Five Takeaways: Paul VI vs DeMatha
On Sunday evening I attended DeMatha as they hosted Paul VI in a WCAC matchup featuring the top two teams in the league. Coaches from Villanova, Loyola (MD), LaSalle and Georgetown were all in the stands. Paul VI gave it…
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Continue ReadingOn Sunday evening I attended DeMatha as they hosted Paul VI in a WCAC matchup featuring the top two teams in the league. Coaches from Villanova, Loyola (MD), LaSalle and Georgetown were all in the stands. Paul VI gave it all they had but at the end it was DeMatha winning by three with a final score of 67-64. Below are five takeaways from the game.
DeMatha Will Most Likely Win The WCAC Regular Season Championship
With the win on Sunday against Paul VI, DeMatha moved into sole possession of 1st place in the conference with a record of 15-1 in conference. Paul VI moved into sole possession of 2nd place with a conference record of 15-2. DeMatha has four conference games left and on paper they are expected to win. Unless they have any setbacks, it is looking like DeMatha will win the regular season and roll into the conference tournament as the number one seed.
Trevor Keels Was At It Again
I am starting to sound like a broken record with everything I keep writing about involving 2021 Trevor Keels but he keeps on putting up big numbers every game. In a 3 point loss to DeMatha on Sunday he finished with 25 points. There was a short time of span where Paul VI led DeMatha in the 4th quarter largely because of Keels hitting three triples in a row for the Panthers. There are not a lot of other guys in the 2021 class that has the range Keels has. Once again, this was another performance that credited his WCAC player of the year campaign.
DeMatha’s Bench Provides A Spark
With 2019 Charlotte commit, Jahmir Young out due to an ankle injury, Mike Jones was forced to play some guys off his bench a little longer than usual. 2019 Steve Settle knocked down two three’s, 2021 Elijah Hawkins and 2022 Tyrell Ward both had 4 points. These stats might not look big in the score book but it shows that Mike Jones has confidence in these guys when he has to take his starters out and have these guys on the floor in a big game like this one.
Justin Moore Takes Over 4th Quarter
In front of one of his future assistant coaches from Villanova, Justin Moore took over in the 4th quarter for DeMatha. Moore finished with 16 points and 10 of those came in the final quarter of play. He hit some tough pull ups but got a lot of his production around the rim and at the foul line. Moore realized he needed to step up when it mattered most and that is what he did.
These Teams Could Easily Meet In The WCAC Championship
With the way the regular season has gone in the WCAC, I could definitely see these two teams meeting in the WCAC Championship. There is famous saying out there saying, “It is always hard to beat a team three times in a season” and if they do meet in the championship game at American University, I am sure that is something the DeMatha coaching staff will be saying to the Stags. I don’t see anyone beating DeMatha in route to the WCAC Championship and if Paul VI keeps on playing the way they are, I can definitely see them getting another shot at DeMatha.