Ashburn, Va. —This season, the Briar Woods High School boys basketball team has battled in many games, only to fall short in multiple nail-biters. The Falcons faced narrow defeats at the final buzzer against Loudoun Valley, Tuscarora, Woodgrove, and Riverside, making for a challenging start to the season. So when the Falcons traveled across Ashburn to play rival Stone Bridge on January 17, they knew they needed to right the ship. Briar Woods senior forward Patrick Fraim (22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists) scored a game-high 22 points, while junior forward Nick Donatella (16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) added 16 as the Falcons erased a 13-point halftime deficit to earn a 67-65 comeback win in overtime.
“We’ve been battling in these types of games,” Briar Woods head coach Derek Butler said. “All year we’re in close games and overtime. The last stretch of games, especially, we’ve been coming up a little short. I’m proud of the guys and the way we battled back and secured the win finally in overtime.”
Briar Woods junior forward Josh Winklosky (10 points, 10 rebounds) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Falcons with 10 points, including the game-tying bucket late in the fourth quarter. With injuries at the guard position, Briar Woods junior guard Devon Pettibone (6 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists) had to play a more strategic game, focusing more on controlling the offense versus scoring.
“Devin [Pettibone] logged a ton of minutes, and I told him it’s not going to be his best statistical game,” Butler said. “He’s had a lot of good scoring games, but he had a good assist to turnover ratio tonight. The turnovers were the key in the game. He got us into our offense, and that was a solid game from him.”
On the other side, Stone Bridge got key contributions from freshman guard Kaden Golston (17 points, 4 rebounds) and his brother junior forward Kedric Golston II (12 points, 10 rebounds). Additionally, Stone Bridge sophomore guard Kevin Reyes (16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and junior guard Sam Rubino (11 points, 2 rebound, 2 assists) finished with double-digit points for the Bulldogs.
The older Golston quickly opened the scoring with an easy layup after winning the tip-off, then received a nice pass from Stone Bridge junior forward Nathan Hughes. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in less than two minutes after a Reyes layup, followed by another Golston II layup.
Later in the first frame, Reyes drilled a stepback three-pointer with a defender in his face to give the Bulldogs a 13-5 lead. He followed that shot up with an offensive rebound and a layup on the next possession, before sophomore guard Carter Burnes (7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists) pushed the Stone Bridge lead out to 17-5 to end the first quarter.
The Bulldogs played effective defense on Briar Woods throughout the first quarter, as the Falcons shot just 17% on their field goal attempts, missing many chances from under the basket. In turn, Stone Bridge scored 14 points inside the paint in the first frame.
Stone Bridge grew their lead to 21-8 after an open layup by Golston II, but Briar Woods responded after Fraim knocked down a three from the wing, while drawing a foul.
Later in the second quarter, Golston II used his strength to make a contested layup to increase the Stone Bridge lead to 25-14. After missed shots from both squads, Burnes knocked in a corner three, however, Briar Woods responded with a three by freshman guard Finn Gardner (7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) on the next possession.
After back-and-forth buckets from both teams, Golston II finished out the scoring in the second quarter with a buzzer-beater layup to give the Bulldogs a commanding 32-19 lead at half. Even after committing 7 turnovers in the second quarter, Stone Bridge still scored an efficient 58% of their shots, compared to 45% for Briar Woods.
“They played great defense, shutting us down when we were trying to get to the basket,” Butler said. “We were just playing a lot of ISO ball, and that’s not our kind of game. But we talked at halftime, and we finally got the ball moving, then some lanes opened up.”
Fraim opened up the scoring in the third quarter with a steal which led to a fastbreak layup. However, Reyes followed that up a couple minutes later making an open three-pointer to give Stone Bridge a 39-25 lead.
Then, the shots started falling for Briar Woods. The Falcons made 67% of their field attempts, while forcing 6 turnovers in the third quarter. Gardner and Donatella both made three-pointers, while Pettibone put in a stepback jumper to cut the deficit to 41-37 just over halfway through the third quarter. Through it all, Stone Bridge held onto their lead, opening the fourth quarter 44-38.
Rubino increased the Stone Bridge lead to 47-40 in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but Donatella responded with a three-pointer. Pettibone followed that up with a jumper to cut the lead to 47-45. Stone Bridge, not to be deterred, increased their lead to 53-47, but a couple possessions later Winklosky reduced the lead to 53-51.
With just over one minute left in the game, Reyes made a jumper to give Stone Bridge a 57-53 lead. Countering back, Fraim banked in a shot as he was falling down to the ground.
“[Patrick Fraim] was the rock for us,” Butler said. “He finally figured out that sometimes he gets sped up a little bit. He finally got himself under control, and he was attacking a bigger, stronger guy, but he was able to be strong and finish.”
With only 30 seconds left, Briar Woods got the offensive rebound after two missed free throws. Following a timeout, Fraim found Winklosky for an open layup under the basket to tie the game at 57-57. Hoping to win the game, Reyes made his shot, but the ball bounced off the front iron, sending the game into overtime.
Briar Woods opened overtime on a 7-0 scoring run, helped by a Donatella three-pointer to open the extra frame. Stone Bridge responded with a 6-0 run—capped off by a Reyes fastbreak layup—to close the lead to 64-63.
Fraim knocked down two huge free throws, but the younger Golston was open for a layup behind the defense to make it a 66-65 lead for Briar Woods with 30 seconds left in the game. Stone Bridge forced a turnover, but missed the potential game-winning basket, as Donatella grabbed the defensive board, was fouled, and made the frontend of his bonus free throws. The Bulldogs did not have enough time to put up a shot, giving Briar Woods a 67-65 win.
“You want everybody working hard, and then when you’re just coming up short, it’s hard to stay motivated,” Butler said. “These last couple practices have been tough on them, but they’ve been mentally strong.”
After winning their first Potomac District game, Briar Woods (1-1, 5-8) returns home on January 21 to play perennial power Potomac Falls. Stone Bridge (1-1, 5-3) will look to bounce back when the Bulldogs travel to Independence on the same night.
“We’ve been working hard, and it hasn’t shown up in the win column,” Butler said. “Getting that first [Potomac District win] makes us excited, and I think we will be looking forward to practice tomorrow.”