pvi basketball

PVI Girls Defeat Ireton to Capture State Title

By David Steinbacher
Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of 3/8/07)

The Pope Paul VI Lady Panthers won the 2007 Virginia Independent Schools division one state basketball title with a solid 69-53 victory versus rival Bishop Ireton. PVI, coached by Scott Allen, blitzed through the first two rounds of the eight-team tournament before defeating the Cardinals in the March 3 championship game.
The second-seeded Panthers rolled over seventh-seeded Hampton Roads Academy 85-22 in the quarter-final contest. "We were aggressive versus Hampton Roads Academy for 32 minutes,” said Allen. “We got the lead and we never looked back."
Paul VI netted an incredible 53 first-half points en route to the decisive victory. The Panthers were paced by Shavonne Duckett (15 points/15 rebounds), Becca Grimes (13), Danae Hill (11/two treys), Jalinda Venable (11/three treys), Jasmine Murray (nine), Shanna Suttington (nine), Blair Konijzewski (seven/two treys), Erin Dye (six), Jordan Berner (two) and Brianna Johnson (two) — all 10 members of the varsity team scored (nine are underclassmen/only Grimes will graduate this year).
PVI then knocked off third-seeded St. Anne's Belfield from Charlottesville 62-45 in the VIS semi-final contest. The Panthers bolted to a decisive 34-12 lead at halftime and were never seriously threatened thereafter.
"The ball went into the basket on our first possession. After that, once our kids see the ball go into the basket, they just really start to play well,” Allen said. PVI took a 41-17 lead early in the third quarter and Allen substituted liberally thereafter.
Even though PVI was outscored by St. Anne’s 33-28 in the second half, the damage had been done offensively during the first 16 minutes.
The Lady Panthers were paced by Hill (17/two treys), Duckett (13), Johnson (eight), Murray (eight), Venable (seven), Konijzewski (six) and Suttington (three).
In the title game, the Panthers led Ireton 40-26 at halftime. PVI outscored Ireton 29-27 over the game’s final 16 minutes enroute to the championship.
"Mike [Hutton/Ireton head coach] had his kids playing hard, but this game, like the other two, we scored first in the game and we were never tied and we never trailed,” said Allen. “Ireton did narrow their deficit to nine in the early minutes of the fourth quarter."
PVI was paced by Duckett (19/two treys), Hill (18/three treys/five assists), Venable (17), Konijzewski (six), Suttington (five), Grimes (two) and Murray (two).
Under the leadership of Allen, the Panthers also won state titles in 2003 and 2004.
Regarding the Panther’s recent title, Allen said, "Shavonne Duckett pulled down 47 rebounds in the three contests. Danae Hill put 46 points on the scoreboard. Both Shanna Suttington and Jalinda Venable averaged four steals per game in the three contests. We forced something like 71 turnovers in the three games, including 15 versus Ireton in the championship.
"We improved from 2006,” he added. “We had good chemistry. Our kids were easy to coach and they played hard. This VIS title will give us some good momentum heading into next season."
PVI narrowly missed the 20-win plateau, finishing 19-11 overall, including five combined victories versus Ireton/O'Connell.
Fourth-seeded Ireton took a little more difficult route in getting to the championship game. The "Cardinal and Gold" knocked off fifth-seeded St. Catherine’s quarterfinals 70-55.
The Cardinals were paced by Allie Cleaves (25), Mary Kate Curry (19), Danielle Axenfeld (seven), Nadia Cathan (seven), Marie Donahue (seven), Joelle Daguilh (two), Emily Smolak (two) and Michelle Piluso (one).
"We had beaten St. Catherine’s twice earlier in the regular season,” said Hutton. “Today, we got a very balanced effort from our girls."
In the semifinals, Ireton stepped up and defeated top-seeded Norfolk Collegiate 65-40. The Lady Cardinals got out of the blocks early and led 41-18 at halftime.
"Senior guard Marie Donahue did a very good job shutting down their [future NCAA] Division One guard She'la White,” said Hutton. “Marie held her to 10 points below her season average of 27 points per game. We led Norfolk Collegiate for the entire game and I would have to say that it was the highlight of our entire season."
Versus Norfolk Collegiate, Ireton’s top three scorers were Rachel Martin (21/six treys), Cleaves (13) and Axenfeld (nine).
"Versus Paul VI, I thought that we were going to have to play our finest game of the entire year to get the win,” said Hutton. “After the quarterfinals and semifinals we kind of ran out of gas."
In the final game for three Ireton seniors (Axenfeld, Cleaves and Donahue), Ireton was paced by Curry (18), Cleaves (13), Donahue (10), Martin (eight), Axenfeld (two) and Cathan (two).
Ireton finished 14-18 overall on the season (including two WCAC victories versus both O'Connell and St. Mary's Ryken, as well as one league victory versus Elizabeth Seton).
“I was pleased with how competitive we were night in and night out in a very difficult league [WCAC]," said Hutton.
Six diocesan student/athletes earned VIS tournament honors. Paul VI's Shavonne Duckett was selected as the tournament MVP. In addition, PVI's Danae Hill, Shanna Suttington and Jalinda Venable, as well as Ireton's Allie Cleaves and Rachel Martin, were all selected to the All-Tournament team. Cleaves is the only senior in the group.