Pride Gives PF a Dose of Its Own Medicine

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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.