The Bishop O'Connell Knights will head out to face off against the DeMatha Stags at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Bishop O'Connell sitting on six straight wins and DeMatha on four.
Bishop O'Connell is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Virginia's top teams: Bishop Ireton, who was ranked 13th at the time (Bishop O'Connell was ranked fourth). Bishop O'Connell walked away with a 74-61 victory over Bishop Ireton on Sunday.
| 02/02/25 @ Bishop Ireton | 4 |
| 01/28/25 @ St. John's | 5 |
| 01/25/25 @ Quincy | 2 |
| 01/24/25 vs Booker T. Washington | 3 |
| 01/20/25 vs Fairfax Christian | 2 |
| 01/18/25 vs Riverdale Baptist | 2 |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Bishop O'Connell to victory, but perhaps none more so than Shane Lincoln, who went 8 for 12 on his way to 18 points in addition to five boards and four steals. Lincoln is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last six games he's played. Wyatt Norton was another key player, going 8 of 15 en route to 17 points and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, everything went DeMatha's way against St. Mary's Ryken on Saturday as DeMatha made off with a 68-44 win. The Stags have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matchups by 20 points or more this season.
DeMatha found their leader in sophomore Daniel Abass, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 boards. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Abass has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Ashton (Ace) Meeks, who posted 15 points and three steals.
DeMatha smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in five consecutive games.
DeMatha's victory was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 18-5. As for Bishop O'Connell, they have also been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 14 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-5 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Bishop O'Connell hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 63.3 points per game. However, it's not like DeMatha struggles in that department as they've been averaging 65.8 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Bishop O'Connell beat DeMatha 56-49 in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bishop O'Connell since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
