D4 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 , 2022
P aul VI, a national power with a
legacy of success, had its season
defined by a freshman Monday
night. With the Panthers trailing
Bishop McNamara by one in the
closing seconds of a tense
Washington Catholic Athletic
Conference title game, J aquan
Womack laid the ball in the hoop
and carved his team’s name into
area basketball history.
In the Mid-Atlantic Athletic
Conference, Sidwell Friends
completed a dominant league
campaign by throttling St. Andrew’s
on Sunday in the title game.- Paul VI (26-4) Last ranked: 1
The Panthers cemented their status
as the WCAC’s best team by topping
McNamara, 43-42.- Sidwell Friends (26-1) LR: 2
With Sunday’s win, the Quakers
completed an undefeated season in
the conference. - Bishop McNamara (21-4) LR: 3
The Mustangs saw a dominant
WCAC season end with heartbreak
against Paul VI. - St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes (18-3)
LR: 4
The Saints were off this week as they
celebrated their Interstate Athletic
Conference tournament title and
looked ahead to the Virginia
Independent Schools Athletic
Association tournament. - Hayfield (29-0) LR: 6
The seemingly unstoppable Hawks
won the Virginia Class 6 Region C
bracket, beating Fairfax by 37 points
in the t itle game.- DeMatha (18-7) LR: 5
The Stags saw a WCAC semifinal
against No. 3 Bishop McNamara slip
away in the second half.- Wilson (26-4) LR: 8
The D.C. Interscholastic Athletic
Association champions will be the
No. 2 seed in this week’s D.C. State
Athletic Association tournament. - Gonzaga (17-8) LR: 7
The Eagles couldn’t keep up with
No. 1 Paul VI in the WCAC semifinals,
falling by seven. - Patriot (25-0) LR: 10
The Pioneers beat rival Battlefield
for a fourth time in the Virginia
Class 6 Region B title game. - National Christian (30-9)
LR: 9
The Eagles dropped two of their
three games against national
opponents at the Big Shots Prep
Nationals event in South Carolina. - South Lakes (23-2) LR: 11
The Seahawks will face Fairfax on
Friday in the Virginia state
quarterfinals. - Archbishop Spalding (24-10)
LR: 12
The Cavaliers fell to Mount St.
Joseph in the Maryland
Interscholastic Athletic Association
semifinals. - Churchill (21-1) LR: 13
After winning the Montgomery
County championship, the Bulldogs
opened the playoffs with a win over
Walter Johnson. - Bowie (15-1) LR: 14
After a first-round bye, the Bulldogs
began the Maryland postseason
with a win over C.H. Flowers. - Westlake (19-2) LR: 16
The Wolverines defeated St. Charles
in the Southern Maryland Athletic
Conference championship game
before opening the state playoffs
with a win over Patuxent.- Douglass (16-3) LR: 18
The Eagles earned a thrilling
overtime victory against Eleanor
Roosevelt in the Prince George’s
County championship game. - Episcopal (16-7) LR: 17
The Maroon will be the No. 4 seed in
this week’s VISAA tournament. - Eleanor Roosevelt (13-5)
LR: NR
Four of the Raiders’ five losses came
against ranked opponents.- Bethesda Chevy-Chase (17-3)
LR: NR
The Barons topped rival Whitman in
the second round of the Maryland
playoffs.- Bishop O’Connell (17-12)
LR: NR
The Knights f ell short in the WCAC
quarterfinals to No. 8 Gonzaga.Dropped out: No. 15 St. Charles,
No. 19 South County,
No. 20 St. John’sOn the bubble: Friendship Tech
Prep, Loudoun County, St. Charles,
St. John’s, Thomas StoneThe D.C. area’s most competitive
leagues, the Washington Catholic
Athletic Conference and the
Independent School League,
crowned champions this week.
O n Sunday, No. 1 Sidwell Friends
capped its dominant run through
the ISL AA division with a 70-36 win
over No. 12 Maret in the
championship game. On Monday,
No. 3 St. John’s beat No. 4 Bishop
McNamara, 68-50, for its fourth
WCAC championship in the past five
seasons.
In Virginia, No. 7 Madison, No. 11
Osbourn Park, No. 15 Robinson and
No. 17 Meridian were among the
local teams to win regional
championships last week and
advance to state tournaments that
will be held this week.
Maryland’s tournaments began
Tuesday.
The D.C. State Athletic Association’s
championship games will be held
Sunday at George Washington’s
Smith Center, where Sidwell Friends
and St. John’s could meet in the
Class AA title game.
