DeMatha slams Jamesville-DeWitt at National High School Hoops Festival

HYATTSVILLE, Md. – Seeing 6-foot-9 DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) junior BeeJay Anya battle 6-10 Jamesville-DeWitt (DeWitt, N.Y.) senior DaJuan Coleman was one of many reasons to buy a ticket to the National High School Hoops Festival. 

But when Coleman picked up his third foul early in the second quarter, the Stags staged an 18-0 run and never looked back, winning the co-headlining matchup of the fifth annual event 83-57 on their home court.

"When he got in foul trouble, I shouldn't say it was a relief, but it was a relief to get him out of the game," Anya said.

DeMatha led 27-16 at the end of the first quarter. A pair of free throws from Pittsburgh-bound senior guard James Robinson marked the starting point of the run. Syracuse-bound senior Jerami Grant hit two free throws to begin the second quarter before guard Kelvin Howard scored on a put-back to increase the Stag lead to 31-16.

Coleman re-entered the game with about two minutes left to go in the first half. He ended the Red Rams' scoring drought with a dunk at the 1:40 mark. 

"We struggled a little bit going into the second quarter," Coleman said. "They pressed us."

Jamesville-Dewitt, ranked nationally by several media outlets, has won the past four New York State Class A titles. DeMatha, ranked No. 7 in MaxPreps.com's Xcellent 25, was hot from long range, connecting on 9 of 20 attempts from behind the 3-point line. 

Senior guard Kameron Taylor and Robinson drilled all five 3-pointers they attempted. Taylor led DeMatha with 17 points. 

"When we run, I feel no team can stay with us because we have such good guard play," Anya said.

Coleman and senior forward Tyler Cavanaugh led Jamesville-Dewitt in scoring with 19 points each. 

Grant was named the game's MVP after tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

"When I see an opening I know I can take it," Grant said. "I just capitalized on the openings I had."

While Grant and Coleman played against each other on Saturday, the two will be teammates next season as both are committed to Syracuse. Coleman said Grant may have won today, but that he'll seek revenge when the two meet again as members of the Orange. 

"I'll get him back in practice next year," Coleman said. "But I definitely respect him, and I'll give (this game) to him."

Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 68, Grace Prep (Arlington, Texas) 59

North Carolina State signee Tyler Lewis, a 5-10 guard, stood tall in a battle of nationally-ranked teams, leading storied Oak Hill Academy to victory over upstart Grace Prep with a game-high 22 points.

Lewis hit four of seven 3-point shots for Oak Hill, ranked No. 2 in this week's Academy Top 10. Heading into this game, Lewis had made four 3-pointers for the season. 

"Once I hit my first two, I felt I was beginning to get my shot back," Lewis said. "We did a lot of shooting this week at practice which helped out."

Grace Prep – No. 8 in this week's Xcellent 25 high school rankings – center Isaiah Austin made things difficult down low for Oak Hill on both sides of the floor. Austin, a future Baylor Bear, contributed 16 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. He limited Warrior big man A.J. Hammons to just six points inside. 

Oak Hill led 22-21 at the half. Lewis stepped up to hit his four 3-pointers in the remaining two quarters. The Warriors depended on the backcourt for their points as UCLA-bound Jordan Adams scored 19 and Georgetown pledge D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera added 15. 

Grace Prep took a 23-22 lead to begin the third quarter, but that was the last lead it would hold for the remainder of the game. The teams combined for 23 blocked shots.

Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.) 65, West Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.) 58

Senior shooting guard Patrick Holloway scored 21 points to lead Paul VI to a victory over rising West Charlotte. 

Holloway, a 48 percent 3-point shooter a year ago, was 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. The George Mason commit also knocked four of his five free throw attempts down and finished 7-15 shooting from the field.

"I wasn't really knocking everything down at first but I kept shooting," Holloway said. "A lot of it goes to my teammates because they kept finding me and I finally started to get it going."

The Panthers held West Charlotte center Kennedy Meeks without any points in the second half. Meeks, a highly-touted 2013 recruit, was held to just five points and three rebounds throughout the contest. 

Panther center Tim Higgins contained Meeks in the first half in man-to-man defense, while a zone double team did the job in the second. Meeks was playing on a sore ankle, which gave him trouble throughout the game.

"It bothered me at times but I've got to fight through it," Meeks said.

West Charlotte led 16-14 after the first quarter, but succumbed to a 10-0 run by Paul VI to begin the second period. The run was highlighted with a Michael Cunningham steal, spin move and lay-in at the 4:10 mark of the quarter. 

West Charlotte cut Paul VI's lead to 27-22 before a Holloway dunk gave the Panthers a seven-point lead at the half. Paul VI controlled the second half as the closest West Charlotte would get was being down 45-41 to end the third quarter. 

"Fortunately our guys were able to stick to the gameplan and eliminate (Meeks) a little bit," Paul VI coach Glenn Farello said. 

Episcopal (Alexandria, Va.) 44, Benedictine (Richmond, Va.) 38

Episcopal's Kethan Savage notched a game-high with 22 points (half of the team's total) in a low-scoring affair. Bendictine's Jordan Burgess had a strong game on the glass, collecting 13 rebounds. 

Bullis (Potomac, Md.) 62, Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 59

Bullis had four players reach double digits in its three-point victory over Riverdale Baptist. Joe Hazel led the way for Bullis with 15 points. Riverdale Baptist was cold from beyond the arc, making just 5 of 28 3-point attempts.