DeMatha Basketball Wins Four of Five Games in Seven Days

DeMatha basketball coach Mike G. Jones played major college basketball, enjoyed an 11-year pro career, has worked in the NBA and been a high school head coach for 12 years. Until last week, he had never been with a team that played five games in seven days.

“This is the first time,” Jones said Saturday. “We knew it was going to be a difficult challenge. We were blessed to come out of it 4-1. The boys are super tired today. We just tried to get the best out of them and weather the storm.”

The No. 4 Stags will open with their first of two games this week by hosting No. 8 Bishop O’Connell in Washington Catholic Athletic Conference play tonight at 7:30. The Knights defeated DeMatha on Dec. 20, 56-49.

Both teams enter the fray 18-5. O’Connell is 5-2 in the league, while the Stags stand 6-4. MaxPreps has DeMatha ranked 22nd nationally; O’Connell is 36th.

Senior Caden Walton was asked what it’s going to take for the Stags to emerge victorious.

“We need to stay disciplined, get a lot of rebounds, make sure to box out and play aggressively,” Walton said. “The success of our team is predicated on the defensive end. So, I think if we rebound, box out and play strong defense, we’ll have a good chance to win.”

Jones likes how his third DeMatha team is playing.

“We’re very resilient,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of fight in us. If we want to be a champion, we have to execute on the offensive end but, more importantly, our defense has to be on point.”

At Home on the Road – The Stags originally had three games scheduled last week: Tuesday at Bishop McNamara, Friday at Archbishop Carroll and Saturday against St. Mary’s Ryken. But because of weather-related postponements in January, DeMatha opened the week Sunday at Gonzaga and hosted Good Counsel on Wednesday.

Before the rescheduled contests were inserted, DeMatha was slated to play six consecutive WCAC games on the road. No one at the school could ever remember any league team having such a stretch of games away from home.

Beginning with the 2021-22 season, WCAC teams no longer play each conference opponent twice, and strength of schedule varies. Some teams play each other twice, others once. (The same thing is happening in college basketball in, for example, the SEC, ACC and Big 10.)

The Stags’ WCAC schedule this season has them playing five home games and eight on the road. By comparison, St. Paul VI has six home tilts and seven away. Gonzaga has seven and six.

While coach Jones would like to have a more balanced home and away schedule, he plays the games in the order the league presented.

“We don’t make excuses,” he likes to say. “We make adjustments.”

Here’s a look at the five games DeMatha played last week:

Gonzaga 74, DeMatha 62 (Jan. 26) – The visiting Stags led the top-ranked Eagles early but played catch-up for most of the afternoon.

Junior Ashton “Ace” Meeks paced the Stags with 23 points, and sophomore Jamaal McKnight had 14. Senior Jacob Wallace, who committed to play football at Iowa on Feb. 2, was nailed on an illegal screen that wasn’t called and writhed on the court for about 30 seconds. But the first-team All-Met defensive back didn’t exit the game.

“I’ve been hit harder on the football field,” he said.

DeMatha 64, McNamara 61 (Jan. 28) – Wallace had one of the finest games of his career with 14 points, six rebounds and eight assists. He was 4 of 4 from 3-point range.

“Jacob is so talented and gifted,” Jones said. “God has blessed with him with so much ability, and he works so hard. We saw the fruits of that tonight.”

Meeks, who struggled through a 3-for-18 shooting performance, came up clutch at the end. First, he made three free throws in the final 42.2 seconds and then switched from his man to contest the Mustangs’ final 3-point attempt.

DeMatha 66, Good Counsel 55 (Jan. 29) – The Stags wouldn’t have won this game without Meeks, who scored a career-high 35 points. He shot 13 of 23 from the field, collected six rebounds and made all eight of his free throws.

Senior Charles Thomas also came up big with 17 points, and sophomore Daniel Abass had eight boards.

DeMatha played without three starters: senior Kade Sebastian, McKnight and Wallace.

“We’ve got a next-man-up mentality,” Jones said.

DeMatha 74, Carroll 52 (Jan. 31) – The homestanding Lions trailed by just four points at halftime before the Stags seized control with a 21-8 third quarter to lead 52-35. Meeks had another offensive outburst with 26 points, including 5 of 11 from long distance.

Wallace was brilliant with six points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. Eight of his boards came on defense.

Sebastian, who has signed with American, returned to the starting lineup after missing the previous six games. In 11-and-a-half minutes, he scored five points and had three assists.

DeMatha 68, St. Mary’s Ryken 44 (Feb. 1) – The Stags’ fifth game of the week saw them return to the Looney Convocation Center for a late afternoon tip. Abass came up strong with career highs in points (16) and rebounds (12). Meeks chipped in 15 points on 7 of 24 shooting and had four rebounds and three assists.

Walton posted eight points and eight rebounds. He added a steal, a block and took a charge.

Chris McManes is DeMatha Catholic High School’s communications manager.