WASHINGTON – After picking up two early fouls and playing just six minutes in the first half of Monday’s City Championship game, James Robinson delivered on a chance to win it at the end.
The DeMatha Catholic junior point guard drove to the basket and drew a foul with four seconds remaining, then calmly sank two free throws to lift the Stags to a thrilling 52-50 victory over Theodore Roosevelt in the Abe Pollin City Title Game at the Verizon Center.
“It wasn’t really any type of design,” Robinson said of his drive. “Coach [Mike] Jones just said to hold for one shot and make a play, and that’s what I just tried to do.”
Roosevelt had one last chance at the tie or a win, but Everitt Quick’s inbounds pass to Ezell Starks was stolen by DeMatha’s Jerami Grant, and the Stags ran out the final few seconds to clinch their third consecutive City championship game, which matches the winner of the Washington Catholic Athletic League and the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Sophomore big man BeeJay Anya scored 14 points and had six blocked shots to lead DeMatha (26-7), while Georgetown-bound center Mikael Hopkins added eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Roosevelt got a game-high 19 points from senior forward Devin Gallman, who carried his team’s scoring load before fouling out in the final minute.
“They had a real good scorer in No. 22,” Hopkins said, “and we just had to stop him from scoring, since he was pretty much their go-to guy. If we had stopped him, the game would have been a lot easier, but he was able to create shots and score with whatever defense we threw at him.”
The Rough Riders (25-6) fought back from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to give themselves a shot at continuing their recent string of last-second victories. Roosevelt came in having won its previous two games on buzzer-beaters, so a third wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility.
“We were thinking, ‘We’re going to win it again,’ honestly,” TRHS coach Rob Nickens said. “It was just a bad play. The kid Everitt is a great player, and he’s a sophomore coming back. We’ll learn from this and come back again next year. We’re not disappointed at all. My kids, you saw how good they played tonight. Nobody gave us a chance – nobody.”
In the opening minutes, at least, it looked like the WCAC champion Stags would simply be too much for the Rough Riders to handle.
Led by Anya, DeMatha jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter. Roosevelt stormed back, though, briefly taking the lead on a tip-in by senior center DeVaughn Jones. The Stags led 14-13 after one quarter and 28-23 at halftime.
Roosevelt took a 34-32 lead on a 3-pointer by Gallman with 2:43 remaining in the third quarter, but DeMatha went back ahead on a jumper by Robinson and eventually took a 40-36 victory into the final frame.
The Stags increased their advantage to eight points with 4:33 to go in the game, but the Rough Riders responded with a 7-0 run over the next minute, trimming the deficit to one on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Jerell Allen with 3:30 left to play.
Roosevelt took the lead at48-47 on a hook shot by Jones with 1:30 to go, but the DeMatha quickly pushed the ball up the floor and into the hands of sophomore guard Jairus Lyles, who was fouled while making a lay-up. He made the free throw to give the Stags a 50-48 lead.
The Rough Riders wasted little time responding, though, as Starks dribbled up the floor, gave Robinson a nice crossover move and drove for the tying lay-up with a minute to go.
Robinson dribbled the clock down inside 10 seconds before making his move, and was fouled with four seconds remaining. He made both shots to give the Stags the lead and prompting a Roosevelt timeout.
“We saw [their last-second wins] in the paper and we heard about it, just word of mouth,” Robinson said. “Having two buzzer-beater wins, that’s remarkable for a team, and luckily we weren’t on the wrong side of another one of their buzzer-beater wins.”
Quick’s inbounds pass was off target and flew past Starks and into Grant’s hands to end the threat.
“It was just our goal not to let them get that close,” Jones said. “If anything, just barely let them get across half-court. We kind of knew what they were going to do, in terms of running Ezell off a screen to get him with some momentum going towards the basket, and luckily our guys were in position to make the pass breakup.”
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Devin Gallman 19, Jerrell Allen 10, DeVaughn Jones 10, Ezell Starks 6, Antone James 2, Deonte Miller. Totals: 18-48 11-16 50.
DEMATHA
BeeJay Anya 14, Jairus Lyles 9, Mikael Hopkins 8, James Robinson 8, Jerami Grant 6, Marcellous Bell 5, Johnnie Shuler 2. Totals: 19-45 12-20 52.
T. Roosevelt 13 10 13 14 – 50
DeMatha 14 14 12 12 – 52
3-Point Goals— TR 3-10 (Allen 2, Gallman 1), D 2-9 (Bell 1, Lyles 1). Total Fouls – TR 20 D 16. Fouled Out— TR (Gallman).
