As the fourth seed, the Bishop O’Connell Knights made a big impact by playing three tight games and finishing a close second in the Division I private-school boys state basketball tournament.
The Knights (23-10) lost in overtime to the No. 2 seed Highland School Hawks of Warrenton, 56-51, in the Saturday (March 1) championship game at Benedictine College Prep in Richmond.
The night before, O’Connell upset the top seed St. Paul VI Catholic Panthers, 59-57.
That came after a home first-round 71-69 win over fifth-seed St. Anne’s Belfield. The Knights had a first-round bye in the 12-team high-school competition.
Highland finished the season 38-5, winning its final 21 games.
“I’m disappointed in the end for our players, but proud of their efforts,” O’Connell coach Joe Wootten told ARLnow. “They took it to another level in the state tournament.”
O’Connell last won a state title in 2010, last finishing second in 2017.
This year’s state final was close throughout, with seven ties and five lead changes. O’Connell last led 48-46 with 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter on two foul shots by Shane Lincoln (eight points, five rebounds, four steals).
Highland tied the score at 48. O’Connell’s Darius Bivins (16 points, five rebounds and four three-pointers) missed a jump shot with six seconds to play, and the score was tied at 48 after regulation.
O’Connell never led in overtime, making just one of six shots from the floor and missing two free throws.
“We had our opportunities to win,” Wootten said.
Matt Dalton scored 11 and had nine rebounds in the loss. Aiden Caulker scored 10 and made two three-pointers. Will Bryant scored four with two rebounds and Liam Koelsch had two points, three rebounds and a block.
Against Paul VI, Bivins scored 15; Justin Edwards 14; Dalton 13 with eight rebounds and two steals; and Lincoln had seven points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Caulker scored three and Koelsch two.
Dalton’s follow shot with 18 seconds left gave O’Connell a 58-57 lead. Caulker made a free throw for a 59-57 advantage with four seconds left, then Paul VI turned the ball over.
The win was O’Connell’s first over Paul VI, a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference rival, since the 2021-22 season. The Knights had lost five in a row to the Panthers.
In the quarterfinal state-tourney victory over St. Anne’s Belfield, Caulker scored 19, Bivins 14, Edwards 13 (10 rebounds), Lincoln 12, Koelsch four (five boards) and Dalton two. O’Connell led 70-64 in the final minute, then held on to win as Belfield’s late rally fell just short.
The Knights’ strong performance in the state tournament came after going 0-1 in the WCAC tourney with a 65-57 loss to St. John’s, a team O’Connell defeated twice, by five points each time, during the regular season.
Wootten said the difficult schedule O’Connell played during the regular season helped prepare the Knights for the state competition.
“We traveled to tournaments and played a lot of top-40 teams in the country,” Wootten said. “That gave us a lot of good experience.”
