The 55th Baltimore Catholic League Tournament, presented by Brooks Financial Group, will tip off March 1, featuring some of the best high school basketball talent in the nation. The Baltimore Catholic League Tournament is the longest-running boys postseason tournament in the state.
The eight-member field includes Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, The John Carroll School in Bel Air, Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Essex, Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington, St. Frances Academy in Baltimore and St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis.
Over the years, the Baltimore Catholic League has produced 13 McDonald’s All-Americans, 12 Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year Winners and eight NBA first-round draft choices.
Here are a few highlights of what’s in store:
What is the schedule and where will the games be played?
The games will be played over three days, beginning Sunday, March 1, at Loyola University Maryland’s Reitz Arena. Loyola’s Baltimore campus will host the entire tournament, beginning with quarterfinal matchups March 1 (1 p.m., 2:45 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.), followed by the semifinals March 2 (6 and 8 p.m.) and the championship March 4 (8 p.m.)
The junior varsity championship also will be featured March 4 at 6 p.m.
Reitz Arena will host the tournament for the second straight year. The facility welcomes the tournament for a record 22nd time in BCLT history (1986-94, 2005-11, 2013, 2019-20, 2022, 2025 and 2026). BCL-record totals of 90 BCLT games and 21 championship games have been played in Reitz Arena to date.
What are Sunday’s first-round matchups?
No. 8 Loyola vs. No. 1 St. Frances 1 p.m.
No. 7 St. Mary’s vs. No. 2 Mount Carmel 2:45 p.m.
No. 6 Calvert Hall vs. No. 3 Mount St. Joseph 4:30 p.m.
No. 5 Archbishop Spalding vs. No. 4 John Carroll 6:15 p.m.
Who are the top players to watch?
Mount St. Joseph senior guard B.J. Ranson, who is committed to St. Joseph University in Philadelphia, earned the BCL’s Jerry Savage Player of the Year award, and earned BCL first-team honors for the second straight year. Through the regular season, he averaged 22.7, 6.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
St. Frances put two players on the BCL’s first team – junior guard Terence Jones III and senior guard Carter Fish. In addition, senior guard Anthony Smith earned the league’s defensive player of the year award.
John Carrol senior forward Aidan Able and Mount Carmel senior forward Tristen Wilson rounded out the BCL’s first team honorees.
The BCL second team included Archbishop Spalding sophomore Nash Avery, Calvert Hall junior Cameron Wood, John Carroll senior Andrew Clark, Mount Carmel senior Gage Howard and Mount St. Joseph sophomore Chauncey Word.
The BCL’s honorable mention team includes: Junior Mancho, Mount Carmel; Moe Lonergan, Archbishop Spalding; Parris Lee, John Carroll; Kaleb Haysbert and Colin Clevenger, Loyola; Anthony Smith, St. Frances; Ellis Johnson, Calvert Hall; Noah Cerny and Gavin Johnson, St. Mary’s; Aaron Early Jr., Mount St. Joseph.
Who are the teams to beat?
Top-seeded St. Frances sports a 33-7 record, winning the BCL regular-season title. The Panthers made it to the title game in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association “A” Conference, where they lost to defending champion Mount Carmel, 59-57, in overtime Feb. 24. The Panthers rode a three-game winning streak into the postseason and won eight of their last nine regular-season games.
The Panthers, who went 10-2 in the BCL, are ranked No. 1 in the Baltimore Sun’s metro-area poll and No. 1 in the state by Sports Illustrated.
Second-seeded Mount Carmel, which won its second straight MIAA “A” title, is the defending BCL tournament champion. The Cougars, No. 2 in The Sun poll, sport a 28-10 record and have won six straight after a rough stretch in late January and early February.
Third-seeded Mount St. Joseph carries a 30-6 record into the BCL tournament, but was swept in all three games by St. Frances this season. However, the Gaels might have been one of the hottest teams in the league at the close of the season, winning 12 straight games before an 83-62 loss to St. Frances in the MIAA semifinals Feb. 19.
Fourth-seeded John Carroll has a 20-9 record and owns a Feb. 10 victory over St. Frances. The Patriots, however, lost back-to-back games to Glenelg County School in MIAA play.
Fifth-seeded Archbishop Spalding is 19-13 and had a late-season eight-game win streak stopped by St. Frances, 66-63, Feb. 12.
This season, the BCL’s non-conference record was 103-52 (.665) against non-BCL foes.
How can tickets be purchased?
Tickets for each day of the 2026 BCL Tournament ($15 for adults 19 and over, $5 for children age 6 through high school, free for children 5 and under) are on sale now through bclbasketball.com.
For more details on Baltimore Catholic League Basketball, visit BCLBasketball.com, where Chris Pika maintains a terrific site.
Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@catholicreview.org
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