SALISBURY, MD - The penultimate day of the 42nd Annual Governor’s Challenge saw all games taking place on the two courts at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center on Sunday.

That doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of action to go around, as the day saw several Elite Showcase teams make their event debuts.

Here’s a look at some of the top stories from Day 4: 

Penn Charter (Pa.) used an 18-7 second quarter run to open the game up and led by as many as 19 in the third before holding off a late Greensboro Day (NC) push to pick up a 52-46 win.

[The key was] just, like our effort,” Penn Charter 2025 guard Jake West said. “I feel like we gave a lot. They started to come back, but we just had a lot of effort at the end of the game getting those last stops, getting those rebounds - you know we work on that stuff in practice. So, just grittiness and effort.”

West, a Northwestern commit, had 16 points and 4 assists to lead the Quakers.

“I felt like I could get out in transition a lot,” he said. “I felt like they weren’t really getting back, so I scored a lot in transition and had a bunch of lay-ups and capitalized on them and had a couple of And-1’s. So just getting out in transition and finishing.”

2025 guard Kai Shinholser had 14 points and 8 rebounds for Penn Charter, while Louisiana State-bound 6-foot-11 2025 forward Matt Gilhool had 11 points and 5 boards.

The Quakers will face Orangeville Prep (Can) in their next Governor’s Challenge appearance on Sunday.

“[These games are] really important because it's preparing us for something bigger in February and March when we have state championships and our league championship,” he said. “So seeing every team is different and it's good because you get to see teams that are fast - we have a couple of fast teams in our league - and we get to see slower teams. They were a little bit slower and they hit a couple of shots, so that’s, like, a team we’re going to see in our league. So it’s good to see all those different teams and good competition.”

Greensboro Day - which cruised past Largo (Md.) 72-34 on Saturday - finished its inaugural Governor’s Challenge trip 2-0.

“It was great,” GDS coach Freddy Johnson said of the event. “When [Tournament Director] James [Simmons] asked us to come up, we wanted good competition, and so I asked to have two good games, and we couldn’t have had two better games. Last night [against Largo], we just couldn’t miss. Today we struggled in the second quarter, and minus that I thought we played really well. They’re really good on defense, and the kid going to Northwestern - #3 - is really good.”

2026 guard Marty Giant had 12 points to lead the Bengals, while 2027 guard JJ Short had 9. Despite the setback, Johnson said he felt his team benefitted from playing over the holiday break.

“We call it, ‘We’re ‘going to go work,’” he said. “We have three or four days of work, and we’ve got to get better at everything, and I thought we got better at everything. We’re not going to play teams that have a point guard and a big like that going back [to Greensboro]. We have really good 3A teams in our state association, but those two kids are exceptional players.”

Ursuline (DE) 2027 guard Jezelle “GG” Banks was one of the most highly-touted players coming into this year’s Governor’s Challenge, regardless of gender.

As a freshman last year, the 5-foot- 8 Banks was named Delaware’s Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 22 points per game and leading the Raiders to a state championship. She holds over 30 Division I scholarship offers and is one of the top-ranked players in her class nationally.

In her Governor’s Challenge debut on Sunday, she showed why. Banks was as good as advertised against McDonogh (Md.), going for 27 points (on 9-of-13 shooting) in a 59-48 Girls Elite Showcase victory.

“I feel as though I was able to take advantage of going to the rim a lot,” Banks said. “They tried to switch or then sit on my right hand, so I would just take the advantage and keep going.”

McDonogh looked ready to take control early, leading 21-15 after one quarter. Ursuline responded in the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles 13-7 to send the teams into the locker room at halftime tied at 28-28. 15 of the Raiders’ points came from Banks, who led all scorers at the break.

The Raiders took the lead after three quarters and began to build some breathing room in the fourth en route to the victory.