- Sidwell Friends (26-0)
Last ranked: 1
The Quakers routed No. 12 Maret
for the ISL AA division
championship.
- New Hope Academy (25-2)
LR: 2
The Tigers beat Virginia Academy,
81-46, for the National Association
of Christian Athletes Division I
championship.
- St. John’s (19-4) LR: 4
The Cadets defeated No. 4 Bishop
McNamara f or the WCAC
championship.
- Bishop McNamara (20-5)
LR: 3
The Mustangs couldn’t solve No. 3
St. John’s in the WCAC
championship game.
- Good Counsel (19-4) LR: 5
The Falcons fell to No. 3 St. John’s,
48-37, in the WCAC semifinals.
- Paul VI (19-8) LR: 7
The Panthers lost to No. 4 Bishop
McNamara, 66-58, in the WCAC
semifinals.
- Madison (24-2) LR: 8
The Warhawks beat Langley,
46-32, for the Virginia Class 6
Region D championship.
- Georgetown Visitation (21-4)
LR: 6
The Cubs fell to No. 12 Maret,
59-55, in the ISL AA semifinals.
- Clarksburg (21-0) LR: 9
The Coyotes beat Whitman, 66-39,
for the Montgomery County
championship.
- Woodgrove (26-0) LR: 10
The Wolverines were set to play
Briar Woods for the Virginia 5D
regional title.
- Osbourn Park (24-1) LR: 11
The Yellow Jackets beat
Woodbridge, 52-42, for the
Virginia Class 6 Region B
championship.
- Maret (17-8) LR: 13
The Frogs fell to No. 1 Sidwell
Friends in the ISL AA championship
game.
- Howard (15-0) LR: 12
The Lions were set to open the
Maryland 3A playoffs against Mount
Hebron.
- Glen Burnie (19-0) LR: 14
The Gophers began the Maryland
4A playoffs against Arundel.
- Robinson (25-2) LR: 16
The Rams topped Edison, 42-28, for
the Virginia Class 6 Region C
championship.
- Bishop Ireton (18-11) LR: 15
The Cardinals fell to No. 6 Paul VI,
52-40, in the WCAC quarterfinals.
- Meridian (22-1) LR: 17
The Mustangs beat Brentsville
District, 67-22, for the Virginia
Class 3 Region B title.
- Potomac School (21-1) LR: 18
The Panthers defeated Georgetown
Day, 60-42, for the ISL A title.
- C.H. Flowers (13-1) LR: 19
The Jaguars beat Oxon Hill, 55-41,
for the Prince George’s County
championship.
- National Christian (17-9)
LR: 20
The Fort Washington private
school’s season is over.
Dropped out: None
On the bubble: Dunbar,
Georgetown Day, Langley,
River Hill
BY KYLE MELNICKChurchill boys’ basketball
guard Tre Stott grabbed the loose
ball simultaneously with a Da-
mascus player, initiating a tug-of-
war for possession. Stott ripped
away the ball, and gravity sent the
opponent stumbling to the wall a
few feet behind him.
Before Stott dribbled, the refer-
ee blew his whistle and formed a
“T” with his hands: technical foul
on Stott. Stott threw his arms in
the air, pleaded with the official
and caught himself growing an-
gry. He took a deep breath. The
opponent’s student section
wouldn’t let him forget the se-
quence.
“Anger issues!” one student
yelled.
“He can’t fight!” another said.
As the taunts continued, Stott
crouched at midcourt to watch
Damascus shoot free throws be-
fore he was subbed out of the
Montgomery County champion-
ship game last week.
“Remember, this is all part of
the process of you reconfiguring
your image,” Coach David Blu-
menthal told Stott on the sideline.
“You’re going to have to just own
that things are going to be a little
bit tighter for you and the team,
and you don’t react.”
Stott’s image as Montgomery
County’s breakout star changed
in January, when the junior initi-
ated an on-court brawl and re-
ceived a three-game suspension.
Stott, 17, has grappled with regret-
ting and learning from his mis-
take while attempting to lead
Churchill to the Maryland 4A
championship — even as he has
become known across the county
for the fight.
“It was just a learning lesson
and something I needed,” S tott
said. “If that situation never hap-
pened, I feel like I wouldn’t have
grown in the stages I grew.”The new kid
When he was attending Spring-
dale Preparatory, a boarding
school in New Windsor, Md., the
previous two years, Stott said, stu-
dents envied basketball players.
He expected the same for his first
day at Churchill in August.Stott felt relieved that nobody
acknowledged him other than his
cousin, Bryce Wilson, a senior on
the team.
