For a little while earlier this season, the boys’ varsity
basketball team at Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax
may just have had been the best basketball team with a losing
record in all of high school athletics.
The defending Washington Catholic Athletic Conference
champions entered a critical four-game, five-day stretch
against league opponents Jan. 28 with an unimpressive overall
8-10 record.
But take a closer look. The record hardly suggests a sharp
fall from prominence for a program that won WCAC titles in
2012 and 2014, while ranked among the top 10 teams in the
nation last year.
Many of the Panthers’ losses came against the likes of
national powerhouses – Mater Dei and Bishop O’Dowd in
California, for example – that head coach Glenn Farello
scheduled to help “toughen us up.”
“We put together a national schedule and it’s really
important,” Farello said. “This year, we didn’t get the
victories, but we completed. I think we’ve been
battle-tested.”
Absent from this year’s roster are key contributors who
either graduated or transferred elsewhere, leaving Farello to
start anew with a roster hardly recognizable.
Enter VJ King. As a sophomore last year, he was among the top
small forwards in the country, playing at the same Ohio
school that produced LeBron James. But last spring, he
stunned Ohio basketball observers and decided to move east
and play for Farello.
Explaining the decision, he said he wanted to play with, and
against, the best high school talent there is.
“This league is the best league in the country,” King said.
“It’s a test for you as an individual to come here, so it’s a
good challenge for me.
“Earlier in the year, I struggled a bit, but that was to be
expected,” King added. “I feel like I’m finding my way. I
feel like we’re going to make a good run down the stretch.”
While King drew comparisons to James because they played at
the same schools, perhaps a more fitting comparison to
describe King’s style of play is that of NBA Hall of Famer
Clyde Drexler. He’s fast, can slash to the basket or pull up
for a jumper and he’s virtually unstoppable in transition.
King is hardly the only talent, however. Syracuse-bound
senior guard Frank Howard is averaging 15 points a game;
junior forward Corey Manigault averages about 12 points per
game.
Among several underclassmen getting significant minutes,
Aaron Thompson is averaging eight points a game. Against St.
John’s College High School in Washington, Farello was more
impressed with Thompson’s energy, 11 assists and six steals.
St. John’s had handed the Panthers their first home loss of
the year, 60-55. But on Feb. 1, King scored 32 points, and
visiting Paul VI won 75-55 in a game that never really was
close.
Though it didn’t show up in the box score, Thompson played
tough defense on St. John’s standout Anthony Cowan, who
scored 19 points while no other teammate scored more than
eight points.
“I think the difference between this game and last game is
that we had a little bit more of a chip on our shoulder,”
Thompson said. “Last game, they out-toughed us.”
The win against St. Johns’, 17-6 overall, marked the
Panthers’ fourth game in five days, which began with a 55-31
win on the road Jan. 28 against Bishop Ireton. Between the
two blowout wins: a 64-62 win over Bishop O’Connell and a
74-72 overtime loss against Gonzaga.
The 3-1 league record over the four games put Paul VI at 8-4
in the conference and 11-11 overall.
“The win-loss record never matters to us,” Farello said after
the St. John’s win. “It’s about the journey. Over the last
four games, as we’ve been back into conference play, we’re
getting to where we need to be.”
There’s no doubt it’s a very different team from last year’s
nationally ranked squad, but Farello said he likes the
Panthers’ chances. As Paul VI proved against St. John’s,
records can be deceiving.
