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By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Springfield, Mo. — Two hours after No. 3 Oak Hill punched its ticket to the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions final, No. 11 Paul VI Catholic followed suit.
The Panthers 74-60 defeat of Booker T. Washington (Okla.) solidifies a title matchup between the two MaxPreps nationally-ranked Virginia schools.
Trevor Keels finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds to lead Paul VI. The 6-foot-4 junior holds offers from a host of Power Five schools, including Duke, Virginia, Michigan, Ohio State and Villanova.
When asked about his big night, Keels was quick to credit his defensive assignment on Booker T. Washington’s Trey Phipps, an Oklahoma signee.
“I’d say on the defensive end and checking one of the best players, Trey Phipps,” Keels said. “He’s a great player — D1 player — so I mean, it started on the defensive end for me and then getting rebounds and that’s when the points came for me.”
Paul VI head coach Glenn Farello praised Keels for his unselfish, team-first play.
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“I think what Trevor understands and how he’s able to look at a game and figure out, what can I do to help my team win — that’s all that matters to him,” Farello said.
Keels was joined in double figures by Jeremy Roach (17) and Knasir McDaniel (11).
Roach, a 6-foot-2 5-star prospect, has signed to play at Duke next season.
After taking a 32-28 lead into the break, Paul VI utilized a frantic, smothering defensive effort to put together an 8-0 run in the third quarter.
Even more impressive, the Panthers held Booker T. Washington scoreless for nearly five minutes.
Farello attributed the run to his squad’s commitment at the defensive end.
“One of our mottos is we’re a 10-0 run waiting to happen, so just keep with it,” Farello said. “A lot of people talk about we don’t have a lot of size, but we don’t worry about that. We were a little bit disjointed, maybe at times, in the first half, but that third quarter — these guys came out and were committed to getting after it and turned up the tempo a little bit.”
A pair of free throws from Bryce Thompson finally ended Booker T. Washington’s scoring drought late in the quarter; however, the double-digit deficit was significant.
Hornets head coach Conley Phipps talked about trying to mount a comeback against a deep, athletic team like Paul VI.
“One of the big keys was transition defense,” Phipps said. “When they made some runs, they strung together three or four baskets in transition. We got tired, gave up some easy baskets, tried to start fouling. Give them credit. They made free throws down the stretch, and it seemed like their overall speed on the whole team was tougher.”
Thompson, a 5-star Kansas signee, led the Hornets with 25 points.
The 6-foot-6 senior was joined in double figures by Jalen Breath (14) and Trey Phipps (12).
Next up for Paul VI (13-3) is a championship matchup against Oak Hill.
The two schools met previously in the 2015 TOC semifinal round, with Oak Hill capturing an 89-59 victory.
Farello believes his team will definitely be ready for the big moment.
“Now that we’ve risen up (to a national ranking), people always talk about how you handle the pressure of it,” Farello said. “When you have the bulls-eye on you — I’d rather have that, because that means we have some big pieces of the puzzle. Pressure is when you look down the other bench going, ‘we have no chance — look at their horses, and we don’t have them.’”
Prior to that championship matchup, Booker T. Washington (8-4) will face Vashon in the third-place game.
Paul VI – 74, Booker T. Washington – 60
Paul VI 12 20 19 23 — 74
BTW 14 14 11 21 — 60
Paul VI scoring: Trevor Keels – 25, Jeremy Roach – 17, Knasir McDaniel – 11, Josiah Freeman – 9, Jack Jensen – 7, Tyler Coleman – 2, Luke Triggs – 2, William Paige – 1
Booker T. Washington scoring: Bryce Thompson – 25, Jalen Breath – 14, Trey Phipps – 12, Kameron Parker – 7, Ijai Johnson – 2
