It has not taken long for the Episcopal Maroon to step into their stride this season, and they improved even further on the early season success Saturday night, taking care of the Flint Hill Huskies by a score of 64-33. Coming off a much closer victory over Bishop Ireton the night before, the Maroon grabbed an early lead and never looked back, using the hefty and boisterous crowd as just extra motivation to take care of business in style.

“It’s always a great win if you can defeat Flint Hill,” acknowledged Episcopal’s head coach Jim Fitzpatrick following his team’s victory. “But tonight I think the difference just was our defense. We really decided to sit down and guard their sets, defend their guards who are very good, and both our man and zone were working very well for us.

As the first quarter wore on, Flint Hill was repeatedly maintaining the longer possessions, but were unable to capitalize, whereas the Maroon would hustle down the floor quickly and often put away points from transition play. Huskies’ sophomore point-guard Mortimer Berchie kept working to keep his team close, including one particularly deep three-pointer, but by the end of the first Episcopal had already worked up a 16-8 lead.

Berchie would come out strong again in the second quarter, hitting yet another deep three, but Sadiq Abubakar would answer back immediately for Episcopal, draining one of his own from behind the arc. As the teams headed in for halftime with an Episcopal lead of 24-15, it was the defense from the Maroon that truly stood out, adamantly refusing Flint Hill any opportunity to turn the tide.

Episcopal would really break free in the third quarter, led by the same trio of players that had dominated the rest of the game in Abubakar, Adala Moto, and David Kagulu-Kalema. Any time that Flint Hill would produce an impressive offensive possession, and there were a few, Episcopal would instantly turn around and re-extend their lead. 

With the score at 48-22 by the end of the third, the question had really become by just how much were Episcopal going to end up taking it, as the big men in the post continued to have their way with the Huskies’ defense.

As expected, the Maroon would go on to run away with it in the final quarter, taking it by a final score of 64-33, although leading at one point by as much as 36. 

“I think we have a lot of weapons offensively,” said coach Fitzpatrick about his team’s success. “We have three guys who are very strong scorers from the perimeter, also can play a little in the post, and they all compliment each other very nicely. So I think one of the reasons we were tough to stop tonight was because we could come at them from so many different angles.”

The game started off with both teams playing very evenly on both sides of the ball, forcing turnovers, getting out in transition, and converting tough lay-ups. Landon was led by their starting backcourt, sophomore Joseph McDonald and senior Daniel Rubin, who were able to knock down shots and get their teammates good looks at the basket. Episcopal was led by Kagulu-Kaleema and junior Sadiq Abubakar, whose freakish athleticism along with his long-distance shot, made him very difficult to guard all game.

Episcopal’s defense was the story in the first quarter, getting steals and easy buckets in transition, especially at the end of the quarter. The quarter ended with Episcopal having all of the momentum as Kagulu-Kaleema stole the ball and went coast to coast for a dunk to give Episcopal a four-point lead after the first quarter, 13-9.

However, the second quarter was all about the Bears, whose defense led to easy transition buckets by McDonald, who led the Bears with eight first half points. Daniel Rubin and Andrew Roach, Landon’s two co-captains, were shut out early, but made contributions nonetheless through their passing and defense, and led the Bears to a 26-22 lead into halftime.

After halftime, both teams came out red hot in the third quarter, hitting from all over the court for the first couple minutes, but then cooling down at the end as both teams seemed to go cold from the field. Landon was able to increase their lead through steals off their 2-3 zone, going on a quick 4-0 run with back-to-back steals and lay-ups by Daniel Rubin and Addison Sarter, to give Landon a 39-28 lead with just a minute remaining in the third quarter.

It appeared the clock may have struck midnight on Episcopal’s chance to get back into the game, but Kagulu-Kaleema and Abubakar would not take “no” for an answer. After two tough lay-ups by Kagulu-Kaleema, Abubakar skied over all the Landon players to get a huge rebound and putback, and on the very next possession, the junior from Abuja, Nigeria hit an “NBA-range” three-pointer that cut the once 12-point Landon lead to just three, 41-44, with just two minutes remaining.

After a pullup three-pointer by McDonald gave the Landon Bears a six-point lead once again, a tough Adala Moto lay-up, two free throws made by Kagulu-Kaleema, and a steal by the Maroon gave them a chance to tie with just a minute remaining; however, a fade away by Adala Moto was missed and the Bears had the ball with a chance to ice the game. But the junior, Sadiq Abubakar stole a cross court pass and was fouled on the ensuing lay-up with just 30 seconds remaining. Abubakar made both free throws and Landon could not get a shot off before the time went out and a four-minute overtime period was needed.

At the end of the overtime, after a tip in by Darion Adkins tied the game at 55 with just 6.8 seconds remaining, Kagulu-Kaleema made a heroic play in catching the ball from his own free throw line, knifing his way through Landon’s pressing defense and knocked down the softest floater from inside the paint with just 1.8 seconds. Landon could not get a shot off, once again, and the Maroon escaped 57-55 over Landon in overtime.

In the highly competitive IAC, which features three of the area’s top-20 teams, Georgetown Prep, Episcopal and defending champion Landon have been jockeying for position. On Friday night Georgetown Prep sent the IAC a resounding message while beating the Maroon 66-50.

The Little Hoyas needed to rely on poise in the first quarter as Episcopal built a 16-11 lead. The Maroon fed off a raucous crowd at Episcopal's Centennial Gymnasium and executed a very up-tempo offensive pace and an aggressive defense to keep Georgetown Prep off balance.

