Ashburn, Va. — When the Briar Woods High School boys basketball team hosted Riverside High School in their Potomac District openers, both teams were primed and ready to play 32 minutes. But that plan was disrupted not once, but twice as the Falcons and Rams found themselves in a double overtime thriller to open league play.
Led by sophomore guard Devon Pettibone and senior guard Colton Auch, the Falcons weathered a third quarter run, a three at the end of regulation, and a three at the end of the first overtime period to fend off the Rams, 61-58, on January 8 in Ashburn.
“You don’t get these games back,” Briar Woods head coach Derek Butler said. “So starting 1-0 is big.”
Pettibone, Auch, and junior forward Patrick Fraim all connected on three-pointers in the first quarter, before senior forward Chris Whitley collected an offensive rebound and scored on the putback to give the Falcons an 11-3 lead late in the first quarter.
Whitley rolled into the second quarter right where he finished the first, scoring the Falcons’ next three buckets. Then, a basket by Pettibone and a pair of free throws by Fraim extended the Briar Woods lead to 21-12, their largest lead of the night.
That lead, however, was quickly cut into as Riverside junior forward Brady Peterson and sophomore guard Max Lawson both knocked down threes before the half to cut the lead to 21-18 heading into the intermission.
Coming out of the break, Pettibone started the second half just as he had the first, by burying a three pointer to give the Falcons a 6-point cushion.
Trailing 26-21, Riverside turned to sophomore forward Mason Ridgeway, who scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the third quarter, helping the Rams eventually take the lead at 30-29, before ending the quarter on a 4-0 run to head into the final frame leading 38-34.
During the run, the Rams took advantage of their size, cleaning up the offensive glass, when Riverside junior forward Joell Basue secured two of his game-high five offensive boards.
“We didn’t have [6-foot-6 forward] Ryan [Brzezanski] tonight, so we just told them that we have to get a body on them. When we didn’t, they made us pay,” Butler said. “[Basue] is a scrappy player, and he just works and works. He got them back in the game there with his energy getting on the glass. Overall to stay even with them, being undersized, just shows we have a good group with a lot of determination.”
That determination proved evident late in regulation as Auch, Pettibone, and Fraim worked to keep Riverside within striking distance. Late in the fourth, Fraim finished off a nice pass by Auch as the Falcons retook the lead 48-47.
Ridgeway then drove to the basket and finished to give the Rams the advantage, before Auch connected on four straight free throw attempts to put Briar Woods back up 52-49.
With regulation winding down, Riverside turned to 6-foot-5 shooting guard Shane Crissman who buried a three with less than 10 seconds to play to send the game to overtime.
“When they hit a three at the end of regulation, we told our guys that it’s disappointing, but if you want to grow up, you have to be able to put that behind you and move on,” Butler said.
Just like he did during the Rams’ third-quarter run, Basue collected an offensive rebound and scored on a putback to open the first overtime as Riverside was quickly on top.
That lead didn’t last long, though, as Pettibone and Auch scored on back-to-back possessions, before the Falcons connected on two more free throws to extend their lead to 58-54 late in overtime.
A made free throw cut the deficit to 58-55, before Riverside senior forward Gali Thomas grabbed an offensive rebound and found Lawson on the perimeter, who knocked down a three to send the game to double overtime.
A slower second overtime saw the Falcons continue to feed Auch, who scored the decisive free throw midway through the period.
“The physicality doesn’t bother him, and he has enough quickness to go by. We spread the floor there, and Colton was able to attack. I just loved his mentality,” Butler said. “At the end, he was disappointed because he got to the rim and missed a couple, but he just kept attacking which opened things up for everybody else.”
Pettibone added two free throws for insurance and although the Rams got off one more look from three, they couldn’t force a third overtime as the Falcons held on, 61-58.
Briar Woods (1-0, 6-5) will look to improve on their 1-0 district start when they travel to Stone Bridge on January 11. Riverside (0-1, 7-7) will have its hands full as it hosts Potomac District favorite Potomac Falls on January 12.
“Every night, we’re going to get these kinds of games. Every game is going to be a battle,” Butler said. “The Potomac District is pretty level across the league; I think Potomac Falls has the edge, but everyone else should be battling for that next spot.”
Derrick Jerry captured 150+ photos at the game!
Briar Woods Stats
| Briar Woods | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Devon Pettibone | 20 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Colton Auch | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7-for-10 |
| Patrick Fraim | 12 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3-for-3 |
| Chris Whitley | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Kendall Potts | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| Jacob Eckhaus | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Noah Lee | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Camden Lan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jaden Keltz | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kaden Miles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Parker Auch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 61 | 32 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 13-for-17 |
Riverside Stats
| Riverside | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Mason Ridgeway | 16 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| Shane Crissman | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3-for-3 |
| Max Lawson | 9 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3-for-4 |
| Joell Basue | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-3 |
| Connor Stredrick | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brady Peterson | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Gali Thomas | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0-for-0 |
| Lorenzo Chazarreta | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Joshua Ntiamoah | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Sep Duggal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Paris Borden | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 58 | 31 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 10-for-16 |