St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., celebrated twin triumphs on Feb. 27 at American University’s Bender Arena, as St. John’s Cadets girls’ and boys’ basketball teams both netted Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship wins.
In the first championship game, the St. John’s girls basketball team led from start to finish and defeated arch-rival St. Paul VI High School of Chantilly, Virginia, 48-36, to claim their second consecutive WCAC basketball title.
“We kept them under 40 points and that says a lot about our defensive effort tonight,” said veteran Cadets head coach Jonathan Scribner.
St. John’s opened the scoring with a layup by Delaney Thomas, and her team never looked back.
Another Thomas basket, as well as a bucket by Carolae Barton, gave the Cadets a 6-0 lead on the way to a 12-8 advantage as the first quarter concluded.
“It was a great atmosphere in school today getting ready for this game,” said Thomas, a senior.
In the second quarter, St. John’s roared to leads of 18-8 and 21-11 on a basket by Kyndal Walker and a trey by Ava O’Neil, before leading 21-17 at intermission.
In the third quarter, St. John’s took their next double digit lead at 34-24 when Tatum Greene, a freshman, converted a bucket off of the glass.
Moments later, as the third quarter concluded, the team from Military Road led 36-24.
In the not-so-dramatic fourth quarter, the Cadets led by double digits on 15 different junctures.
St. John’s coach Scribner noted, “It was a business-like game. We took it possession by possession. Our conditioning helped us. We had lot of balance, and we rebounded well. Carolae Barton, with 13 rebounds, had the best game of her career.”
Kyndal Walker stated, “Paul VI has a great team, but we stayed together tonight. Everyone at St. John’s knows winning.”
Praising their coach, Delaney Thomas said, “Coach Scribner is the best coach I could have ever asked for. He loves us and wants us all to do our best.”
St. John’s led on all 49 scoring junctures of the contest and was paced by Thomas (13 points), Barton (11 points and 13 rebounds), Walker (10 points and eight rebounds), Greene (nine points and seven rebounds), O’Neil (three points) and Morgan Stewart (two).
Paul VI, led by veteran coach by veteran Scott Allen, was paced by Louis Volker (11 points), Anna Kunzwiler (nine points), Brooke Batchelor (six points), Laura Williams (four points/eight rebounds/three blocks), Riley Hamburger (four points) and Sadie Shores (two points/six rebounds).
The lady Cadets improved to 25-6 on the season - one year after defeating Bishop McNamara High School of Forestville, Maryland, for the 2021-22 title.
The Panthers girls’ basketball team dropped to 20-10 on the season.
St. John’s knocked down one trey, 16 buckets and 13 free throws for their 48 points.
Paul VI knocked down four treys, eight buckets and eight free throws for their 36 points.
Three of the lady Panthers’ 10 losses this season came via St. John’s.
Both teams will be playing further post-season basketball in the days ahead and both squads should be very strong next season as well.
In the nightcap, St. John’s boys’ basketball team held off nationally ranked Paul VI, 65-63, to claim the 2022-23 WCAC basketball title.
With the game tied 63-63, St. John’s guard Daquan Davis split his defenders and scored off of the glass with his right hand to give the Cadets their eventual lead of 65-63 with 3.8 seconds remaining.
St. John’s head coach Patrick Behan elected to not call a timeout with approximately 10 seconds remaining, and shouted to his junior guard, “Go!”
Paul VI, the 2021-22 WCAC boys’ basketball champions, then inbounded from 94 feet away and immediately called timeout.
Then, with merely two seconds remaining, the Panthers inbounded again from 70 feet away.
Ben Hammond got the ball to WCAC Player of the Year DeShawn Harris-Smith who heaved up an NBA trey attempt from approximately 35 feet away.
The shot bounced off the back of the rim and the Cadets’ celebration was on, one year after St. Johns finished with a .500 record.
It was a game of dramatic plays and dramatic action by both teams.
Early on, with plenty of media and plenty of college scouts on hand, Paul VI, coached by Glenn Farello, led 10-2.
The Cadets, coached by veteran Behan (a former Bucknell player), outscored the Panthers 16-9 to trail 19-18 as the first quarter concluded.
