A Year of Celebration: The Classic!

Honoring five years of The Classic, 65 years of Mercy, and 80 years of Maryvale

Maryvale Preparatory School and Mercy High School will come together for an historic night of girls’ basketball as they renew their storied rivalry during A Year of Celebration on Friday. January 30 at Towson University’s SECU Arena. The festivities begin at 7:00 p.m.

This year’s matchup marks a trio of significant milestones: the five-year anniversary of The Classic, 65 years of Mercy High School, and 80 years of Maryvale Preparatory School. Together, these anniversaries spotlight decades of leadership, tradition, and excellence in girls’ education and athletics in Baltimore.

Widely regarded as the largest girls’ sporting event in Maryland, The Classic draws thousands of students, alumnae, families, and fans each year. While the name The Classic was introduced in 2022, the game’s root stretch back more than six decades. Mercy first competed in record-setting matchups at the Baltimore Civic Center beginning in 1964, later forming the famed Big Game rivalry with the Institute of Notre Dame (IND) in 1967, which remained the state’s largest girls’ athletic event for 54 years until IND closed in 2020. Today, The Classic carries that legacy forward through a spirited, respectful rivalry between the Mercy Magic and the Maryvale Lions that spans generations and multiple sports.

The record for the Mercy/Maryvale matchup is 3-1, with Maryvale winning for the first time in 2025 under Varsity Basketball Coach Telia Marks, now in her second year at the school. Mercy’s Coach George Panageotou has a long history with this matchup. Now in his fourth year as Mercy’s head coach, Panageotou took on this role after five years as an assistant coach alongside long-time Varsity Basketball Coach Mary Ella Franz Marion, a member of Mercy’s Class of 1976. Marion coached Panageotou’s wife Tricia, Mercy Class of 1995, and older daughter Lauren, Mercy Class of 2023. His younger daughter Emma, Mercy Class of 2026, will compete as the starting center in this year’s game. 

In this Year of Celebration, we honor the history of both schools while continuing to elevate girls’ athletics. The winning team will again receive the Dr. Rita Sloan Berndt Memorial Trophy, honoring the 1962 IND graduate, accomplished neuroscientist, and University of Maryland School of Medicine professor. Dr. Berndt, who passed away in 2014, played basketball at IND before the Mercy-IND rivalry began, and remains a symbol of the academic and athletic excellence this event represents.

For more information on other events leading up to the Varsity game and to purchase tickets, please click here. Fans should enter Mercy or Maryvale in the promo code field when purchasing tickets. The Classic is presented by Brightview Senior Living.

For press inquiries, please contact Heather Mork, director of communications and marketing.