Pride Gives Panthers a Dose of their Own Medicine

Basketball sponsored by cheers sports

By: Dan Sousa

Leesburg (Jan. 25, 2008) – It was patented Potomac Falls High School boys basketball on display Thursday night: swarming fullcourt defense, balls swiped and returned for easy layins, hustle rebounds, a fast transition game finished with a precise 3-pointer.

Only this time it was host Heritage applying the pressure, and the Panthers falling prey, as the Pride used fullcourt pressure to go on a 10-2 run at the end of the third quarter.

“We tried to flip the script on them in the third quarter,” said Heritage coach Mark Mallisham.

Heritage’s quick strike — Preston Findley scored seven points in 32 seconds including two layins off steals and a trey — led to a 11-point margin that Heritage nursed home to a 66-53 victory.

The win set up a showdown next Tuesday in Sterling between the Pride (6-2, 8-7) and Park View (6-2, 10-4) with first place in the AA Dulles District on the line. The Patriots knocked off Loudoun County on Thursday, 73-67. In December, Park View escaped from Heritage with a last-second, 55-54 win.

Findley finished with a game-high 19 points and was just one of four Pride in double digits with Chris Broderick (15), Curtis Rustin (13) and Mike Massey (10) adding the depth. The fifth starter, Ross Madison, was a new insert into the starting line-up and drew high praise from Mallisham for stepping into the point guard role.

It was not only an important win for Heritage in the district standings but the Pride were coming off back-to-back losses at home and they wanted to avoid a three-game slide in front of the home fans. Those losses included a one-point, last-second defeat to County and then a poor showing against Valley in which the Pride managed just nine first-half points.

“This was a great bounce-back type of game,” said Mallisham. “It was very important for our kids to get their swagger back.”

Potomac Falls got 17 from Alex Hogue and 10 apiece from Willie Mears and Greg Woodlief, but the Panthers never looked like the team that rode into the game on a six-game winning streak during which they went from 0-2 in district to tied for first at 5-2. Exam week left PF just a step off.

“We never found our flow tonight. We weren’t smooth tonight,” said Potomac Falls coach Jeff Hawes.