Paul VI sophomore Franklin Howard celebrates with fans after the WCAC ended Oak Hill Academy's 56-game win streak Saturday at the National High School Hoops Festival.
Photo by Daniel Kucin
Stinging from a season-opening loss to a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference rival on Monday,
Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) rebounded to knock off
Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 56-54 on Saturday night in double overtime, ending the storied program's 56-game win streak.
Paul VI was led by 13 points and 19 rebounds from game MVP
Quadree Smith, a 6-foot-7, 265-pound junior post. The contest was the nightcap of the National High School Hoops Festival held at DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md.
Oak Hill Academy was ranked No. 1 nationally by MaxPreps in the Academy Top 10 and had not lost a game since April 2, 2011 – a 71-64 setback in the finals of the National High School Invitational to
Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.).
The Warriors crushed Paul VI by 21 in the final of the Chick-fil-A Classic last December.
Super sophomore
Marcus Derrickson, a 6-6 forward, helped the Panthers get revenge by adding 16 points.
R.J. Curington led Oak Hill with 21 points.
Paul VI's triumph ruined a WCAC homecoming for former
Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) star
Nate Britt, who transferred to Oak Hill Academy over the summer.
"I left Gonzaga to better prepare me for college by being around a lot of high-level players that I can run with," Britt said. "We just had an off night. I think we got away from some of the things that we do but I think we will recover."
More from the National High School Hoops Festival* No. 1 2013 prospect
Andrew Wiggins tallied 27 points and 11 rebounds as
Huntington Prep (W.Va.) – likely to regain the No. 1 Academy Top 10 ranking next week – knocked off
Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 53-44.
*
Trey Foster scored 26 points and handed out five assists as
West Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.) beat host
DeMatha 62-59. Foster drilled a 3-pointer with less than a second remaining to give West Charlotte the victory. Incredibly, DeMatha – one of the most successful programs in the history of high school basketball – is 0-3 on the season.
