Sterling, Va. — It didn’t take long for the Potomac Falls High School boys basketball team to heat up in the Potomac District championship game. On the Panthers’ first possession, senior guard Josh Prince found senior point guard James Delaney open on the wing for a three. Two possessions later, Prince again connected with Delaney, who hit his second triple of the night as Potomac Falls jumped out to a 6-0 lead.
While they would give up the lead twice throughout the first half, those early buckets set the tone as the Panthers remained unbeaten, claiming their fifth straight Potomac District championship, 57-50, over the Rams on February 16 in Sterling.
“It never gets old,” Potomac Falls 27th-year head coach Jeff Hawes said. “It’s not as easy as it looks. The pressure has mounted all season with us being undefeated.”
Despite the mounting pressure of an undefeated season—and living up to the standard previous Potomac Falls teams have set over the last three decades—the Panthers flinched but never backed down.
With a roster loaded with nine seniors—including all five starters—Potomac Falls has been here before. Last season, the Panthers knocked off the Rams in the district championship game, 56-41. The season before that, Potomac Falls escaped Riverside, 49-43, in a district semifinal before outlasting Stone Bridge, 46-45, in the title game.
“We have nine seniors on the team, and we’ve been playing together since second grade,” Potomac Falls senior forward Johnny Opiola said. “The chemistry that we’ve been building together over time has really made us a family. Winning with them is extra special.”
Opiola’s game-high 14 points led a senior class which scored 53 of the team’s 57 points in the win, featuring double figure scores David Marshall, Opiola, and Prince.
“It feels amazing to do this with this squad,” Opiola said. “This could be one of our last games at Potomac Falls, so it was truly memorable.”
After heading into the half in a tie game, Opiola came out and scored on a tough and-one to give the Panthers’ a 28-25 lead early in the third. That helped spark a 12-4 third quarter run, which gave Potomac Falls a 37-29 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
“For whatever reason, we’ve had great third quarters, and tonight was no different,” Hawes said. “They’re a very good scoring team, so to hold them to 4 points in the third is what won us the game.”
Even with an experienced group, the Panthers had their hands full with a rising Riverside team. After being held scoreless through the first three quarters, Riverside sophomore forward Mason Ridgeway—who averages a team-high 13.7 points—exploded for 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Rams cut the score to as close as 51-48 with just a few minutes left in the contest.
“Riverside has been getting better and better, and we’ve seen them coming,” Hawes said. “They have a lot of youth that’s getting older and more experienced. We knew tonight was going to be a big time fight.”
However, that final fight was too little too late as a pair of free throws by Marshall followed by a pair of easy buckets by Opiola on dimes from Prince closed the door on the Panthers’ 57-50 win.
The win not only marks the 16th district championship in Potomac Falls (10-0, 24-0) history, but also secures the Panthers a bye and home court in their VHSL Region 5D semifinal on February 21. Meanwhile, Riverside (7-3, 15-10) will host Stone Bridge (5-5, 13-10) in a region quarterfinal on February 19 in Leesburg.
“We’re really excited. We really wanted to get that bye Monday and home game Wednesday, so it’s a huge step,” Hawes said. “But we’re hopefully not done yet.”
Bill Bride captured 150+ photos at the game!
Potomac Falls Stats
| Potomac Falls | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| John Opiola | 14 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| David Marshall | 12 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6-for-10 |
| Joshua Prince | 12 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5-for-6 |
| James Delaney | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Colby Margenau | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Troy Hooper | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Matthew Larner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Lukas Bakatsias | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Darrell Jr Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 57 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 13-for-20 |
Riverside Stats
| Riverside | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Mason Ridgeway | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Brady Peterson | 11 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3-for-4 |
| Shane Crissman | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Joell Basue | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Lorenzo Chazarreta | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Joshua Ntiamoah | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Gali Thomas | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Max Lawson | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2-for-4 |
| Paris Borden | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Connor Stredrick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 50 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 12-for-19 |