Basketball: Cardinals Fall in Overtime

Denzel Richardson narrowly missed a potential-game tying 3-pointer at the buzzer as Calvert Hall fell to McDonogh, 52-49, in overtime on Tuesday night.

The loss was the Cardinals' third in a row after starting the season 3-2.

"I thought we battled," Calvert Hall coach John Bauersfeld said. "We just need to cut down on some untimely turnovers and we missed way too many free throws. That was huge."

The Cardinals were just 8-of-19 from the free-throw line, including 1-of-3 in overtime.

Calvert Hall also missed all three of its shot attempts in the extra period, allowing the Eagles to come away with the win despite only scoring four points after the game was tied 48-48 at the end of regulation.

"We have to capitalize more on the offensive end," Cardinals guard Julian Davis said. "Our effort was great defensively, but we've got some things we need to work on on offense. It was a tough loss."

Davis led Calvert Hall with 16 points. Justin Beck added 12, including a game-tying three-point play with 49 seconds left in the fourth quarter, scoring on a tough driving layup despite getting fouled and then converting the ensuing free throw.

Denzel Richardson's steal gave the Cardinals the ball back just 10 seconds later, but Beck missed an attempted tip-in at the buzzer after Will Johnson missed on a mid-range jump shot from just beyond the free-throw line.

Richardson also had 14 points.

The game was tied 21-21 at halftime.

6-foot-5 forward Kayel Locke, who led McDonogh with 18.5 points per game last season, had a team-high 24 points for the Eagles. The talented junior connected on nine of his 10 shot attempts, including each of his final six.

His layup on McDonogh's first possession of overtime gave the Eagles a 50-48 advantage.

"I was really pleased with the effort all the way across the board," Bauersfeld said. "But we just need to execute better. With an inexperienced team, that's always going to be an issue. But we played hard and that's a step forward for us."

Calvert Hall will look to take another step forward Friday at La Salle (PA), the defending PIAA District XII Champions.

"Our mindset is just that we need to work hard in practice everyday and play together," Davis said. "This gives us even more motivation to try and learn from our mistakes and progress even more. And we're going to get better. We're going to be OK."