Baltimore Catholic League

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Baltimore Catholic League (BCL) is a basketball league for private Catholic high schools in the Baltimore area. It started in 1972 after a famous and controversial Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) championship game between Mt. St. Joseph and Dunbar. The goal was to create a separate division just for Baltimore-area Catholic schools, away from the MSA. The BCL is thought to have taken inspiration from the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC).

The league began with most of the local Catholic schools. The John Carroll School joined in 2010–11, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel joined in 2011–12. Archbishop Curley was a founding member but left in 1997. Cardinal Gibbons (which closed in 2010) has the most BCL championships, with six. Notable coaches have included O. Ray Mullis (Cardinal Gibbons), who has the most wins in Baltimore City history and the most BCL titles, as well as Mark Amatucci (Calvert Hall), Cokey Robertson (St. Maria Goretti), Pat Clatchey (Mount Saint Joseph), William Wells (St. Frances Academy), Jerry Savage (Loyola Blakefield), and Dan Popera (Archbishop Curley).

The BCL works with the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). Seven of the eight BCL teams play in the MIAA A Conference; St. Maria Goretti is the exception and does not participate in the MIAA.

After the season, the BCL runs a league tournament at Loyola College’s Reitz Arena. All eight teams take part in a single-elimination format, with four quarterfinals, two semifinals, and a championship game. The junior varsity teams also compete, with games held at the home court of the higher seed.

Since 2006–07, RC Sports Productions has broadcast a BCL Game of the Week on Fox 1370 (formerly V1370/WVIE) in Pikesville.

Many BCL players go on to NCAA Division I schools, and some reach the NBA. Notable programs connected to the league include Towson Catholic, Calvert Hall, Spalding, Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop Curley, Goretti, Mount Saint Joseph, and St. Frances.