Boys Hoops: Potomac Falls 74, Heritage 58

Leesburg (Dec. 13, 2008) – Potomac Falls High School boys basektball coach Jeff Hawes was concerned Friday that his team was too loose before the game, but the noisy bus ride to Heritage and chipper pregame locker room translated into a AA Dulles District opening 74-58 win over the Pride.

Potomac Falls (1-0, 5-2) got a combined 47 points from senior Kevin Bartnick and sophomore Lukas Mihailovich and senior Greg Woodlief scored all 10 of his points in the first quarter as the Panthers sprinted out to a 21-12 advantage.

Heritage (0-1, 0-4) got 19 points from senior Stephen Shockley and 16 from senior James Austin, but the Pride were not able to stop Potomac Falls transition game. New Heritage coach Greg Grimes wasn’t as bothered after the game by the Pride’s 0-4 start as much as by the lack of execution, especially after falling on the road earlier in the week to defending AA state champion Millbrook.

“Against Millbrook we didn’t shoot the ball well but we played hard the entire game and executed well,” said Grimes. 

The win was sweet for Potomac Falls which has had trouble against Heritage, especially early in the season, falling to Heritage in each of the last three seasons in the first round of district play — 62-55 in 2007-08, 79-63 in 2006-07 and 80-71 in 2005-06.

“We are pretty good at home,” said Hawes. ” But to be a great team you need to win on the road.”

The Panthers dropped eight 3-pointers in the contest including three in the first quarter — two by Woodlief — and three by Mihailovich in the third quarter where the sophomore scored 11 to help PF stretch a 36-25 halftime advantage to a 55-40 comfortable lead with a quarter to play.

The Pride also scored eight 3-pointers with Austin hitting four treys for Heritage.

Potomac Falls would have won by an even greater margin but the Panthers shot just 50 percent from the line, missing 12 of 24 free throws but PF also shot 43 percent from the field (19 of 44) and the Panthers had 12 steals and seven blocks in the victory.

PF   21  15  19  19  – 74

Her 12  13  15  18  – 58

Potomac Falls: Bartnick 24, Mihailovich 23, Woodlief 10, Wagenhoffer 6, Clem 4, Curran 2, Nemelka 2, Graves 2, Griffin 1. 

3-Pointers 8 (Bartnick 3, Mihailovich 3, Woodlief 2).

Heritage: Shockley 19, Austin 16, Peters 6, Middleton 6, Berchie 4, Amy 4, Calhoun 3.

3-Pointers 8 (Austin 4, Shockley 3, Peters 1).