A breakaway dunk by sophomore Justin Smith iced the game in the final seconds. Smith finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds and Rhode Island commit Ben Hammond tallied 10 points, 5 assists and 2 steals en route to his second championship.WCAC POY Darren Harris on winning the 2024 WCAC 🏆
— Capitol Hoops (@CapitolHoops) February 27, 2024
The Duke commit finished with a game high 21 on 6-13 FG and 7-8 FT. He added 6 boards. @darrenwh11 @PVIHoops pic.twitter.com/8r9Yt1fuFX
By ADAM ZAGORIA
Duke commit Darren Harris scored 21 points to help lift Paul VI (VA) over Gonzaga, 63-51, in the WCAC championship on Monday night at American University.
It was the fourth WCAC championship for head coach Glenn Farello. A year ago, his team lost to St. John’s 65-63 in the final.
“Last year was definitely a motivator so we got back here and we had a historic season, that’s all I can say,” Harris, who hit a foul-line jumper that put PVI up 8 points with 1:20 remaining, told Capitol Hoops.
Harris is part of Duke’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class that also includes Cooper Flagg, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
PVI finished a perfect season for the second time in program history (2012) while DeMatha also did it once, per Capitol Hoops.