Baltimore Catholic League

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The Baltimore Catholic League (BCL) is a competitive basketball association comprised of private Catholic high schools in the Baltimore, Maryland geographic area. The league includes schools from towns as distant as Hagerstown and Severn.

Contents

[edit] History

The BCL was founded in 1972, after the Baltimore high school basketball season culminated with Mt. St. Joseph High School defeated Dunbar High School in the MSA Championship game. This game is known as one of the most remarkable and controversial games in Baltimore high school basketball history. The impetus for the creation of the BCL arrived in the off-season. The goal was to make a separate division from the MSA, which is the league for all high school athletics in the Baltimore area, public or private. The BCL created a division that was strictly for Baltimore area Catholic High Schools.

It is alleged that the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) was the model for the BCL. The BCL was originally comprised of most of the schools in the list below; with the most recent addition being Archbishop Spalding in 1997-98. At different times during the league's history, Archbishop Curley High School has been a member. The league has produced plenty of star players, most notably Carmelo Anthony, who played for Towson Catholic, and Rudy Gay, who played for Archbishop Spalding.

The Cardinal Gibbons School has the most BCL championships to date. The late O. Ray Mullis, head coach at Cardinal Gibbons, has the most all-time wins of any coach in Baltimore City history (621 wins) while simultaneously claiming the most BCL championships. Other notable coaches in the league include Mark Amatucci of Calvert Hall College , who won a national championship in the early 80s; Cokey Robertson, of St. Maria Goretti High School, and Jerry Savage, formerly of Loyola Blakefield.

[edit] Notes

  • The reigning BCL regular season and tournament champion is Mount Saint Joseph High School, coached by Pat Clatchey.
  • There are three All-League teams: the 1st Team, 2nd Team, and 3rd Team All-BCL.
  • Beginning in 2006, the league will require all potential new members to be part of the MIAA "A" Conference for at least two years before applying for BCL membership.

[edit] Scheduling

The league works in cooperation with the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). Seven of the 8 teams participate in the MIAA A Conference, which results in each team playing each other twice, once home and once away. St. Maria Goretti is the only member of the BCL that does not participate in the MIAA; however, two schools participate in the MIAA 'A' conference, but do not participate in the BCL: McDonogh School and St. John's Catholic Prep.

After the conclusion of the season, the BCL sponsors a league tournament held at Loyola College's Reitz Arena. The event usually occurs after the MIAA Conference Championship with all 8 teams of the league participating. It is a single-elimination tournament with 4 quarterfinal matchups, 2 semi-final games, and a championship game. The Junior Varsity (JV) teams also play in the tournament; however, it is not played at Loyola College. Each game of the JV touranment is held at the home of the higher seed.

[edit] Participating Schools


[edit] Notable BCL Alumni

Listed below are former BCL players who later joined the NCAA or NBA.


Towson Catholic Owls:

Calvert Hall Cardinals:

Spalding Cavaliers:

Gibbons Crusaders:

St. Frances Panthers:

  • Mark Karcher '97: NCAA Temple Owls
  • Darnell Harris '04: NCAA LaSalle Explorers

Loyola Dons:

  • Chris Clunie '02: NCAA Davidson Wildcats
  • Essien Ford '03: NCAA DIII Widener Aggies
  • Pat O'Connell '06: NCAA DIII Johns Hopkins Blue Jays

Goretti Gaels

Mount Saint Joseph Gaels:

[edit] External links

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