— CUMBERLAND — St. Frances Academy, the No. 1 team in the Baltimore, opened the 16th Annual Bishop Walsh Girls Invitational with a 90-19 win over host Bishop Walsh Thursday at Bishop Walsh School.
Senior Deanna Harmon scored 17 points and added seven steals and five assists. Harmon has committed to play for Delaware State. Rutgers bound Briana Hutchen also had 17 points with nine rebounds, seven steals and four assists. Chelsea Dukes contributed 13 points for the Panthers.
Bishop Walsh got 10 points from Abbie Mathews, and five points and four rebounds from Ashley Turnbull.
St. Frances (23-3) will play Seton Keough today at 5:45 in the championship semifinals. Bishop Walsh (5-18) plays Elizabeth Seton today at 2:45.
Seton Keough 40
Elizabeth Seton 36
Defending champion Seton Keough picked up where it left up last year by getting a first round win over Elizabeth Seton.
Achiri Ade used her 6-foot frame to score 16 points and grab 15 boards in the win. Amber Singletary gave the Gators 11 points and five rebounds.
The Roadrunners, Washington Catholic Athletic Conference champs, suffered through cold shooting and got only eight points from Tyaunna Marshall, who is headed to Georgia Tech. She did add seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Julia Weatherly gave her team seven points and six rebounds.
Seton Keough will play St. Frances today at 5:45 in the semifinals, while Elizabeth Seton (22-7) plays Bishop Walsh at 2:45.
Arch. Spalding 61
St. John’s 45
The No. 2 team in Baltimore also collected a win on its first day of tournament play when Archbishop Spalding took it to a worn down St. John’s squad.
The Cavaliers were led by sophomore guard Raven Makins with 16 points, and Shaquilla Curtis finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in the victory. Sherae Swanson added 10 points and nine rebounds, and freshman Camille Calhoun provided 10 points and five rebounds.
Fresh off the WCAC playoffs, weary St. John’s was led in scoring by Mariah Jones with a game-high 20 points. Nicola Zimmer (committed to Dartmouth) finished with 13 points, five assists and three steals.
Spalding (22-5) will play Bishop McNamara tonight at 7:30 while St. John’s (23-7) plays in the consolation bracket at 4:15 against Springside School.
Bishop McNamara 48
Springside School 20
In Thursday’s final game, McNamara became the only WCAC school to pickup a win in the BWGIT opening round when it beat Springside.
The Mustangs held a 14-point, 27-13 lead, at halftime and increased that to 36-17 by the end of the third. Taylor Brown scored 14 points and added six steals, five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Sharyce Warren came away with eight points, five steals and four rebounds.
Springside sophomore Sydni Epps had 12 points, six rebounds and four steals.
NcNamara (19-8) plays Archbishop Spalding at 7:30. Springside plays at 4:15 today against St. John’s.