“People treat me like a regular
person,” Stott said. “I don’t think
I’m different than anybody else.
When people come to you like,
‘Oh, you’re so good at basketball,’
I’m like, ‘You can be the same
way.’ ”
Still, Stott became known
across the county for basketball
after the season began in Novem-
ber. Entering Churchill’s game
against Blake on Jan. 31, the Bull-
dogs were undefeated and in a
rare position atop the county’s
standings.
That morning started like most
game days for Stott. He awoke two
hours early from nerves, texted a
girl and showered. For the first
time in five weeks, Montgomery
County was allowing spectators to
attend games that night as corona-
virus cases decreased.
He watched game film through-
out the day and ate a McDonald’s
cinnamon roll for lunch at his
usual spot, near a staircase at the
back of the Potomac school. When
school ended, he listened to Drake
and Sleepy Hallow on his head-
phones.
Stott was irritated throughout
the game as cramps materialized
in his calves. With Churchill about
two minutes from a win, an oppo-
nent ran into Stott, who said he
felt his jaw and dental braces crack
as he blacked out.
Churchill grabbed a defensive
rebound and pushed the ball up
the floor as Stott ran with his right
fist balled. He swung at the player
who shoved him. The opponent
punched back.
As Blake players ran off the
court and bench to join, a scrum
emerged at the bottom of the
bleachers. An adult shoved a man
onto the floor near midcourt. A
group of five coaches and parents
pulled Stott away.
After school administrators
asked spectators to leave, the
game ended with the score before
the fight — a 54-47 Churchill win.
Stott sat in the locker room con-
templating his endangered play-
ing future.
He apologized to his team-mates, but he felt words couldn’t
convey his remorse.Maturation process
That night, Stott devoured a
burrito bowl from Chipotle and
stood under hot water in the show-
er in his Potomac home. The play
repeated in his mind as he pon-
dered reacting differently. He was
angry — at himself, the player who
shoved him and his teammates for
remaining on the bench in fear of
the ramifications.
When he returned to his phone,
dozens of text messages appeared.
A video of the fight had circulated
on social media. Growing up, Stott
was a class clown for attention.
Now, receiving validation from his
peers was impossible.
Stott wanted to defend himself,
but family members and coaches
advised him that responding
would cause more controversy. He
placed his phone in “do not dis-
turb” mode.
Lying awake in bed all night
and the next day while suspended
from school, Stott recalled a simi-
lar experience. In October 2020,
Stott said, he had agreed to meet a
girl at a movie theater in German-
town, but when he got off the bus
five men jumped him. Without a
shirt and jacket, Stott ran to a
nearby library to call his parents.
Stott said resentment lingered
for a few weeks as he attempted to
identify the attackers. This time,
he vowed to respond with sinceri-
ty.
“The more you do, the worse it
gets,” Stott said. “I just let it cool
down and let it blow off. Since
then, nobody’s personally texted
me about the Blake situation.”
Stott’s grandfather, Tyrone,
usually sees Stott frustrated when
people tease his 13-year-old sister,
Jordyn, who he said was born with
brain damage. Tyrone believes
Stott has internalized his prob-
lems in recent years, including
when two of his childhood friends
died in the past six months.
When Stott was a child, Tyrone
joked that Stott’s body would grow
with his size-12 feet. When Stott
sprouted to 6-foot-3 in eighth
grade, the gags weren’t humorous.
“He grew really quick, and in
the African American culture, it’shard for a kid that’s 14 years old
and 6-foot-3,” Tyrone said. “People
look at the size and say, ‘Well, he’s a
man,’ not knowing he’s only a kid.”Returning to basketball
When Stott watched practice
three days after the fight, he fret-
ted about his message to his team-
mates.
“I know you’re trying to say
something, but we’ve got your
back,” teammate Isaiah Mbeng
told Stott on the court. “You don’t
have to say anything.”
While Stott’s teammates recog-
nized him for brightening their
days with jokes, others questioned
his character. Blumenthal tried to
convey Stott’s compassion to Divi-
sion II and III recruiters. In the
hallway, a sophomore leaped
backward when he passed Stott
and pleaded, “He’s going to hit
me.”
When Stott returned against
Bethesda-Chevy Chase on Feb. 10,
opposing students chanted “Anger
issues!” Stott wanted to respond,
but he turned to Blumenthal, who
smirked and shrugged his shoul-
ders. Stott struggled to settle in as
Churchill (21-1) lost.
