Basketball
Boys basketball at St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly kicked off the season by traveling abroad to London to compete in the first-ever Hoophall International event sponsored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The team competed against Christ the King from New York, defeating them 56-31 to advance to the championship game. In the finals, the Panthers played Mater Dei, from Santa Ana, Calif., and were ultimately crowned the champions with a 75-47 win. The Panthers then competed in the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., and came in third.
The Lady Panthers have had another strong start, going 2-1 while hosting the Art Turner Memorial Classic, one of the top tournaments in the nation. The Lady Panthers will travel to Springfield, Mass., for the Spalding Hoophall Classic to take on nationally ranked Morris Catholic from Denville, N.J.
The Options basketball team opened their season with two games at the Loudoun Invitational Tournament at Briar Woods High School Ashburn. In the first game, the Panthers were a little rusty on defense coming from the offseason, losing to the Loudoun Gophers, 34-12. However, it all came together for the Panthers in the second game, where they beat the McLean Highlanders, 18-14. The Panthers played an exhibition game during halftime of George Mason versus Davidson men’s basketball game at EagleBank Arena Jan. 14. Josh Oduro, St. Paul VI Class of 2019, is a senior on the George Mason team.
Swimming
The Panther swim and dive team revived an annual tradition of traveling to Long Island, N.Y., to compete against the St. Anthony’s Friars after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19. After getting the chance to sightsee around New York City, the Panthers competed valiantly, ultimately falling to the Friars on both the girls (89-91) and boys (61-119) sides.
Standout performances came from the girls team in the 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke races, where the Panthers swept first, second and third place. Both teams were able to celebrate the tradition of the meet at a dinner hosted by St. Anthony’s.
Wrestling
The school’s wrestling team won the Diocesan Quad beating Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria (76-3), Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington (75-6), and St. John Paul the Great Catholic High School in Potomac Shores (64-15). They traveled to Harrisonburg for the 49th Annual Harrisonburg Invitational and ended the weekend with six champions. Senior Keegan McMahon earned the Outstanding Wrestling Award for the entire tournament. The Panthers had two WCAC matches at the New Year’s Brawl tournament in Easton, Md., with wins over St. John’s (69-6) and Good Counsel (63-18) to bring their dual record to 5-0 on the year. At the New Year’s Brawl, the team finished the weekend in third with 10 overall place winners. McMahon won the Lightweight Outstanding Wrestler Award and freshman Cash Colbert received the Upperweight Outstanding Wrestler Award for the tournament.
