In diocesan girls basketball, Paul VI defeated O'Connell 51-35 on Feb. 21. The game was played at PVI on "Senior Night" before a large home crowd.

With the win, Scott Allen’s team improved to 16-8 overall (9-4 WCAC). With the loss, O'Connell, coached by Jimmy Brown, dropped to 13-12 overall (4-9 WCAC).

The Lady Panthers held a 13-7 lead after the first stanza and merely led O'Connell 22-16 at halftime, but the Panthers outscored the Knights 29-19 in the second half to secure the victory.

O'Connell closed the gap to one point at the beginning of the third quarter on a three-point shot by Emily Flach and a basket by Cara O'Brien. But PVI kept its composure and scored six straight points to keep the Knights at arms length. Poor shooting from the floor and the free-throw line haunted O'Connell throughout the game and they never seriously threatened PVI's lead in the fourth quarter.

Pacing PVI was Scarlett Williams (17 points), Kendra King (12 points, 13 rebounds), Danae Hill (seven), Sara Vargas (five) and Rebecca Grimes (four).

O’Connell was led by Shannon Ambrose (10), Emily Flach (10), Chastity Clayton (six) and Darcy Fitzpatrick (three).

For the Panthers, seniors Williams, King and Vargas played their final game on the PVI home court.

"Scarlett has been playing well on both ends of the court this season. Kendra is finishing on the inside and has done a great job as a leader. Sara has done a real good job of understanding what we need to do and executing it," said Allen.

On the boys side, O'Connell, coached by Joe Wootten soundly defeated Paul VI, coached by Levi Franklin 70-53. Seniors Dave Neal (34 points) and Marcus Ginyard (14 points) paced the Knights. Neal has dominated the WCAC competition during the second half of the season as he routinely gets double-digit rebounds and points.

The "Royal Blue and Silver" improved to 23-2 overall (11-1 WCAC); the "Black and Gold" dropped to 16-8 overall (8-4 WCAC).

The Ireton boys, coached by Chuck Driesell, and the Ireton girls, coached by Mike Hutton, along with both PVI and O'Connell, will participate in the WCAC playoffs later this week at Gallaudet University. The girls’ quarterfinals are rescheduled for Feb. 25; the boys’ quarterfinals are Feb. 26. The semifinals and finals will be Feb. 26-27.