Sterling, Va. — 27 years ago, a 1984 Broad Run graduate walked across a dirt patch measuring roughly 90 feet in length less than 10 miles from where he graduated high school. For the first time in 21 years—since Park View opened in 1976—Loudoun County Public Schools had broken ground on a new high school at 46400 Algonkian Parkway, and soon-to-be Potomac Falls High School had tabbed Jeff Hawes to be its first boys basketball coach.
Fast forward more than 10,000 days and Hawes still holds the reins to the Panthers’ basketball program.
18 district titles, 7 region titles, and 2 state championships later, there was just one number that stood out when the clock struck 0:00 in the Panthers’ 80-41 win over rival Dominion on December 20 in Sterling: 500.
In his 28th season at the helm, Jeff Hawes earned his 500th career coaching victory, making him just the 19th boys basketball coach in VHSL history to eclipse the 500-win plateau.
“I gotta pinch myself. I’ve thought about this 500th win a lot,” Hawes said. “I’ve been very fortunate. We just built something the kids believe in, and we try to sell it every year.”
Hawes—who served as the JV coach at his alma mater Broad Run for ten years before earning the Potomac Falls job in 1997—has built a basketball culture unlike any other in Loudoun County.
And that has never been more clear than when the Panthers took the court for their matchup with their rival Titans just before winter break.
“This is almost like a fairytale,” Hawes said. “It’s like a movie that it ended up on the Friday night before winter break at home against Dominion with the whole community here.”
With more than an hour before tipoff, the Panther Pit was already full to the brim as students, parents, former players, teachers, community members, and plain old basketball fans showed up for the chance to witness history.
“We had four of the five 1,000-point scorers here and probably another 40 alumni players in the house tonight. That means the world to me,” Hawes said. “Those relationships are far more important than any win. That made it extra special.”
Despite all the expectations from those in attendance, Hawes knew a milestone win like this could be elusive, especially against a rival who has improved leaps and bounds since last season.
“I was truthfully very nervous tonight. Everyone just assumed it was going to happen, but what if it didn’t happen?” Hawes said. “Dominion’s improved, head coach Ryan [Williams] is getting them going. We always respect them.”
Coming off a 1-22 campaign in 2023-2024, the Titans hired 2017 alum Ryan Williams to lead the charge this winter. Heading into the matchup with Potomac Falls, Williams—who was not yet born when Hawes was hired at Potomac Falls—had already helped the Titans triple their win total from just a season before.
On the other hand, the Panthers were coming off a 26-1 season, which included both Potomac District and VHSL Region 5D championships. Despite their success last winter, Potomac Falls knew they’d be tested in 2024-2025, having graduated all but one player who stepped foot on the court in the 2024 region championship game.
“We have one kid coming back [senior forward Troy Hooper]with any kind of experience whatsoever,” Hawes said. “I’m really proud of this group. They practice hard, they get along, and it’s pretty cool that they got to be a part of this.”
The young Panthers weren’t going to let the noise around Hawes’ potential 500th win distract them as they jumped out to an early 6-2 lead thanks to Hooper (10 points, 10 rebounds) and sophomore point guard Joshua Orbida (6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists).
Three pointers by sophomore guards Adit Apte (16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals) and Evinn Herring (9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists) as well as an offensive rebound and finish by senior forward Troy Dellinger (6 points, 2 rebounds) helped the Panthers balloon their lead to 16-8 before the end of the first quarter.
“The sophomores are playing way better than I dreamt. We knew they were good, we were excited about them, but the way they’re playing is unbelievable,” Hawes said. “They’ve grown up a lot faster than we had hoped.”
Potomac Falls stayed patient in the second quarter, earning trip after trip to the charity stripe, where they knocked down 7-of-10 free throws in the second quarter alone, taking a 40-16 lead into the halftime break.
With history just two quarters away, the Panthers stayed the course as Apte knocked down a pair of threes, Hooper finished around the rim, and junior forward Colton Call (12 points, 2 assists, 3 steals) came off the bench to add 7 points in the third quarter.
Taking a 63-32 lead into the fourth quarter, the Potomac Falls faithful started to buzz, knowing history was just eight minutes away.
Like they had throughout the night, the Panthers defense locked in, holding the Titans to just 9 points in the fourth quarter, securing the ninth win of their season and the 500th in school history.
While they celebrated with family and friends following the milestone achievement, the Panthers (0-0, 9-1) know their season goals are far from accomplished, and Hawes expects the culture he’s created will continue to guide his young Panthers—and future Potomac Falls teams—to success.
“We pride ourselves on a family atmosphere, caring about each other,” Hawes said. “I always had a dream of a community buying into what we were doing. I had a lot of people help me along the way, and, now, we’ve got a pretty good thing in place that we worked hard to build.”
Kiko Dudley captured 250+ photos at the game!
Potomac Falls Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Adit Apte | 16 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4-for-4 |
| Colton Call | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Troy Hooper | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Evinn Herring | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Brennan Hytten | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Joshua Orbida | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Troy Dellinger | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Mikey Keller | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3-for-5 |
| Julian Hasbrouck | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| David Correa Cabrera | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Caden Bell | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| AJ Pawlowski | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Andrew Gabriel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 80 | 37 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 13-for-21 |
Dominion Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Giorgio Elia | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3-for-4 |
| Jakob Jude Salgado | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Jaden Beyer | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| DJ Dyson | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jake Feigenbaum | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1-for-2 |
| Bishop Satterwhite | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Yasser Nour | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Quinn Daignault | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jayden Olson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Abdalla Fadil | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Sherveen Afsoos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kevin Siguenza | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 41 | 17 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 4-for-8 |