Concordia Prep’s girls basketball team had its resilience put to the test Saturday at the Panther Classic. Down 11 at halftime, the Saints faced a 7-point deficit to host Pikesville with just two minutes left in regulation.

“We just can’t give up because anything can happen,” Concordia coach John Cooney said. “If we play good defense, it is tough to beat us. I told them at the timeout that we need to turn it up another notch and I think they did that.”

The 11th-ranked Saints did snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a 57-54 decision over the No. 13 Panthers in the finale of the five-game mixer. No. 5 Howard, New Town and St. Mary’s posted easy victories while 12th-ranked Mount Carmel rallied past No. 8 Old Mill, 44-42.

After Pikesville knocked down a 3-pointer to take a 52-45 lead late in regulation, Concordia (8-1 overall) buckled down on defense to claw back into the game. Hailee Ford helped the defense created a turnover on three straight possessions and the Saints tied the game at 52 with a minute to go when Ford fed Alira Penn for the tying score.

The Panthers missed a shot and Ford grabbed the defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the floor. She stopped at the top of the key and found an open Cori Barnes in the corner.

Barnes splashed a trifecta, giving Concordia a 55-52 edge. Pikesville (2-2) pulled within 55-54 on two free throws from Jayda Maylas, but Concordia closed out the game with a pair of foul shots from Gabby Smelcer and another stop on the defensive end.

“I was really proud of pressing [defense],” Ford said. “We usually aren’t a team that presses that much. We got into it really quick, and we didn’t give up. Our hustling, our deflections – I am really proud of our approach in that situation.”

Penn and Smelcer led the way offensively for the Saints with 12 points apiece, while Ford had all 11 of her points during the third quarter to help Concordia, which reached the IAAM B-2 Conference final last winter, overcome a 27-16 halftime deficit Saturday.

The Saints’ lone setback in the young season was a 67-62 loss at No. 6 and last season’s Class 4A state semifinalist Glen Burnie.

Freshman Mariah Jones-Bey led Pikesville with 14 points, and Maylas chipped in 13. The defending Class 1A state champ Panthers used a strong defensive effort in building the double-digit halftime advantage Saturday.

But Pikesville coach Michael Dukes felt his team was too careless with the ball in the second half and down the stretch, helping Concordia to make the comeback.

“We gave the game away,” Dukes said. “We have to be able to take the ball. We had upperclassmen not taking care of the basketball out there. Extremely disappointing. Those turnovers were unforced turnovers. There is no excuse for it. We got to be better.”

Trailing by seven points in the fourth quarter, Mount Carmel’s veterans answered the call against Old Mill in another tight Top 15 matchup. Sophomore guard Shalya Garnett converted two free throws with 9.6 seconds left in regulation for the Cougars.

The rally was authored by Madden, who finished with 14 points Saturday. The senior guard/forward was seemingly everywhere for Mount Carmel (3-2) in the final two minutes.

“She was the rock, Davis and Hawa (Doumboya) coming through making big plays when we needed it. Those are your seniors leading by example,” said Cougars coach Rob Long. “With the game on the line, they didn’t waver.”

Madden’s steal and basket pulled Mount Carmel to within 42-38 with 1:30 left in regulation. After another steal and score with 1:15 remaining, Madden got to a loose ball and the Cougars were able to get the timeout and possession with 50 seconds left.

Mount Carmel got the ball to Doumboya, a 6-foot-4 University of Maryland recruit, who dropped a short hookshot, tying the game at 42 with about 43 seconds remaining. Old Mill turned the ball over with 30.3 seconds left, but Doumboya missed two free throws with 23.3 seconds to play.

The Patriots missed a shot and Doumbouya got the rebound and sent an outlet pass to Garnett who was fouled going up for a shot. She converted both free throws.

Madden knocked away an Old Mill pass attempt, and teammate Anyla Davis secured the loose ball to complete the comeback.

