o'connell basketball

Clark Helps O’Connell Sweep Season Series with PVI

By David Steinbacher
Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of 1/25/07)

In a key WCAC game on Jan. 19, Bishop O'Connell High School knocked off Paul VI Catholic 75-61 before a full house in Fairfax.
Paul VI, coached by Levi Franklin, roared to an early 19-16 first quarter lead. The Knights, coached by Joe Wootten, tied the contest at 24 early in the second quarter and took their first lead of the game when sophomore forward Dave Eismeier converted a layup with 4:24 remaining in the half.
The Panthers regained the lead until O'Connell freshman guard Kendall Marshall knocked down a three-pointer right before halftime to give the Knights a 38-37 lead.
In the third quarter, PVI took its final lead of the contest when guard Adrian Mills converted a turnaround jumper to give the Panthers a 39-38 edge. Marshall knocked down a long jumper to give the Knights a 40-39 advantage. O'Connell led for the remainder of the contest.
Junior guard Jason Clark’s layup extended O’Connell’s lead to 42-39. O'Connell junior center Frank Ben-Eze's layup gave the Knights a 48-41 lead. As the third quarter concluded, O'Connell led 54-47.
Paul VI's Donald Johnson scored the opening basket of the fourth quarter and the Panthers merely trailed 54-49. However, the Knights scored nine of the next 11 points and led 63-51 following another Clark layup with 5:48 remaining.
From that point forward, the Panthers were never closer than a 10-point deficit en route to the 75-61 outcome.
O'Connell was paced by Clark (25), Ben-Eze (18), Marshall (16), Zach Crimmins (four), Eismeier (four), sophomore point guard Doug Howard (three), Zalmico Harmon (three) and Kevin Jones (two). The Knights improved to 11-5 overall (5-3 WCAC).
Paul VI was paced by Mills (19), Westley Ford (12), Johnson (seven), Calvin Mainor (five), Kevin Ford (four), Joshua Artis (four), Donte Hill (three), Will Snow (three), Ricardo Bailey (two) and Ron Burks (two). The Panthers dropped to 12-4 overall (6-2 WCAC).
"We knew that the team that played the hardest and especially the smartest was going to win this game," said O’Connell sophomore guard Doug Howard, who added a number of key assists during the contest. Howard is the lone varsity football player also playing varsity basketball for O'Connell.
To show just how competitive the contest really was, PVI led on 38 separate junctures, while O'Connell led on 37 separate junctures. The contest was tied on six separate occasions.
O'Connell defeated the Panthers 12 days earlier in Arlington.
In the girls’ contest, Paul VI defeated O'Connell 51-36.
The Panthers, coached by Scott Allen, were led by Shavonne Duckett (10), Blair Konijzewski (10), Danae Hill (seven), Jalinda Venable (seven), Jasmine Murray (six), Briana Johnson (four), Shanna Suttington (four), Jordan Berner (two) and Erin Dye (one).
Stated sophomore forward Jasmine Murray said, "We played good team basketball tonight." The Panthers improved to 11-7 overall (6-4 WCAC).
The Knights, coached by Jimmy Brown, were led by Destiny White (eight), Ellen Bikowski (seven), Kelly Horvath (seven), Sara Jones (seven), LaToya Brown (three), Kate Culhane (two) and Meg Lagos (two). O’Connell dropped to 4-10 overall (1-8 WCAC). PVI defeated the Lady Knights 12 days earlier in Arlington.
In Bishop Ireton’s recent 57-34 non-league win versus Madeira, the Lady Cardinals (coached by Mike Hutton) were led by Joelle Daguilh (11), Rachel Martin (nine), Nadia Cathan (seven), Emily Smolak (seven), Michelle Piluso (six), Marie Donahue (five), Mariana Habib (five), Mary Kate Curry (four) and Danielle Axenfeld (three).
After a subsequent 52-43 competitive loss to McNamara, the Lady Cardinals weigh-in at 7-10 overall (1-7 WCAC).
On the boys’ side, Bishop Ireton went toe-to-toe with DeMatha for 16 minutes.
Ireton, coached by Mark Vincent, outscored the Stags 8-0 to take an 18-14 lead early in the second quarter. Cardinal senior post Mike Williams accounted for most of the eight points.
A very competitive second quarter eventually resulted in a 29-29 score seconds before halftime. DeMatha, however, knocked down the final shot of the quarter to take a 31-29 advantage into the break.
It was essentially all DeMatha in the game’s final 16 minutes, as the Stags outscored the Cardinals 50-16 en route to the 81-45 victory.
In the 10-team WCAC, Ireton will probably be relegated to one of the league's two "play-in" games in the upcoming tournament.
After a 69-47 loss to McNamara, the Cardinals have a 4-14 overall record (0-9 WCAC).
In late February, the top six teams will take off the first night of the playoffs. The 10th-seeded team will travel to the seventh-seeded team; the ninth-seeded team will travel to the eighth-seeded team.
As of this writing, DeMatha, St. John’s, Paul VI and O'Connell are firmly entrenched in the upper bracket. Ireton, Good Counsel and Carroll bring up the rear. Depending on how the season unfolds, McNamara, Gonzaga and St. Mary's Ryken are jockeying to stay out of the "play-in" scenario.
In last season’s title contest, DeMatha defeated St. John’s. O'Connell last won the WCAC title during the 2004 season.