Archbishop Curley upends St. Vincent Pallotti on Senior Night

VIDEO GALLERY

Sophomore guard Daxter Miles and his Archbishop Curley basketball team was still angry over a loss to last-place Boys’ Latin on Friday.

The Friars took their frustrations out on the host Panthers, jumping out to a double-digit lead then hanging on for a close 52-49 victory in MIAA B Conference action on Monday evening.

“This was most definitely a big win because we’re coming off a loss against Boys’ Latin, which we should have won and this was another statement game.  We’re back in a rhythm.”

Miles led all scorers with 22 points, while Ben Huff added 10.  Trent McCallum and Niall Harrison each added seven points for Curley (8-17 overall, 7-9 league).

Junior Langston Burnett led Pallotti (12-12, 8-8) with 13 points and seniors Sebastian Opon and Aubrey Williams each added 11.  Kewsi Lilliard was a spark off the bench with seven points, including a put-back slam off the glass that got the crowd excited.

The Panthers, celebrating Senior Night, trailed 27-18 at halftime and after a two foul shots and a bucket by Huff, saw their deficit grow to 35-23 with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter.

Harrison accounted for a put-back that led to an and-one and Miles drove to the basket to push the Friars’ lead to a game-high 16 points, 40-24, before Pallotti’s Wes Richardson ended the quarter with a three-pointer.

In front of a raucous home crowd, the Panthers began their comeback attempt.  The Laurel school scored the first five points of the final quarter and got to within seven points after Burnett hit both ends of a one-and-one.

But Pallotti wasn’t done there.  A drive to the rim and slam by Opon got the Panthers to within 50-47 with 32 seconds left.  Pallotti had a chance to cut it to one point after getting a steal off the inbounds but missed a layup.

With 6.2 seconds left, Williams got inside to cut what was once a 16-point deficit to just two points.  But Curley drew up the perfect inbounds scenario that sent Harrison racing down the court and receiving the outlet pass behind the defense, forcing Pallotti to foul.

Harrison hit 1-of-2 to put the Friars ahead 52-49 with just two seconds left to play.  The Panthers’ desperation three missed and their attempt at a Senior Night comeback fell just short.

“Personally, I thought that all of us started playing soft after we got the lead,” said Miles. “We just had to let each other know that we had each other’s back; we came together and played hard.”

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