On Thursday night, The Paul VI Catholic High School Panthers Boys’ Basketball team traveled to Arlington, VA to take on the Bishop O’Connell High School Knights in an Epic overtime game. Before the match-up Paul VI was ranked No. 1 in VA, whereas, Bishop O’Connell was ranked No. 9.
At the initial tip off Paul VI clearly came to play ball, as they moved the ball well offensively, while holding Bishop O’Connell to a lousy 6pts at the end of the first quarter. Paul VI held the lead going into the second quarter at 14-6.
Joe Wooten, the coach of the Knights, must have given his team a motivational speech at the first break, because in the second quarter his team finally showed up.
After building an early 10-point lead into the second quarter and holding the Knight best player in check, the Panthers saw their lead dwindle as role players Randall Gaskins and Ako Adams drilled a few baskets from the field. Both teams headed to the locker-room with the score tight at 24-21.
After three quarters Melo Trimble who was only held to five first half points, began to heat up, draining consecutive 3’s to help the Knights outscore the panthers 24-18 for the lead 45-42 after three quarters.
Paul VI did its best to stop O’Connell’s momentum with Evan Taylor, who drilled two baskets to spark an 8-0 run that helped the Panthers briefly retake the lead midway through the fourth quarter. With a few good offensive possessions by the Knights, the score was tied at 54 in the final seconds of regulation. The Knights obviously gave the ball to their best ball carrier in Melo Trimble, who put the ball up with second on the clock, however; the ball rimmed out which forced overtime.
In overtime, the Panthers struggled to find open looks near the basket which immediately played into the hands of the Knights strategy. Even after playing this session down, they found themselves with a chance to take the lead in the final minute. Unfortunately for the panthers, they were unable to rebound their own shot and O’Connells’ Lewis Djonkam had a put back to give his team some cushion into the final seconds of the game.
The Panthers, down 2pts. fouled Jamaal King with 14 seconds left in overtime. Stepping to the line, Jamaal King had all the pressure of the game on his shoulders as he knocked-down both free throws, boosting his team to a victory over the No.1 Panthers 63-58.
Key Players:
Bishop O’Connell
Jamaal King– 16pts., 4-4 FT
Melo Trimble– 16pts.
Paul VI
Joshua Reaves- 14pts.
The Bishop O’Connell Knights are currently ranked #79 in the nation on the DigitalSports National Boys’ Basketball Rankings, but after such a great win in the WCAC over No. Paul VI they are sure to make a huge jump! Bishop O’Connell looks to continue their success from this match up on Saturday when they travel to #48 ranked Dematha (MD) at 7:30PM.
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