Tis the season for holiday hoops

by Nelson Coffin

Calvert Hall made a statement in the opening round of the Josh Palmer Fund Classic in Elmira, N.Y., defeating New Rochelle (NY), 68-38, on Monday. It was the Cardinals third consecutive win as they improved to 10-7 this season.

Cameron Wood had a massive double-double, scoring 34 points and collecting 10 rebounds in the victory and Billy Stanfield III added 16 points.

In Tuesday's championship game, Calvert Hall will face St. Andrew's Episcopal which routed St. Mary's, 72-46. Chisom Eze led the Saints with 16 points and Noah Cerny added 11. St. Mary's will play New Rochelle in the third-place consolation game, also on Tuesday.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel and John Carroll have also made hay during the holidays.

After decking  B Conference Black Division-leading Concordia Prep to begin the week, the defending A Conference champion Cougars handled Unicoi County, 75-37, at The Classic at Tennessee High in Bristol, Tenn. by outscoring the Blue Devils, 41-13, in the second half.

Tristen Wilson led all scorers with 23 points (9-of-10 from the field, 5-of-6 free throws) and added five steals, four assists and three rebounds in a stat-stuffing spree for a team that made nearly 60 percent of its field goal attempts, forced 19 turnovers and boasted a 27-16 rebounding edge.

Gage Howard chipped in 15 points and Ralfs Rudusans produced nine for Mount Carmel, which had an even more impressive win on Monday with a 59-50 verdict over two-time defending North Carolina 4A state champion North Mecklenburg in a quarterfinal.    

The Cougars (15-1), who remain atop the Black Division with a 6-0 mark, including solid decision over current division runners-up St. Vincent Pallotti (9-4, 3-2 league) and Glenelg Country School (4-3,3-3), have a much-anticipated showdown with Red Division co-leader John Carroll (11-2, 4-0) in Essex on Jan. 5.

The Patriots, who toppled Episcopal (Va.), 82-60, in the semifinal round of the Bullis Holiday Classic in Potomac behind senior Aiden Able’s 30-point outburst, took down the home team, 62-53, to claim the championship.

St Frances’ nine-game winning streak was halted by Whitehaven (Tenn.) at the 901 Tournament of Champions in Memphis to drop to 9-2 overall while maintaining a perfect 4-0 mark in league play.

In addition, Mount St. Joseph defeated host Benedictine Prep (Va.), 75-49, in the third-place consolation game at the Benedictine Capital Classic in Richmond, while Archbishop Spalding suffered a 55-53 loss to Dutchtown (Ga.) in the quarterfinals of the Arby's Classic in Virginia.