Hitting the accelerator with a heavy foot, No. 4 St. Vincent Pallotti rocketed to a big first-half lead to overwhelm 13th-ranked Mount Carmel, 67-42, Friday night in Essex.

With a talented starting five that was more than backed by a deep and equally effective bench, Pallotti was impressive in its first match of the new year. The Laurel private school placed fifth at the Boo Williams Christmas Classic in Virginia last week.

“We were very intentional about putting this team together to make sure we have some depth,” said Joiner, whose squad improved to 10-4 overall, 2-1 in the IAAM A. “We like to run a fast-paced game and pressure defense, so we know we need fresh legs. We challenge each other in practice to make each other better, so when we go to the bench, we don’t have much of a drop off.”

All of that was on display Friday in Essex as Pallotti’s hawkish full-court, man-to-man defense harassed the Cougars (3-5, 1-2 IAAM A) into 18 first half turnovers while limiting the hosts to just 15 points in the opening 12 minutes of action to forge a 36-15 halftime advantage

The Panthers did so despite some early foul trouble with substitutes Jade Adeyemi, Autumn Edison, and Savannah Whitley, among others, continuing that disruptive defensive pressure.

“I think getting into the flow of our defense got us our lead,” said Pallotti junior Camryn Jones-Howard, a slick junior wing who nine of her 15 points in the first quarter to stake the Panthers to a 20-6 lead. “I think we put a lot of ball pressure on. We’re very aggressive, especially on ball pressure. We have a lot of handsy guards, so I think that helps us a lot.”

Pallotti’s defense not only stifled Mount Carmel’s offense, which was also plagued by numerous point-blank misses, but it produced points for the Panthers, who routinely turned steals and defensive rebounds into a flurry of close-range baskets in transition.

Arianna Harris-Mott, a 6-foot-4 freshman totaled 19 points, 13 of which came after the intermission to help blunt Mount Carmel’s frantic attempt to claw back into the game. Harris-Mott also pulled down 13 rebounds.

The way Harris-Mott is becoming more comfortable in the paint is encouraging. She had a 34-point, 13 rebound, 6 block effort last week at Boo Williams.

“She’s a hard worker,” Joiner said. “We knew it would take her some time to adjust to the speed of the game. And she’s getting used to the physicality of the game, too.”

Harris-Mott said that her height advantage over Mount Carmel, which was missing 6-foot-5 University of Maryland-bound post Hawa Doumboya, gave her an opportunity to have a big game on the boards.

“Rebounds are crucial to my game,” Harris-Mott said. “I’ve been working on my footwork a lot.”

Ten players scored Friday for Pallotti.

“I mean that’s our identity,” Joiner said. “I tell my girls all of the time if we play defense the way that we know how to play defense, then most of the time we’ll be successful. We like for our defense to generate our offense.

All in all, though, it was the Panthers’ early getaway that had the Cougars reeling.

By the time Mount Carmel recovered from Pallotti’s opening roundhouse it was facing a 22-6 deficit.

The Cougars played a much stronger second half and whittled a 21-point deficit to 14 points at 49-35 with 5 minutes, 20 seconds left in the game before Pallotti closed the contest on an 18-7 run to quell any hopes for comeback.

“If we played the first half like we play the second half, it would have been a different ballgame, at least a closer ballgame,” said Cougars coach Rob Long, whose squad captured the IAAM B1 title a year ago. “Like I told my AD at one point, eventually we’ll get the hang of the A Conference thing at some point this season. The pace is quicker; it’s a different game, but we’ll get there.”

Long acknowledged it took his team a while to adjust to Pallotti’s quickness.

“We had to learn to keep up with their speed and tempo,” said Long. “We can keep up with them — we just weren’t ready for that speed tonight.”

Once his fourth-year starting point guard, Anylah Davis, began to get untracked in the second half, the Cougars narrowed a 26-point deficit to 14 points with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter.

Davis, who Long and Mount Carmel athletic director Alex Brylske both called “irreplaceable,” was her old resourceful self in the final 16 minutes of the game, pouring in 15 of her team-high 16 points during that span while threading the needle on a couple of fast-break assists as well.

“One of the best point guards in Baltimore,” said Long of Davis. “She’s a secret for some reason. She’s unbelievable. She’s started every game of her career. She’ll make someone a good college point guard.”

Shayla Garnett and Victoria Nkongolo, who was saddled with foul trouble for much of the contest, chipped in eight and seven points, respectively, for Mount Carmel.

After bowing to No. 1 McDonogh, 60-41, last month, Joiner said the Panthers have regrouped.

“We took that loss to heart,” she said. “We’ve picked up our intensity and ramped up expectations.”

NO. 4 ST. VINCENT PALLOTTI 67, NO. 13 MOUNT CARMEL 42

Pallotti - Arianna Harris-Mott 19, Camryn Jones-Howard 15, Gabrielle Clary 7, Mary Amoateng 6, Savannah Whitley 6, Sydney Anthony 4, Nia Grymes 3, Marley Helton 3, Amber Perry 2, Autumn Edison 2. Totals 23 15-23 67.

Mount Carmel - Anylah Davis 16, Shayla Garnett 8, Victoria Nkongolo 7, Mya Blackshear 5, Mikayla Friends 4, Dania Madden 2. Totals 13 14-25 42.

Pallotti 20 16 13 18 — 67

Mount Carmel 6 9 13 14 — 42