High school basketball: No. 2 Paul VI blows past No. 7 Gonzaga 73-58 sparked by 18 points from top 50 Duke signee Darren Harris

In a highly anticipated Washington Catholic Athletic Conference showdown, No. 2 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) defeated No. 7 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) 73-58 in a wire-to-wire victory Tuesday night.

Top 50 Duke signee Darren Harris was the catalyst with team-high 18 points in the win, while three-star Rhode Island signee Ben Hammond finished with 11 points to go along with three assists and three-star Notre Dame signee Garrett Sundra tallied 10 points and five rebounds.

Paul VI methodically stretched out their advantage throughout the contest. The Panthers led 16-10 at the end of the first quarter, maintained a 36-29 margin at the half and expanded their lead to 59-43 at the end of the third quarter after Sundra sank a three-pointer at the buzzer.

A thunderous and-one dunk from top 20 sophomore Jordan Smith with three minutes remaining ignited a 7-0 run. Hammond and three-star junior Jaquan Womack followed up Smith with transition dunks to extend the lead to 71-51 with approximately 2:20 remaining in the contest.

Although Gonzaga (15-3) scrapped throughout the game, they were unable to mount a significant comeback in the second half. Four-star junior Christian Gurdak led the way with 18 points and 13 rebounds on 8-of-10 from the field in the loss.

Paul VI (16-2) travels to No. 12 Bishop O'Connell on Friday for another big-time WCAC showdown, while Gonzaga looks to bounce back on Thursday when they face off against Dunbar (Washington, D.C.).