“I had to find another game plan because it was problem-solving, finding a Plan B, because once Plan A stopped working, I had to move on,” said Muhammad, who fell behind 1-4 against Gonzaga’s Christian Torborg. “As I slowly made my way back, it was not only just playing better. It was consistency and having control.”

Midway through the match at Paul VI, Muhammad — who isn’t accustomed to taking the spotlight — screamed at himself, which his teammates said means he’s resetting his focus and purging mistakes from his mind.

The change was immediate. He stopped trying to slam the ball away and focused on maintaining points and hitting safe returns as he took the lead at 8-7. Both teams roared as Muhammad contested a line call on match point, requiring DeMatha Coach Mark Dalzell and Gonzaga Coach Randy de Guzman to consult on whether his return was inside the line.

Both coaches agreed: Muhammad’s challenge was sustained, handing him the win and confirming the title for DeMatha.

“It’s years of just coming close or seeing the building blocks happen,” Dalzell said. “[In the past] there was always some misstep that happened along the way. So everything just leads to this.”

It was a bittersweet victory for Cody Gray, the Stags’ star freshman, who lost to Paul VI’s Luke Saylor at No. 1 singles.

For Saylor, it’s a reminder that his team, which placed third, can’t be overlooked as it builds a championship squad for future seasons.

“We played Gonzaga [during the season] and I lost my match, 8-0, and from that point forward I told myself I didn’t want to lose another,” Saylor said after his 8-2 win over Gray. “It was mental. I was too nervous going into that match, and it caused me to make a bunch of errors. So if I just played with more confidence and didn’t get upset about the little things, that was the key to victory.”

Even with Saylor’s win for the Panthers, the Stags demonstrated how deep their squad goes by getting wins at No. 2 singles (junior Jacob Poole) and No. 5 singles (senior Kaleem Muhammad).

After they took second behind Gonzaga last year, it was a fitting culmination to the improvement they made.

“It means a lot because last year we fell short,” Poole said. “This year I’m definitely coming back with vengeance. We knew we had a way better team than we did last year. So everybody in the WCAC knew it was DeMatha’s to take.”