basketball

PVI Loses to DeMatha in WCAC Playoffs

By David Steinbacher
Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of 3/1/07)

All six diocesan high school basketball teams exited the WCAC playoffs somewhat earlier than they would have preferred.
On the boys’ side, fifth-seed Paul VI Catholic defeated fourth-seeded Bishop McNamara 59-49 in overtime in the WCAC quarterfinals Feb. 24 at Gallaudet. The Mustangs, coached by Marty Keithline, led 11-4 after the first quarter and 19-10 at intermission.
PVI, coached by Levi Franklin, outscored McNamara 21-13 in the third quarter to trail 32-31. The Panthers scored 13 fourth quarter points; the Mustangs put up 12 fourth quarter points and the contest headed to overtime deadlocked 44-44.
"At halftime I told the guys to just forget the first half,” said Franklin. “The great thing about the game of basketball is that there is always a second half."
PVI didn't mess around in overtime. The Panthers controlled the "tip" courtesy of junior Westley Ford. Senior Donald Johnson scored via a lay-up and the Panthers led 46-44. From that point forward, PVI outscored the Mustangs 15-5 in the extra period.
"Our kids responded in the second half and in the overtime,” said Franklin. “We worked the ball inside. We executed and we made shots."
Following the victory, PVI’s Adrian Mills said, “We came out and played with energy and we executed our plays."
PVI was paced by Johnson (16), Burks (15), Mills (13), Mainor (six), Westley Ford (five), junior Luc Atangana (three) and Kevin Ford (one).
The Panthers advanced to the semifinals on Feb. 26 at American University where they fell to DeMatha 71-46. Paul VI tied the contest early on at 4-4, following buckets by Burks and Ford. The Stags, coached by Mike Jones, ran off 10 consecutive points and took a 14-4 lead. The suspense was largely out of the contest thereafter.
The Stags led 51-29 at the conclusion of the third quarter en route to the 25-point victory. On the season, DeMatha defeated PVI three times and O'Connell and Ireton twice each.
The Panthers were paced by Burks (15 points). Mainor, Ford, Johnson and Luc Atangana all had six points.
"DeMatha just came out with a whole lot of energy,” said Burks.
"You will never ever see a Levi Franklin-coached team quit or stop playing hard," said DeMatha’s Jones.

DeMatha went on to defeat St. John's in the title game Feb. 28 at Gallaudet to capture its third consecutive WCAC championship.
The Panthers received an opening round "bye" in the Virginia Independent State tournament. They hosted a quarterfinal contest March 1.
Seventh-seeded Bishop O'Connell defeated 10th-seeded Bishop Ireton 52-32 on Feb. 22 in one of two "play-in" contests.
In other action, eighth-seeded Good Counsel, coached by Mike Hibbs, defeated ninth-seeded Carroll, coached by Clinton Perrow, 56-54 in the other "play-in" game. The Knights, coached by Joe Wootten, took an early 5-0 lead versus Ireton en route to a 13-6 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter. Ireton senior post Mike Williams converted an early second quarter "put back" basket to narrow the Cardinals deficit to 13-11.
Thereafter, O'Connell sophomore Kevin Jones and Knights freshman Kendall Marshall scored consecutive baskets to stake the "Royal Blue and Silver" to a 17-11 lead. The Cardinals would never be closer than four points for the remainder of the game.
The Knights were paced by junior Jason Clark (21), Marshall (13), junior Frank Ben-Eze (four), freshman Zalmico Harmon (four), sophomore Keith Mitchell (four) and sophomore Doug Howard (two).
The Cardinals (coached by Mark Vincent) were paced by sophomore Javorn Farrell (17). Ireton ended the season with a 4-23 record.
The Knights advanced to the WCAC quarterfinals and dropped a hard-fought 49-40 contest to St. John’s. The game was played Feb. 24 at Gallaudet University.
St. John’s, coached by former Ireton head coach Paul DeStefano, led 14-11 at intermission en route to the relatively narrow nine-point win. The Cadets outscored the Knights 35-29 over the games final competitive 16 minutes. The Knights were paced by Clark (17), Marshall (15), Ben-Eze (four), sophomore Dave Eismeier (two) and Harmon (two).
O'Connell has a 15-14 record. The Knights also had an opening round "bye" in the VIS tournament.