The Little Hoyas struggled on defense trying to match up against rangy Sadiq Abubakar, who finished with 20 points, and Arnaud Adala-Moto, who finished with 12 points, in man-to-man defense.

But by the end of the opening stanza, Georgetown Prep settled down and used a 2-3 zone defense to cool off the Maroon's offense and force them into jump shots. The change worked to perfection and turned the tide with a 13-0 run.

"We needed to change how we covered their bigs because they were difficult for us to cover (in man),” Georgetown Prep head coach Dwayne Bryant said. "We had to slow them down and used a zone to use our size and force them into jumpers. Thankfully it worked."

"Prep really played a nice zone," Fitzpatrick said. "We got some good looks from outside but we couldn't hit them because we were out of rhythm. We got tight and stopped going inside, and you just can’t live off the three-point shot and lost our offensive balance."

It may seem like it’s been a while since Episcopal's overtime victory over Landon on January 12th, but to most players on the court this past Friday night, it appeared fresh on their minds. Episcopal played well, but the Bears lead the whole way, and walked away with the 64-50 victory.

The Bears came out firing early, storming out to a first quarter lead. By the end of the quarter the Bears had jumped out to a 15-6 lead, a fact that may have shaken a confident Episcopal Maroon team.

This wake-up call seemed to have some effect on the Maroon in the second, as some more progressive, thought-out play created more scoring opportunities. Meanwhile, they put pressure on the Bears down the other end of the court, utilizing their size for some suffocating defense. Although the Maroon showed more promising signs, including some nice plays from Sadiq Abubakar, they still found themselves trailing 25-18 at halftime.

Darion Atkins came out looking to increase the lead early in the second, as he created space for a layup, and then finished a put back on the next possession. Despite some more strong plays from Abubakar, Landon's depth helped them through.

Abubakar's fast start looked to get Episcopal back in a more reasonable position early, but insistent replies from McDonald and Atkins continued to buoy the Bears. The increasingly fast-tempo of play was causing turnovers for both sides, but this seemed to be marginally favoring the Maroon, as the gap narrowed once more.

As Rubin nailed an open three, and Wellington hit another long one as the shot clock buzzer sounded on the ensuing possession, it was becoming ever more hard to see an Episcopal comeback as a possibility. An immediate response from Abubakar with one of his own was promising, but nothing seemed to be enough for the Maroon to fight back level. Landon kept controlled in the final minutes to close out the win successfully, as perfect free throw shooting put the game out of sight.

Episcopal’s Jim Fitzpatrick is in a unique situation for a high school basketball coach. Working at a boarding school, he is given the opportunity to be creative in his search for young men with high-caliber academics as well as high-caliber basketball talent. Bringing in international players is something that not many coaches in the area have a chance to do, but Fitzpatrick has capitalized on his situation successfully.

Specifically, he has focused on bringing in students from the continent of Africa, working with specific individuals who can match the rigorous academic standards required, as well as produce on the court at Episcopal. In recent years this program has produced such talents as Given Kalipinde (Loyola Marymount), originally from Zambia, and Yao Sithole (Skidmore), a South African native.

Now, however, there is a new wave of African talent at the Alexandria boarding school and this talent is now headlined by junior Sadiq Abubakar from Nigeria and sophomore Arnaud Adala-Moto from Cameroon.

For the last couple of years before coming to Episcopal, Sadiq Abubakar had to live in an entirely different city than his parents, the Nigerian capital of Abuja, in order to get a better Nigerian education. Living alongside his older brother, Abubakar moved to Abuja, far from his parents’ small village, in hopes of receiving a greater education and having the possibility of one day of moving to America.

This year that hope became a reality, as Fitzpatrick was able to bring this diligent, intellectual student over. He has already begun to excel both on and off the court, making his impact on the IAC while simultaneously maintaining an impressive GPA. Although IAC basketball has presented a new challenge to this true junior, he has nonetheless become the leading scorer for the Maroon, and Fitzpatrick describes him as one of the better defenders they have had at the school.

“Sadiq works harder than any player I’ve ever coached,” asserted Coach Fitzpatrick. “He’s constantly in the gym on his own, he’s always working on his shot with teammates, so I know that his work ethic will propel him into becoming a truly great player. He is learning every day, he is getting better every day, and he is really a thrill to coach.”

A scoring guard, Abubakar is adept at finding several different ways to put the ball in the basket, and he particularly shines in transition. Also notable for his shutdown defense, he has been relied upon constantly throughout the season to shutdown the best player on the opposing team, and he always plays above the rim. Averaging 15.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, Abubakar’s impact in the IAC has certainly been felt in his first year on the scene.

“The other reason why these two guys make my job so much easier is that they really understand their roles on the team,” noted Fitzpatrick. “When I’m coaching 13 guys, the most important thing I preach is that they are all valuable to the team in their own unique way, and Arnaud and Sadiq have really bought on to that concept.”

With such talented young players, the next level is always a key focus for the high school coach, and focusing some attention on where they will be in the future. The long and sometimes intimidating college recruiting process has begun for both Abubakar and Adala-Moto, although Fitzpatrick believes it is important not go overboard with it just yet, and allow them to keep their options open. Right now, the pair continues to focus on school, and developing their basketball skills – the college aspect will continue to work its way through in the meantime.

At this point, the sky truly is the limit for these two gifted athletes, and there is no reason to believe that they cannot use what they have achieved already in their first season in the IAC to their advantage as their careers progress.

“Both of these players have such outstanding potential,” Fitzpatrick said. “As for Sadiq, I’ve never coached a player who is physically as strong, or athletically as gifted. In terms of sheer power and athleticism, Sadiq is a true standout.”