“Honestly, McDonogh is a good team and they're big and they play smart,” Banks said. “I feel as though our key to closing out the game was to play smart as well and slow the pace down. I feel as though our defense could have been a little bit better on the shooters and on the switches, but otherwise I feel that we did good and we adjusted to those changes.”

Ursuline coach John Noonan agreed, saying he wasn’t pleased with how his team executed defensively in the post against a taller McDonogh squad but liked how the Raiders made plays down the stretch to seal the win.

Of course, having a player like Banks to give the ball to late helps.

“Obviously it's a lot of fun to coach a kid like Jezelle,” Noonan said, “and I think our responsibility is to get her ready - not only for the high school experience in that we keep it fun, but then also prepare her for the next level. So, terminology and discipline and staying locked in and doing the little things well is the thing that we’re trying to get her to focus on, and I think when she does that her talent is unbelievable. She’s super, super special; she can do some things that other kids just can’t do. But we want to make sure we’re giving her the total package in terms of the coaching staff to get her ready for where she’s going to head at the collegiate level, but in the meantime let’s make high school fun and just let her do her thing.”

2026 guard Ari Benjamin and 2027 guard Jada Russell had 11 points apiece to lead McDonogh, and 2027 forwards Mya Clark and Ifeoma Umeh each had 10.

In its Elite Showcase opener against Westtown (Pa.), AZ Compass Prep did an excellent job of driving and kicking the ball out to open shooters, who were more than happy to take advantage of those looks.

AZ Compass went a blistering 6-of-11 from 3-point range in the first half to build an early lead they would never relinquish on the way to a 73-59 victory.

The Dragons went 10-of-20 from deep for the game, with 2026 guard Kalek House (18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range) leading the way. 15 of House’s points came in the first quarter as AZ Compass built a 27-13 lead.

“In warmups we were all like, ‘Yeah, we like the rims, we like the atmosphere’” House said. “We just live in the moments like these.”

House’s twin brother Kaden House had 13 points on 2-of-3 shooting from downtown for the Dragons, who got 11 points from Jeremiah Green and 10 from Jaden Vance.

Westtown tried to rally in the second half but could never close the gap.

2026 center Adam Walker had 13 points to lead the Moose, while 2027 guard Wilson Udo had 11 and 2025 guard Jahmare Memphis and 2025 wing Jayden Kelsey 10 apiece.

Next up for AZ Compass is a 6:45 pm meeting with nationally-ranked Mt. Zion Prep (Md.).

“[These Governor’s Challenge games] are very important,” Kalek House said, “because we’re 1-4 in our league, so we’re just trying to bounce back and get some momentum from this tournament - go 2-0 and stack from there.”

For the second day in a row, DeMatha leaned on its defense to stifle a dangerous opponent.  And for the second day in a row the gameplan worked to perfection.

The Stags limited an explosive SoCal Academy squad to just seven points in the pivotal fourth quarter and pulled away to pick up a 52-42 Elite Showcase victory.

DeMatha - which limited Westtown (Pa.) to just 22 total points in a blowout victory on Saturday - finished this year’s Governor’s Challenge trip 2-0.

“We knew that coming into these games we were going to be the smaller team,” DeMatha 2026 guard Ashton “Ace” Meeks said, “and that we were going to have to hit first and we were going to have to be more physical. We were going to have to defend at a high level and let our offense speak for itself. We knew that coming into this, we’re a great offensive team, but it's always going to come down to defense with us based on our size and athleticism. We know that if we play defense and we play physical and we hit first, we’re going to win the game.”

Meeks led DeMatha with 13 points, while 2025 forward Charles Thomas III added 10. American University-bound 2025 guard Kade Sebastian had 8 and 2025 wing Caden Walton 8.

“We just knew we were going to attack their bigs,” Meeks said, “and our coaching staff trusts us guards - me, Mally [McKnight] and Jacob [Wallace] - to make a decision while [the big is] backing up, on if we’ve got to make a shot or we’re throwing a lob to Charles Thomas. So it was just based on making smart decisions and being patient, and just executing our offense.”