“He’s got a great three-point
shot. He can play around the rim
and dunk. He can make highlight
blocks,” Blumenthal said of Stott,
who averages 13.5 points on 50
percent shooting. “His game
speaks volumes, but really the per-
son is completely different.”
In the home bleachers, Stott’s
family members were disheart-
ened. They know Stott as the guy
who stays home from family
Christmas trips to Deep Creek to
supervise Jordyn — and as the
baby who needed his purple paci-
fier to fall asleep.
Basketball has long been Stott’s
outlet. His first word was “ball,”
and he dribbled as a 2-year-old.
Now, his personal life and passion
are intertwined, which is likely to
continue when Churchill hosts
Bethesda-Chevy Chase on
Wednesday night to qualify for the
state quarterfinals.
Before every game, Tyrone texts
Stott to calm his thoughts and
remind him of the value that has
propelled his basketball career.
“Just have fun,” he writes.After the fight, a battle with regretChurchill’s Stott, who initiated an in-game brawl in January, is set on rebuilding his reputationJONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
“It was just a learning lesson and something I needed,” Churchill star Tre Stott, 17, says of the fight, which he says has helped him grow.GIRLS’ T OP 20 BOYS’ T OP 20BY JIM MCGRATHlynchburg, va. — In the two-
day meet’s penultimate event, the
3,200 meters, the Loudoun Valley
boys completed an impressive
comeback to win the Virginia
Class 4 indoor track and field
championship Tuesday at Liberty
University.
For the Vikings, it was their
fourth championship in the past
five years. Loudoun Valley won in
2018, 2019 and 2020 before Pat-
rick Henry of Ashland claimed the
title in 2021 — when most Lou-
doun County teams, including the
Vikings, did not compete.
Of the 10 Northern Virginia
schools representing Class 3 and 4
this week, no other local team
placed in the top 14.
Loudoun Valley earned its first
10 points Monday, with Justin
Park, Jake Rimmel, Graham Muss-
mon and Aidan Soto overcoming atough 4x800 field to win in 7 min-
utes 50.99 seconds.
After Tuesday’s field events,
that was the only first-place finish
among the Northern Virginia
teams. Only two other perform-
ances scored in the top three Mon-
day: Brentsville’s Dylan Sawyer
was second in the boys’ pole vault
in Class 3 with a clearance of
12 feet 9 inches, and Dominion’s
Arun Mantena was third in the
boys’ triple jump in Class 4 at
43-7.5.
The Vikings’ fortunes improved
dramatically Tuesday. The team of
John Lyth, Blake Moore, Isaiah
Stokes and Sam Hummer placed
second in the boys’ 4x200 relay in
1:33.08, and those eight points
pushed Loudoun Valley into the
top 10.
In the next event, the boys’
1,600, Mussmon led three Vikings
in the top five with his win in
4:13.26. Those 14 points vaultedLoudoun Valley into second place,
trailing Pulaski County 46.5-32.
Mussmon, a Liberty-bound
senior, was impressive on his fu-
ture home track, taking the lead
from the opening gun. To his sur-
prise, Trevor Mason of Patrick
Henry seized the pace on the
straightaway leading to the 1,200-
meter mark and seemed to be
gaining momentum. But Mason’s
move for the front gave Mussmon
a moment to recharge.
“I was hoping that someone
would take the [lead] for a couple
of laps, to give me a break,” he said.
On the backstretch, Mussmon
made his move and took the lead.
Mason struggled to respond, even-
tually placing second in 4:14.32.
Soto was third in the 1,000
(2:30.09) to give Loudoun Valley
six more points. Rimmel’s fifth-
place finish earned four more, cut-
ting the team’s deficit to 46.5-42.
The Vikings, the region’s topdistance team for the past decade,
almost took the lead on a sprint
event when Moore placed fifth in
the 300 (35.81). His four points
pushed Loudoun Valley within a
half-point.
Pulaski had no entries in the
3,200 or 4x400 relay, the final
events, so all Loudoun Valley
needed to do was score a single
point to win the team title. Muss-
mon left nothing to chance, un-
leashing a vicious kick over the
final 200 meters to win the 3,200
in 9:13.48, giving his team 10
points and the state crown. West-
ern Albemarle ended up second,
with Pulaski third.
For the Loudoun Valley girls,
Scarlet Fetterolf placed third in
the 3,200 in 10:52.09.
The Abingdon boys and Heri-
tage-Lynchburg girls won the
Class 3 titles, and the Heritage-
Newport News girls prevailed in
Class 4.VIRGINIA CLASS 3 AND 4 INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPSLoudoun Valley returns to its perch atop the stateHigh Schools