Alcindor...Got to see him play in Power Memorial’s second game against Washington DC DeMatha at U Maryland Cole Field House
“Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the most famous high school basketball game in Washington area history. On Jan 30, 1965, DeMatha did what many considered impossible – it knocked off New York City’s Power Memorial and its star seven-foot center Lew Alcindor, who later became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.”
“DeMatha’s victory ended Power’s 71-game winning streak and trained a previously unimaginable spotlight on high school basketball in general and DeMatha’s burgeoning program in particular.”
“There were actually two games between the two schools – both played at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House. Each game was a sellout, with more than 12,000 fans in attendance. The first of the two games ended in a narrow victory for the visiting New Yorkers. The second, of course, went to DeMatha.”
Morgan Wootten (April 21, 1931 – January 21, 2020) was an American high school basketball coach for 46 seasons at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland.
He led the Stags to five national championships and 33 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) titles.
In 2000, he was the third high school coach to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the first high school only coach to be inducted.