O'Connell Boys Hand DeMatha Its First Loss

By Jon Goldberg and Jon DeNunzio
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Sophomore guard Jason Clark made six straight free throws in the final minute and a half to help host O'Connell send top-ranked DeMatha to its first loss of the season, 52-49, last night.

Clark finished with 21 points for O'Connell, which was the last team to beat DeMatha in last year's season-ending Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament championship game.

O'Connell (14-9, 9-7) is in fourth place in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference behind Paul VI Catholic and St. John's.

"We used balanced scoring and zone defense to dictate the tempo of the game," said Coach Joe Wootten, whose Knights led 28-21 at the half.

DeMatha (24-1, 14-1) used a 12-0 run, scoring the last nine points of the third quarter, to tie the game at 37 two minutes into the final period. O'Connell responded as freshman guard Doug Howard made a 14-foot baseline jumper and Clark made two jump shots to increase the lead to 43-37 with three minutes to go.

"We were in a 3-2 zone defense and basically were taking away any inside drives," Wootten said. "Our goal was to make them take outside shots. We rebounded very well as a team."

Senior center Rockwell Moody led the Knights with 10 rebounds (six offensive), and O'Connell edged the Stags in team rebounding, 30-27. Sophomore Jason Burns added six defensive rebounds.

"Responding to their big run with a little run of our own showed a lot of character," Wootten said. DeMatha's Nigel Munson (23 points) "hit some big shots to pull them back, and we hit our free throws."

Chili Feasts on Northwest

Alex Chili excels at making three-pointers and free throws, and she used both of her specialties to give Walter Johnson an improbable 48-47 victory over visiting Northwest last night in Bethesda.

Chili, the top area girls' basketball three-point shooter and the local leader in free throw percentage -- boys or girls -- converted a four-point play with one second left to lift the Wildcats to the Montgomery County nonleague victory.

After a Northwest player missed the front end of a one-and-one with 5.2 seconds left, Walter Johnson (9-12) hustled the ball upcourt and Chili got the ball on the left side, Walter Johnson Coach Lynn Poznanski said. Chili split three defenders, made the three-pointer and was fouled.

Chili made the free throw for the winning margin. It gave her 30 points for the night, including 8-for-8 shooting from the foul line.

"I thought, 'There is no way -- there's three people around her,' " Poznanski said. "She just scootched through and it went in. She definitely got fouled."

Chili, a sophomore, averages 22.8 points per game and is making 92.2 percent of her free throws. She is tied for the area lead in three-pointers made with 67.

Chili also made a half-court three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer, putting Walter Johnson up 34-31.

Northwest fell to 7-11.

Classic to Smith Center

The Capital Classic high school all-star basketball game will be held April 13 at George Washington University's Smith Center, the fourth consecutive year the event will be played in a different venue.

The game is scheduled to match a team of the Washington area's top seniors against top players from across the nation. A preliminary game, matching suburban all-stars against District all-stars, also is scheduled. Rosters have yet to be announced for either game.

A slam dunk contest and three-point shootout is scheduled for April 12.

Tickets range from $100 for premium seating, which includes dinner and souvenirs, to $25 for general admission.

The game was played at George Mason's Patriot Center last year, Maryland's Comcast Center in 2004 and at MCI Center in 2003.

Staff writer Josh Barr contributed to this report.