PVI basketball

Paul VI Girls, Boys Both Defeat St. John’s

By David Steinbacher
Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of 12/21/06)

The Paul VI Catholic High School girls are off to a spectacular start in the 2006-07 basketball campaign. PVI recently knocked off St. John’s on the road 59-51 for one of the biggest wins in Panther history.

The PVI boys continued that trend on Dec. 19 when they defeated top-ranked St. John's 59-58. Senior guard Donald Johnson led the Panthers with a career high 25 points.

"I've been here a long, long time and I don't ever remember us defeating St. John’s," said longtime PVI girls' assistant coach Tony Conques.
The Lady Panthers traveled to Northwest D.C. on Dec. 13, and trailed the Lady Cadets 27-25 at halftime. The Panthers also trailed 43-39 after the conclusion of the third quarter.
However, PVI outscored St. John’s (the sixth-ranked team in the entire metro area, according to the Washington Post) 20-8 in the fourth and decisive quarter to claim the hard-fought victory.
"We just made our shots late in the game,” said Panther Head Coach Scott Allen. “We committed 18 turnovers in the first half, but we only had six turnovers in the entire second half. In addition, we forced 24 St. John’s turnovers."
The Lady Panthers were led in scoring by sophomore forward Shavonne Duckett (17 points), freshman guard Jalinda Venable (nine), junior guard Danae Hill (eight), freshman guard Blair Konijzewski (eight), junior guard Shanna Suttington (six), senior point guard Erin Furey (five), sophomore guard Brianna Johnson (three) and sophomore forward Jasmine Murray (three).
Three days later, PVI soundly defeated the visiting Flint Hill Huskies 53-37 to improve their record to 4-1 overall.
Despite the contest being tied at nine apiece after the conclusion of the first quarter, Paul VI led 29-16 at halftime and 46-21 after the conclusion of the third quarter.
Versus the neighborhood rival Huskies from Oakton (approximately four miles from PVI), the Panthers were led in scoring by Suttington (16 points), Hill (eight), Johnson (eight), junior forward Jordan Berner (five), Koniszewski (four), Venable (four), Duckett (three), Murray (three) and Furey (two).
In addition to the aforementioned nine players, two other players round out the Panther’s roster: junior guard Erin Dye and senior forward Becca Grimes (out currently with a torn ACL).
Earlier in the season, the Panthers defeated Stone Ridge (64-22) and Elizabeth Seton (67-46). The Panther’s lone loss in the young season was to third-ranked Holy Cross, 72-57.
On the season, Duckett, Johnson and Murray are averaging six rebounds per game; Suttington and Venable are averaging four steals per game; Suttington and Venable are averaging three assists per game and Murray is averaging two blocks per game.
"We've been playing better as a team,” said Murray. “Our goal this season is to win the WCAC."
The four Panther captains are Grimes, Furey, Hill and Suttington.
"Erin (Furey) always plays very hard,” said Allen. “Her energy level on the defensive end is contagious. Danae (Hill) is a very solid player with a knack for scoring and a knack to get to the foul line. Shanna (Suttington) really puts the pedal down for this team. She gets us going both offensively and defensively."
In Allen’s previous four seasons, the Panthers claimed the VIS State Title in both the ‘02/03 and '03/04 seasons; in the '04/05 and '05/06 seasons - PVI was knocked off in the VIS semi-finals.
"I'm excited about this team. We've got very good team chemistry," he said.

PVI Boys Are on the Rise
In addition to the recent victory over St. John's, the Paul VI boys, coached by Levi Franklin, recently won the consolation championship in the prestigious Gonzaga D.C. Classic. The annual three-day tournament, involving eight teams, was played Dec. 13-15.
PVI dropped its initial game to Horizon of California 74-62. The Panthers defeated Archbishop Molloy from New York 81-71 on Dec. 14. In the fifth-place title game on Dec. 17, the Panthers defeated Fremont of California 75-67.
In that game, the Panthers were paced by Adrian Mills (30 points), Calvin Mainor (13), Ron Burks (11), Donald Johnson (10), Luc Atangana (four), Kevin Ford (four), Westley Ford (two), and Dominic Saunders (one).
The Panthers, currently ranked ninth by the Post, have a 5-1 overall record on the young season.

Clark Helps O’Connell Boys Win Optimist Tournament
The Bishop O'Connell Knights, coached by Joe Wootten, won the inaugural Arlington Optimist Tip-Off Tournament Dec. 16 with a convincing 91-55 win versus neighborhood rival Washington-Lee (coached by Bobby Dobson).
Washington-Lee led early, but O'Connell roared out to an 8-3 lead in the blink of an eye. The Knights led 14-8, 38-17 and 66-37, respectively, at the conclusion of the first three quarters.
The 12th-ranked Knights were paced by Jason Clark (23 points), Jason Burns (12), Dave Eismeier (nine), Kendall Marshall (eight), Kevin Jones (seven), Frank Ben-Eze (six), Zach Crimmins (six), Doug Howard (six), Charlie Schedler (six), Derek Baker (four) and Zalmico Harmon (four).
Clark was named tournament MVP. "Our game plan tonight was to really push the ball [offensively]," he said.
The Knights have a 5-1 record. The only loss came to 11th-ranked St. Mary’s Ryken. O’Connell is scheduled to play top-ranked St. John’s on Dec. 22.

Ireton Endures Tough Early Schedule
The Bishop Ireton Cardinals, coached by Mark Vincent (first season), have dropped their past four games after starting the season 2-1.
Ireton’s schedule has been difficult, to say the least. Within the past 10 days Ireton has dropped games to St. Benedict’s, N.J. (ranked as high as number three in America by USA TODAY), Benedictine (ranked number one by the Richmond Times), McNamara (ranked 15th by the Post) and St. John’s (ranked first).
Against St. John’s on Dec. 17, Ireton dropped a 59-39 contest to the Cadets.
The Cardinals were paced by Mike Williams (18 points), Inigo Arellano (six), Andrew Rodriguez (six), Jaz Hicks (three), Casey Sutherland (three), C.K. Kraft (two) and Tyler Dupre (one).
"Our schedule has been very difficult. In addition, we've had some guys injured. Once we get healthy, we'll be OK," said Vincent.