The Bishop O'Connell boys basketball team won the Division I Virginia Independent Schools State Championship March 2 by defeating Benedictine 78-75. The game was played at Richard Bland College in Petersburg before 1,200 spectators.

Roanoke Catholic defeated Notre Dame Academy from Middleburg for the Division II title.

The Knights, coached by Joe Wootten, improved their record to 24-3 overall and are currently ranked fifth in the latest Washington Post poll. The Cadets, coached by Bruce Croxton, dropped to 24-6 overall.

O'Connell and Benedictine entered the tournament as the first and second seeds respectively.

The Knights and the Cadets kept the spectators on the edge of their seats with eight ties and seven lead changes throughout the contest. O'Connell led 31-22 and 48-44 after the first two quarters respectively.

With 2:32 remaining in the third quarter the score was deadlocked 58-58. O'Connell closed out the third with a 64-62 advantage, following a slam dunk by freshman forward Marcus Ginyard.

The Knights raced to a 68-62 fourth quarter advantage with 6:22 remaining on baskets by sophomore center Brian Johnson and sophomore forward Freddie Stanback.

Benedictine fought back with an 8-0 run and led 70-68 with 3:46 remaining. O'Connell sophomore point guard Erik Smith knocked down a three pointer to give the "Blue and Silver" a 71-70 lead with 2:49 remaining.

Benedictine converted two free throws and took their final lead of the game 72-71 (1:32). With 62 seconds remaining, Ginyard sank a 10-foot jumper and the Knights took the lead for good 73-72.

"I cut across the middle of the lane, I caught the ball and put it up," Ginyard said. "We took the lead right there, but we couldn't relax until the game was finally over."

Down the stretch, Ginyard converted two free throws and Erik Smith converted one free throw and the Knights led 76-72 with 11.5 seconds remaining.

Benedictine knocked down their 11th trey of the game (33 the Cadet's 75 points were from behind the arc), and closed the deficit to 76-75. But Smith sank two more free throws for the final margin.

Benedictine's final shot from the corner of the baseline bounced off the rim and the Knight celebration was on.

"This is a big win," said Wootten. "The guys played real well and it's definitely another banner we can hang from the top of our gym."

O'Connell's Johnson was selected tournament MVP. Senior shooting guard Ahmad Smith and Erik Smith were chosen to the all-tournament team.

"We really stepped things up today, especially defensively," said Johnson, who had 16 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks, two assists and even two steals in the championship game.

"Coach told us to crank up the intensity in the second half, and that's what we did," said Ahmad Smith. "It feels real good to win the state title."

Stanback added 19 points and four rebounds. Erik Smith added 14 points and three assists. Ginyard added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists.

"We played man defense the entire way," Wootten said. "Their team can flat out shoot the ball. Fortunately they missed a few shots toward the end. Erik did a real good job running the offense. Brian did an outstanding job defensively. This is a real well-balanced team effort by all of our guys."

The state championship was O'Connell's first since 1994. The Knights defeated Woodberry Forest and Blue Ridge School in the quarterfinals and semi-finals respectively.

O'Connell's season is not over yet. The Knights will compete in the prestigious Alhambra Tournament at Frostburg State in mid-March.

Benedictine knocked Paul VI High School out of the state tournament in the semi-final round 76-73. For the season, PVI finished with 21 wins and 12 losses, including a 7-9 record in conference play.

In the state tournament, PVI knocked off Episcopal (Alexandria) in the preliminary round (12 teams started the tournament) and Cape Henry in the quarterfinals.

With the loss to Benedictine, seven Panther seniors concluded their careers: Markel Craft, Kenny Greene, Tom Hayes, Charles Musindu, Rory O'Neil, Mike Sheridan and Antonio Webb.

"The season was quite a success," said forward Nick Grant. "We defeated DeMatha at their place in mid-December. We knocked off Gonzaga in the WCAC tournament quarterfinals. We accomplished a lot more than a lot of people thought we would have."

The Ireton Cardinals struggled this season, finishing with an overall record of 4-26. One of the Cardinal wins was against cross-town rival St. Stephens/St. Agnes.

"The kids played hard with a lot of heart and with a lot of character," said head coach Pete Hamer. "The WCAC is a very difficult league."

Four Ireton seniors played high school basketball for the final time: Nick Continetti, Rob Handlon, Steve Begg and Andrew Brant.