Last weekend the DeMatha Stags varsity basketball team partook in the annual high-school hoops fest. The hoops fest is a weekend full of basketball games from some of the best teams around the country. It featured the number one high-school basketball team in the nation, the William Brennan Bears from San Antonio, Texas.
On Saturday December 7, the Stags took on the Bears. Brennan came into this game as the #1 ranked team in the country but fell to DeMatha 77-61.
Junior shooting guard Ashton “Ace” Meeks led the way for DeMatha in this game. He ended up with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, winning player of the game. Sophomore point guard Jamaal McKnight Jr also had a great performance with 9 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 steals! Senior forward Kade Sebastian had a standout performance for DeMatha with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
What mainly lost Brennan the game was defense; they could not stop anybody in DeMatha’s starting lineup and the stats show that. Brennan’s offense held up pretty nicely against DeMatha’s defense. Senior 4 star shooting guard Kingston Flemings scored 25 points with 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. If Brennan had won the game, Flemings would’ve been undoubtably player of the game with this performance. Brennan’s senior shooting guard Camden Cowgill also had a pretty good performance putting up 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists while junior point guard Donovan Chriss added 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist.
The Brennan Bears coming into the DMV were undefeated and the #1 team in the country. Then on Friday December 6, they ran into St. John’s, losing 85-66, the day before their loss to DeMatha. What a way to be introduced to DMV basketball.
In the last game of the tournament, DeMatha faced a very tough challenge. The Highland Hawks are the 40th ranked team in the nation and feature Nate Ament, the number 4 ranked high-school basketball player in the class of 2025. DeMatha successfully shut him down and finished off an impressive showing in the hoops fest, defeating Highland 53-50. The future is bright for DeMatha basketball and the sky is the limit.