Kevin Odih had 16 points to lead SoCal offensively; the next-highest scorer was Jacob Ross with 7. Unable to attack the rim, the Bears relied on the 3-ball and went just 4-of-31 (13 percent) from deep.

Wasatch Academy (UT) made its Governor’s Challenge debut with a bang.

6-foot-10 2025 forward and New Mexico State commit Augustine Ekwe scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed 9 rebounds as the Tigers pulled away to beat Archbishop Wood (Pa.) 80-62 in Elite Showcase action.

“I saw the other big was kind of, you know, skinnier than me, so I had the size advantage to have a good game,” Ekwe said. “So I kind of, like, used being physical and attacking every rebound to my advantage.”

Katrelle Harmon had 12 points for Wasatch, while Manu Manciel and Junior County each had 10.

The game was tight early - knotted at 16-16 after a quarter - but Wasatch blew it open in the second quarter, outscoring the Vikings 27-7 to take a 43-23 halftime lead.

“We lost our last game before our break,” Ekwe said, “so we had time to go home and think about it. We weren’t trying to be in the same palace as last game, so we came out and played hard and everybody did their role, executed the plays and we got the win.”

Caleb Lundy had 18 points to lead Archbishop Wood, which got 13 points from Mike Green and 10 from Brady MacAdams.

Five Academy of the New Church (Pa.) players scored in double-figures as the Lions fended off a Glenelg Country Day  (Md.) rally and pulled away late for a 92-66 victory.

Marquis Newson and Cam Smith had 19 points apiece, while Ryan Torres and Bryce Rollerson each had 18 and Dior Carter 10.

The Lions led 45-26 at halftime but saw that advantage trimmed to just four in the third quarter. Glenelg Country couldn't get any closer, however, and ANC pulled away late.

The Dragons were without star 2025 guard and Bucknell commit Pat Curtin. 2026 guard Donovan Marshburn did a nice job of carrying the scoring load, posting a game-high 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Ronald Alford had 14 points for Glenelg Country, while Kayden Leggett finished with 11.

McDonogh (Md.) and Bishop McNamara (Md.) took home some individual hardware at Sunday’s All-Star Experience

McDonogh 2026 guard Ari Benjamin celebrated her birthday by winning the Girls’ 3-Point Championship, while her Class of 2027 teammate Jada Russell won the Skills Challenge.

On the boys’ side, McNamara 2027 guard Kirby Duran won the 3-Point Contest with a dominant final round, while 2027 forward Brandon Woodard claimed the Slam Dunk Contest, edging out SoCal Academy guard and Virginia native Jacob Ross in the final.

2026 guard Brandon Bromley of IMG Academy-Gold won the boys’ Skill Challenge title.

2027 guard Maya Land-Dailey had 16 points, 2028 forward Lauryn Loritts and 2028 guard Riley Lynch 13 apiece and 2025 forward Jemma Eleby 11 as Catholic (VA) downed Assumption (KY) in a Girls Elite Showcase matchup. 2026 guard Ashlinn James had 9 points to lead Assumption. … Seton Hall Prep (NJ) took home the first bracket championship of the day with a 64-46 win over St. George’s (DE).  Anthony Gonzalez led Seton Hall Prep with 14 points. … Lebanon (OH) got 19 points apiece from Jashawn Coffey and Logan Schmenk and 10 from Luke Faler as the Warriors closed their Maryland trip with a 72-55 win over Maret (DC). Averi Knight had 24 points and Cole Riley 20 for the Frogs. … 2026 guard Brandon Bromley had 19 points as IMG Academy-Gold downed St. Francis Prep (NY) 72-64 to win the Bracket #13 Championship. Nick Murmann also had 19 for the Ascenders, while Ben Koolmees and Gerald Burr had 14 apiece.