Starting on Tuesday, 12 private schools in the state of Maryland will compete in the 2016 Maryland Private School Championship. The tournament will feature four teams from the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. And three teams are coming from the IAC and the Capitol Beltway conference. Here is a breakdown of all the action.
Tournament Schedule
Round 1
(8) Clinton Christian vs (9) Good Counsel
(5) St. Maria Goretti vs (12) Landon
(7) Bullis vs (10) St. Mary’s Ryken
(6) Capitol Christian vs (11) Takoma Academy
Elite Eight
(1) DeMatha vs Clinton Christian/Good Counsel
(4) Riverdale Baptist vs St. Maria Goretti/Landon
(2) Bishop McNamara vs Bullis/St. Mary’s Ryken
Semifinals
Games will be held at Riverdale Baptist on March 5. The first game is scheduled for 6pm and the second game will take place at 7:45pm.
Championship
The Maryland Private School Championship game will be on March 7 at Bishop McNamara High School. Game time is 7pm.
Preview
DeMatha Catholic High School will be entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed and clear cut favorites to win it all. The Stags are coming off a 71-57 defeat in the WCAC Championship to St. John’s on Feb. 22. It was their fourth time in the championship game in the last five years. Despite the lost, DeMatha had another solid year. They were 26-5 (16-2, in the WCAC) which was good for No. 2 in the conference.
This season they was led by Washington commit Markelle Fultz. The senior guard averaged 18 points per game and was named First Team All-WCAC for the second time in his high school basketball career.
Junior DJ Harvey had a solid season as he averaged 13.1 points per game and displayed his athleticism. Just like his teammate Markelle Fultz, Harvey was named First Team All-WCAC. Sharpshooter Nate Darling had another good year and guard Ryan Allen developed into a solid combo guard. The Stags will get a first round bye and play the winner of the Clinton Christian vs Good Counsel game.
It was another up and down season for Good Counsel. The Falcons went 13-15 and 6-12 in the WCAC. In the conference playoffs, Good Counsel beat Archbishop Carroll in the Play-In Round but lost to DeMatha 95-53 in the Quarterfinals. Their most notable win of the season was on Jan. 7 when the Falcons beat Paul VI 58-48. Junior point guard Cameron Norman averaged 17.5 points per game to lead Good Counsel and was named Third Team All-WCAC. Clinton Christian is coming into the tournament losing four of their last five games. They beat John Paul the Great 102-80 in their last game.
This season Bishop McNamara was a top five team in the WCAC. They finished with a 17-12 and 10-8 record in a tough conference. Once again, junior point guard Jamir Moultrie was the top player on the team. Moultrie averaged 18.2 points per game and was deadly from behind the arc. Guard Ernest Jenkins was second on the team in scoring with 12.3 points per game. In his first year playing high school basketball, Makhi Mitchell impressed.
In the WCAC playoffs, the Mustangs beat Bishop O’Connell 51-42 in the Quarterfinals. Makhi Mitchell tallied 15 points and 14 rebounds while senior Sam Green finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. McNamara faced No. 1 St. John’s in the semifinals and lost 63-56. The Mustangs trailed 15-4 at the end of the first quarter but a strong second and third quarter brought them back into the game. But the Cadets outscored McNamara 27-19 in the fourth quarter to get the win. Jamir Moultrie led all scorers with 16 points while Makhi Mitchell scored 15 points.
Bullis School went 16-8 this season. On Feb. 19, they lost to St. Stephens/Agnes 64-54 in the IAC Tournament. Raffy Baumgardner led all scorers with 15 points, Vado Morse had 13 points and Noah Gear scored 12 points.
Just like years past, St. Mary’s Ryken struggled in the WCAC. The Knights finished the year with a 12-17 record and a 6-13 conference record. Their last game was in the WCAC Quarterfinals where they lost to St. John’s 77-55. Ryken was down 17-16 at the end of the first quarter but was outscored 20-9 in the second. St. Mary’s Ryken didn’t really have any notable wins. All of their conference victories came against the bottom feeders of the conference.
Georgetown Prep looks to rebound from a heartbreaking 93-90 loss to Episcopal High School in the IAC semifinals. The game went into three overtime just to decide a winner. In that game, the Hoyas were led by guard Jared Bynum as he scored 25 points.
During the regular season, Bynum led Georgetown Prep in scoring with 18.4 points per game and helped the Hoyas to a 15-8 record. The sophomore guard had a couple of 30 point outings and recorded a double-double against Potomac School on Jan. 9.
Capitol Christian will take on Takoma Academy in the first round of the Maryland Private School Championships. This season, Capitol Christian went 24-11. At one point during the season, the Warriors went on two five game winning streaks. In their last game against Virginia Academy on Feb. 26, Capitol Christian won 68-58.
Their opponent Takoma Academy, had a .500 record as they went 15-15 on the season. They have won two of their last four games. Takoma Academy last game was a non-conference game against Spencerville Adventist Academy on Feb. 22. The Tigers won that game 70-38. Christian Flaherty scored 14 points, Chris Cadet had 12 points and Cameron Stove had 11 points.
Riverdale Baptist had a good basketball season, finishing with a 24-9 record. The Crusaders had four players to average more than 10 points a game. Senior guard Jamal Wright was their top scorer as he averaged 14.6 points per game. He scored a season high 29 points and dished out nine assists against Westlake on Dec. 29.
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If you can’t say something nice about St. Mary’s Ryken, why say anything at all? I’ve watched the SMR boys all year work hard and give their best for each game. Next time, try to find something positive to say. The WCAC is the toughest conference in the country. To have 6 wins says something about the SMR team.
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