“We were rushing and just needed to calm down,” said Madden, whose team trailed, 39-32, with 6 minutes left in regulation. “It’s our last season and we have to take things seriously if we want to get where we want to be.”

Jerimah. Brown and Amani Watts finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively for Old Mill (1-3), which went on a 13-0 run from late in third quarter into the first couple of minutes in the fourth to acquire a 39-32 advantage. But the Anne Arundel County stronghold went the final 6:22 of regulation without a field goal.

“I think we sped our ownselves up, we didn’t give the time to let the plays develop and didn’t protect the ball at the end,” said Patriots coach Henry Fuller, whose team’s losses have come against No. 6 Glen Burnie, seventh-ranked Mercy and No. 12 Mount Carmel. “Not taking away from what Mount Carmel did in terms of being more aggressive, but we got to slow our tempo down and play our game.”

St. Mary’s became the first area girls program to reach 10 wins with a 66-22 victory over Southern Maryland’s Great Mills. Freshman guard Bailey Harris finished with 18 points for the Saints (10-0), and Baily Walden added 13.

Nialah Mingo had the best individual performance Saturday as New Town handed Gerstell Academy its first loss, 62-37. Mingo, a junior forward, finished with 29 points for the Titans (3-2), who led 35-13 at halftime.

Nasia Hart added 14 points for New Town. Kiara Hardy had 15 points for Gerstell (5-1).

Howard ran its regular season winning streak to 47 with a 61-47 victory over Montgomery County’s Holy Cross. Samiyah Nassir posted 25 points for the Lions (6-0), and Gabby Kennerly finished with 18.

PANTHER CLASSIC

at PIKESVILLE

NO. 11 CONCORDIA PREP 57, NO. 13 PIKESVILLE 54

Concordia – Alira Penn 12, Gabby Smelcer 12, Cori Barnes 11, Hailee Ford 11, Paige Baily 6, Kaitlin Osbourn 3, Bri Taylor 2.

Pikesville – Mariah Jones-Bey 14, Jayda Males 13, Korai Bowen 9, Tykeisha Hill 7, Darielle Weems 5, Bree Taylor 5, Aliyah Taylor 1.

Concordia 10 6 20 21 - 57

Pikesville 9 18 6 21 - 54

NO. 5 HOWARD 61, HOLY CROSS 47

Holy Cross - Seymour 26, Staub 10, Finney 7, MacNamara 2, Sylvestre 2.

Howard - Nassir 25, Kennerly 18, Vetter 5, Smith 4, Watson 4, Harrison 3, Allen-Jones 2

Holy Cross 12 12 10 13 - 47

Howard 20 18 9 14 - 61

NO. 12 MOUNT CARMEL 44, N0. 8 OLD MILL 42

Old Mill - J. Brown 12, Watts 11, N. Brown 9, Furrell 6, Douglass 4.

Mount Carmel - Madden 14, Blackshear 10, Doumbouya 8, Hermann 5, Nkongolo 4, Garnett 2, Friend 1.

Old Mill 10 11 12 9 - 42

Mount Carmel 14 10 8 12 - 44

NEW TOWN 62, GERSTELL ACADEMY 37

Gerstell - Hardy 15, Williams 8, Delone 5, Gochnauer 5, Redman 2, Roberts 2.

New Town - Mingo 29, Hart 14, Mann 6, Pollard 6, Johnson 4, Dowser 2, Gillen-Bagley 2.

Gerstell 5 8 11 13 - 37

New Town 12 23 14 13 - 62

ST. MARY’S 66, GREAT MILLS 22

Great Mills - Bush 12, Adams 5, Suggs 5.

St. Mary’s - Harris 18, Walden 13, Mitchell 7, Vandiver 7, Ervin 6, Hallelfinger 6, Novak 4, Oxendine 4, Philbeck 2.

Great Mills 5 10 2 5 - 22

St. Mary’s 16 16 22 22 12 - 66