St. John’s then outscored Paul VI 12-10 in the second quarter to take a 30-29 lead into intermission.
The Cadets put the offensive pedal to the metal throughout the entire third quarter and led 50-44 after 24 minutes were in the books. A 40-31 lead and a 50-41 lead were the Cadets’ biggest leads of the quarter, following treys by Malik Mack and Davis.
In the fourth quarter, St. John’s led for the first 5:20 of game action.
With 2:40 remaining, Harris-Smith knocked down a trey and Paul VI led, 58-56.
A Davis bucket made it 58-58 (1:35).
Then a layup by Davis – with 1:21 remaining following a Paul VI turnover – gave the Cadets a 60-58 lead.
Harris-Smith scored again to make it 60-60, but the senior missed the ensuing free throw.
With 1:06 remaining, Paul VI’s Patrick Ngongba converted a putback basket, and the Panthers led 62-60.
With :48 remaining, Mack knocked down a trey for the Cadets, and St. John’s led 63-62.
Harris-Smith was fouled with 33 seconds remaining, but he only knocked down one of two free throws and the game was tied, 63-63.
Then Daquan Davis generated the game winner for the Cadets in the waning seconds.
St. John’s boys’ basketball team improved to 29-2 and were paced by Davis (21 points), Donovan Freeman (16 points), Mack (15 points), Raymond Watts (seven points), Timothy Barton (four points) and Devin Toatley (two points).
“We have worked so hard for this moment – we wanted this so bad for coach ‘B’ who has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),” said St. John’s player Timothy Barton afterwards, acknowledging the team’s respect for its coach, Patrick Behan.
Paul VI dropped to 28-3 and were paced by Harris-Smith (24 points), Darren Harris (14 points), Ngongba (11 points), Hammond (seven points), Isaiah Abraham (four points) and Jaquan Womack (three points).
St. John’s players converted six treys, 22 other baskets and three free throws for their team’s 65 points.
The Paul VI squad converted four treys, 20 other baskets and 11 free throws for their 63 points.
Praising his team, St. John’s coach Behan said, “You could really sense from this team that they have been a real family this season.”
Both St. John’s and Paul VI’s boys’ basketball teams will be playing more postseason basketball in the days ahead and both should be very strong next season in the WCAC.
The entire St. John’s athletic program has been a juggernaut this academic year.
In the fall, St. John’s won the WCAC football championship and also titles in boys’ and girls’ cross country, girls’ field hockey and girls’ soccer.
The Cadets’ football team trailed DeMatha 3-0 at halftime, but a 10-yard fourth quarter touchdown pass from Myles Slade to Asa Gregg proved to be the game winner, as the Cadets prevailed 7-3. Pat Ward is not only the Cadets’ football coach, but the school’s athletic director as well.
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Back to basketball: In the WCAC girls’ quarter-finals, St. Johns defeated Elizabeth Seton, 65-44; Paul VI defeated Bishop Ireton, 47-44; top-ranked Bishop McNamara defeated Archbishop Carroll, 67-33; and Our Lady of Good Counsel defeated St. Mary’s Ryken, 72-49.
Then in the WCAC girls’ basketball semifinal games, St. John’s defeated Good Counsel, 67-34; and Paul VI edged Bishop McNamara, 53-52, toppling the undefeated Mustangs.
In the WCAC boys’ basketball quarterfinal games, St. John’s defeated Good Counsel, 68-63; Paul VI defeated Bishop Ireton, 77-52; DeMatha topped Bishop O’Connell, 66-63; and Gonzaga defeated McNamara, 72-47.
Then in the WCAC boys’ basketball semifinal games, St. John’s edged Gonzaga, 54-53; and Paul VI edged DeMatha, 72-70.
The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference announced its basketball coaches and players of the year.
WCAC girls’ basketball Coach of the Year: McNamara’s Frank Oliver.
WCAC girls’ Player of the Year: McNamara’s Madisen McDaniel.
WCAC boys’ basketball Coach of the Year: St. John’s Patrick Behan.
WCAC boys’ Player of the Year: Paul VI’s DeShawn Harris-Smith.
