Leesburg, Va. — Anything can happen in playoff basketball, and that’s even more true in a very competitive Potomac District where just two games separated the second and sixth seeded teams. So when No. 6 Briar Woods High School traveled to No. 2 Riverside High School for a Potomac District semifinal on February 15, there was no surprise that the game took longer than regulation to decide.
The play of the game, however, came late in regulation when, with less than two seconds left, Riverside senior guard Kyle Hogan got through a double team and made an entry pass to senior center Tai Schaefer, who just barely got his shot off as time expired to send the game to overtime.
“It was the third option of that whole sequence there,” Riverside head coach Mike Koscinski said. “But, man, it was beautiful. I’d love to see it again.”
Then, after trailing down the stretch of overtime, Riverside turned to its experienced leaders as Schaefer found senior forward Jaden Frazier open underneath to take a 1-point lead before the Rams eventually ran out the clock to survive the Falcons, 48-46, in overtime.
“It’s about surviving and advancing at this point,” Koscinski said. “We’re young in spots, and we’re experienced in spots, and I think that’s still new to everybody at this point, carrying some of that load”
[adrotate banner=”53″]A back-and-forth first quarter allowed the Falcons to stay in the game early as Briar Woods continued to spread the ball around on offense. Midway through the second quarter, Briar Woods freshman guard Devon Pettibone and freshman forward Ryan Brzezanski hit three-pointers in near succession to give the Falcons a 20-19 lead.
That short spurt, however, was quickly answered as the Rams closed the first half on a 7-0 to take a 26-20 lead into the half.
The third quarter was rather uneventful, but the fourth quarter started with a splash as Brzezanski buried another three to cut the Riverside lead to just 34-33. On the very next trip, Briar Woods senior guard Ben Pearsall hit a three as the Falcons took a 36-34 lead, their first of the half.
“Sometimes after a game you question effort, but tonight wasn’t an effort thing. We just had some plays that didn’t go our way,” Briar Woods head coach Derek Butler said. “The effort and grit they show is something I’m really proud of. There’s not a group I’d rather coach anywhere than them; they’re just high-quality, high-character guys.”
Riverside quickly erased that lead as Frazier found Schaefer down low to tie the game up at 36-36.
Both teams traded buckets and missed free throws over the next stretch, setting up a 42-40 game with less than 20 seconds to play.
Trailing by 2, Riverside drew up a play during a timeout, which was quickly thwarted on a deflection by Pearsall. Following another time out with less than 10 seconds to play, the Rams inbounded the ball to Hogan who then handed it off to sophomore guard Shane Crissman in the corner. Crissman almost immediately gave it back up to Hogan who dished the entry pass down to Schaefer for the finish to send the game into overtime.
“We knew Briar Woods was going to bring their A-game tonight,” Koscinski said. “They’re a very well coached team so hats off to them. We just made a few very clutch plays.”
Schaefer—who finished with a 14-point, 11-rebound double double—scored early in overtime but Briar Woods senior guard Ishaan Verma hit a three-pointer to give the Falcons a 45-44 lead. Verma then converted on the front half of a one-and-one opportunity to extend the lead to 46-44.
From there, Riverside freshman guard Paris Borden got to the line, making the second of his two free throw attempts as the Rams cut the lead to 46-45 before Frazier scored on a pass from Schaefer and converted on the front end of his one-and-one opportunity to help the Rams fend off the Falcons.
“Jaden is a big brother, he’s the mentor, he’s the counselor, he’s handling the ball a lot, he’s a playmaker,” Koscinski said. “He’s a really great young man, and he’s matured a lot through the process. He’s very excited during games, but he’s cerebral and sees a lot of things on the floor.”
The No. 6 Falcons (3-7, 10-13) will look to earn a trip to the VHSL Region 5D tournament when they tango with No. 4 Stone Bridge (4-6, 13-11) in a consolation game on February 17.
“It’s going to show our mental toughness if we go in and play a good game,” Butler said. “We’ve swept Stone Bridge on the year, but we have to sweep this loss under the rug and just move forward or else we’re not going to be ready to play.”
No. 2 Riverside (5-5, 13-8) will look to ride their momentous win into the Potomac District championship when they travel to No. 1 Potomac Falls (9-1, 18-5) on the same night.
“Last year, we didn’t have the opportunity to get to the district championship, so we’re really excited,” Frazier said. “The Panther Pit is definitely something else. That’s one of my favorite places to play away from home; I love the atmosphere. It’s going to be an exciting Friday night.”
Mike Ferrara captured 125+ photos at the game!
Riverside Stats
| Riverside | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Tai Schaefer | 14 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-2 |
| Jaden Frazier | 11 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Paris Borden | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Kyle Hogan | 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Shane Crissman | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brady Peterson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Gali Thomas | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0-for-0 |
| Sep Duggal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 48 | 27 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4-for-8 |
Briar Woods Stats
| Briar Woods | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Ishaan Verma | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Eamon Welsh | 9 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1-for-2 |
| Ryan Brzezanski | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Jackson Kelley | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Ben Pearsall | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Devon Pettibone | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Anthony Famiglietti | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Colton Auch | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Noah Lee | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Zachary Nelson | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 46 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 3-for-8 |