Boys Basketball: One for The Program - Panthers Earn First Ever State Playoff Bid

Potomac Falls sophomore Greg Graves and junior Brendon Chesson after Thursday's regional semifinal win. Check back for more video interviews from this game


By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun.com Editor
Sterling (Feb. 26, 2010) – Adrian Tracy surely has some important things on his mind as the William and Mary All-American defensive end is at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis where an eye-popping workout can lead to a draft selection and future financial security.

That didn’t stop the Potomac Falls High School grad from sending a very important text to his old basketball coach Jeff Hawes Thursday afternoon. You see Tracy accomplished a lot at PFalls where he led the Panthers to consecutive regular season and district tournament titles and while becoming the then school’s all-time leader in points (723) and rebounds (507).

Tracy, however, like all players to don the Panther purple had never tasted the state playoffs and he wanted the young 2009-10 team to know how important their Region II Division 4 semifinal match-up with Broad Run was. Either winner Thursday would secure their school’s first ever state bid – Potomac Falls searching for 13 years and Broad Run for 41 years! – and Tracy wanted it to be his Panthers so he urged in his text:

“Don't leave any "what if's” out there ... every loose ball, assist, steal, do whatever you can to get PFalls to where they should be.”

That text was the last thing read to the Panthers as the broke the lockerroom and true to Tracy’s urging, Potomac Falls went after every loose ball, assist, steal and did whatever they had to do to defeat the Spartans, 62-51, with junior Lukas Mihailovich – who some day may shatter all of Tracy’s record – scoring a team-high 24 points in the win.

The win puts Potomac Falls (19-2) into Saturday’s 8 p.m. regional final at Monticello High School against Liberty (11-7), a 53-36 winner over Sherando on Thursday.

Advancing to his first state playoff appearance with Potomac Falls is almost bittersweet for Hawes as he played at Broad Run and later coached at the school before moving over to start the Panther program in 1997. He knew that one team would make history Thursday.

“I thought somebody is going to realize a long-time dream … I’m just glad it was us,” said an emotionally-drained Hawes. “I can't put into words how good I feel right now.”

Potomac Falls, with the help of a bye after defeating Broad Run (20-4) Saturday night in the district tournament finals, 69-58, came out strong with a 7-0 run to start the game and never trailed in the contest with Mihailovich joined by sophomore Greg Graves and junior Brendon Chesson, who combined for 21 points, including several key baskets.

“I think our start was key. We really said we want to pick up where we left off Saturday night. We feel like we are hard to play catch up against,” said Hawes. “I was worried we couldn't play as well as Saturday night again and I think that the first half (tonight) was better than either half Saturday. These kids just keep amazing me.”

Without a senior starter, the poised Panthers controlled the tempo of the game, created transition points off of good defense and out-rebounded and out-scraped the Spartans to post a 35-20 halftime lead.

“I’m real disappointed for my seniors,” said Broad Run coach John Costello, who pointed out that the five seniors on his roster exited after a two year-run that saw the team go a combined 40-10 overall.

One of those seniors, Dulles District Division 4 Player of the Year Kevin McGaughey tried to will the Spartans back into the game, scoring 21 of his game-high 26 points in the second half but it was not enough as he was the only Broad Run player in double digits.

The Panthers size, including the 6-foot-6 Graves, prevented the Spartans from getting to the basket for easy shots and allowed Potomac Falls to get second and third looks. In the first half Graves was able to establish position down low and get to the rim.

“I just wanted the ball, I felt like I was getting it and scoring and they couldn’t stop me at that time,” said Graves.

The Panthers were also deeper than the Spartans with guard Pete Simoneau coming off the bench in the first quarter --after BR had tied it at 7-7 with back-to-back baskets by McGaughey and Eric Hiatt, -- to make a fastbreak layin and then knock down an open 3-pointer. McGaughey opened with a dribble drive for two points but PF took a 13-9 lead into the second quarter and things were going the home team’s way as the second started with a loose ball scramble and PF junior Mickey Waggenhoffer scooped it up and hit a smooth jumper to make it 15-9.

The Spartans, with Hiatt and DaDa Johnson playing well, were within six at 23-17 midway through the second quarter PF went on an 8-0 run during which Mihailovich displayed some of the flash that allowed him to score 50 points against Stone Bridge earlier this season.

The 6-foot Mihailovich plays several inches taller as he darted in and up for a follow-in, then stole an errant Spartan pass and turned that into two points, and finally he glided along the baseline and put in a reverse layin to make it 31-17 Potomac Falls.

In the third quarter as Broad Run struggled to get back in the contest, the Spartans clamped down on Mihailovich and Graves but Chesson, who moved up from the junior varsity last season, stepped up and had several key defensive plays and drives on the offensive end that allowed him to get to the foul line. Despite just one field goal in the quarter for PF, the Spartans still trailed by nine, 42-33, heading into the fourth.

Down the stretch, Broad Run was able to get within seven points but the Panthers always had an answer and several times they were desire plays as Chesson fought for an offensive rebound on a missed free throw to score and Mihailovich sacrificed his body to poke a ball away from the Spartans and then tracked it down and executed a difficult layin.

Mihailovich said that style of play comes natural to the Panthers: “It comes from practicing hard. We are friends but we get after each other in practice. If we get in a little scuffle it's not a big deal.”

As the final seconds counted down, Hawes embraced his players in big bear hugs and a smile that seemed to stretch back the 13 seasons he has coached at Potomac Falls. On the Broad Run sidelines there was no joy as the school’s 41-year state playoff drought would continue another season.

As a silent Broad Run team exited later for their bus, Hawes and his players headed for a bite to eat and some celebration. Hawes could finally relax for a second: “Coaching-wise it’s been one of the hardest weeks of my life. I drank a bottle of Nyquil this week to get any sleep at all and I haven’t eaten.”

While Hawe’s Panther prodigy Mihailovich admitted to some sweaty palms in class this week in anticipation of playing in the big game, it wasn’t really nerves but the fear factor that comes with your season on the line.

“It’s just scary, the fact your season could be ending,” said Mihailovich. “I don't think we were nervous because we have confidence in ourselves as players.”

That confidence has led Mihailovich and company to a place that Tracy and the rest of the former PFall players never reached: the state playoffs. Now that is something to Twitter about.

Potomac Falls 62, Broad Run 51
Broad Run       9 11 13 18 - 51
Potomac Falls 13 22 7 20 - 62


Broad Run (20-4)
TJohnson 1 6-7 8, Janjua 1 0-1 2, McGaughey 7 11-13 26, Hiatt 3 0-0 7, Salgado 1 0-0 2, DJohnson 1 2-4 4, Zafar 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 19-25 51.


Potomac Falls (19-2)
Curran 2 0-0 4, Mihailovich 7 9-12 24, Chesson 3 5-10 11, Waggenhoffer 2 1-2 5, Graves 3 4-10 10, Simoneau 2 0-0 5, Kress 0 1-2 1, Hoover 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 20-36 62.


3-Pointers: BR 2 (McGaughey, Hiatt); PF 2 (Mihailovich, Simoneau).