St. Mary’s will join historic Baltimore Catholic League for basketball as associate member

Baltimore Catholic League Commissioner Jack Degele calls it the “perfect fit.”

The BCL, which hosts the longest-running postseason basketball tournament in Maryland, announced April 18 that St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis would join the league for the 2024-25 season as an associate member.

The Saints, five-time champions of the Maryland Independent Athletic Association B Conference (2003, 2007, 2009, 2022, 2023), will participate in the 2025 Baltimore Catholic League tournament as the No. 8 seed. 

“We are excited about the addition,” Degele said. “It really makes things a lot easier when we have a full eight teams for the tournament, and we think St. Mary’s expands our regional footprint.

“St. Mary’s brings a tradition of Catholic school excellence in the classrooms and on the basketball court,” he said. “We are impressed with the school’s growth and success in recent years, and behind the strong commitment of the school administration and athletic department, the basketball program under Trey Quinn has made great strides forward.”

Degele noted that St. Mary’s has already moved up to the A Conference for football and said the school plans to apply to move up to the A Conference in basketball when the league starts its next two-year realignment cycle after this season.

“We like the school’s approach to athletics, and think they will be a natural geographical rival for Archbishop Spalding,” he said. 

The BCL said in a media release that it is the ninth time it has invited a school outside of the league to participate in the BCL Tournament. St. Mary’s joins John Carroll (1974), Archbishop Spalding (1977, 1978, 1997), St. Maria Goretti (1983, 1984), Archbishop Curley (1994) and Mount Carmel (2011) as programs to join as associates. John Carroll, Archbishop Spalding, St. Maria Goretti and Mount Carmel eventually all became full BCL members, while Archbishop Curley was a former league member that played in the tournament the year after withdrawing from the BCL.

“Accepting the invitation from the Baltimore Catholic League to become an associate member of the league is a tremendous positive step for St. Mary’s, as an institution and as an athletic program,” said St. Mary’s school president Andrew Moore in a statement released by the BCL. “As a school that is on the rise in so many ways, being associated with the premier high school basketball conference in the nation comes at the perfect time for us here in Annapolis.”

For the 2024-25 regular season, St. Mary’s will continue to compete in the MIAA B Conference. Seven schools (Archbishop Spalding, Calvert Hall, John Carroll, Loyola Blakefield, Mount Carmel, Mount St. Joseph and St. Frances) will comprise the BCL for its 54th season of play in 2024-25, as the league will play its traditional double round-robin schedule. The BCL was reduced to seven full members with the upcoming closure of St. Maria Goretti in Hagerstown after 70 years of operation and 40 seasons in the BCL.

The Saints bring a strong basketball resume to the league. St. Mary’s graduate Trey Quinn has coached the Saints to a 98-82 overall record in the past seven seasons, including a 51-1 mark in MIAA B Conference games.

Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org

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