCL play, in a quarterfinal match Friday. 

Thursday, Mount Carmel, the No. 1 seed, will play St. Mary’s, which became an associate member of the BCL after the closing of St. Maria Goretti last school year.

Mount Carmel has yet to reach a BCL Tournament final. 

“For teams to reach this point they have to be a team, not talent,” said Martin, who became the first coach to guide three different schools to a MIAA basketball title (won two A titles with John Carroll and a B title with Archbishop Spalding). “In the middle of the season, they sat down and talked it out as young men and came to the conclusion they all had to sacrifice and buy in.”