Sterling, Va. — Once you enter region playoff territory, most teams are pretty battle tested, and this winter, that might be most true about the Potomac Falls High School boys basketball team. Battling to the top of the grueling Potomac District, the Panthers won close game after close game—including a 1-point win over Stone Bridge in the district championship game—to prepare themselves for the region tournament.
Despite entering the region tournament with an average margin of victory of just +1.75 against district opponents, the Panthers absolutely dominated the North Stafford Wolverines, 62-18, in a VHSL Region 5D quarterfinal on February 23 in Sterling.
“We got a couple of guys dinged up, so we were happy to have one like that to give them a break,” Potomac Falls head coach Jeff Hawes said.
[adrotate banner=”53″]From the opening tip to the final whistle, Potomac Falls was in complete control.
Senior point guard Kyle Ables got things started early when he knocked down a three on an assist from junior forward Eli Adegbenro to put Potomac Falls up 3-0. Two possessions later, Adegbendro found the basket on an assist by senior guard Aidan Apietu as the Panthers were just getting started.
In total, six different Panthers scored in the first quarter as they quickly jumped out to a 14-4 lead.
“We were very unselfish with the basketball,” Hawes said. “If there was ever an atmosphere to go get your own, that was it, but we didn’t do that.”
Even with a 10-point lead, Potomac Falls did not slow down in the second quarter as they forced 10 North Stafford turnovers on 7 steals to completely knock any and all remaining wind out of the Wolverines’ sails while heading into the halftime intermission up 37-6.
“Regardless of the score, I was really impressed that we kept playing defense, because that’s our calling card,” Hawes said. “We work really hard on our positioning. We had 3-4 plays where someone got out of position but we rotated to help. We pride ourselves on our defense, and it’s carried us to this point.”
With the game on ice, Potomac Falls emptied its bench as a total of 10 different Panthers scored—including seven guys off the bench combining for 33 points.
“It’s the beauty of how deep we are,” Hawes said. “It’s cliche, but it’s next man up. Some teams can’t say that, but we’re 10, 11, 12 deep, so we’re fortunate for that especially this time of year.”
Potomac Falls (8-2, 20-5) is no stranger to late February basketball as the Panthers have been a feared power throughout the region since Hawes led them to back-to-back state titles in 2010 and 2011. And Hawes said this particular squad is hitting their stride at just the right time.
“We’re believing, we’re feeling good, and we’re playing well together.”
Derrick Jerry captured 150+ photos at the game!
Potomac Falls Stats
| Potomac Falls | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Elijah Adegbenro | 14 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Owen Levenhagen | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| Aidan Apietu | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Joshua Prince | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Gavin Plunkett | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Kyle Ables | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| John Opiola | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| James Delaney | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Justin Opiola | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Lance Baucom | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Gavin Griffith | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Mitch Laurenson | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Jalen Jackson | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Landon Wollmuth | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Owen Copeland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 62 | 35 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 6-for-12 |
North Stafford Stats
| North Stafford | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Ian Edwards | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Nick Perkins | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-3 |
| Dino Jones | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Andrew Moorris | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Micah Brown | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jeremiah Shelley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| YaYa Conten | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Colin Kuzma | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Vincent Sabatino | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Keena Jabearke | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Austin Hamilton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 18 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0-for-6 |