Boys Basketball: A Perfect 10! Potomac Falls Senior Class Brilliant Run at Panther Pit Snags Another Regional Title

Champions Again! (photos courtesy of Kristin Stubbs)

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Sterling (Feb. 27, 2011) - Forget for a moment that 6-foot-7 junior Greg Graves had a game-high 28 points, fueled by a variety of sweet moves that should have college scouts drooling, the real story Saturday Night at Potomac Falls High School was about the 10 Panther seniors as they crowned a two-year brilliant run at home with a second straight Region II Division boys basketball title.

Playing a Liberty team that they beat in last year's title game, 85-62, and defeated again in December to open the season, 82-74, the Panther seniors turned their final appearance in the Panther Pit into a 32-minute long encore as they ran the Eagles off the court, 96-58.

"I have all the respect in the world for Liberty ... but there was no way in the world that this team is losing their last game here. Not with 10 seniors playing their last game in this building," said Potomac Falls coach Jeff Hawes.

In a year in which they are trying to repeat last year's feat of becoming the only Loudoun boys basketball team in history to win a state title, the Panthers (27-1) will have to repeat their state quarterfinal win from last year as they will face Tabb for a second straight season at Robinson High School next weekend -- most likely on Saturday.

Before Potomac Falls could think about Tabb, there were tears and hugs first as family and friends engulfed the team after the regional awards ceremony. The Potomac Falls senior class -- 52-3 overall the past two seasons and unbeaten on their home floor marred only by a loss to AAA Loudoun Valley in December 2009 -- had one final act to carry out and that was cutting down the nets as a ladder was secured and the team took turns snipping a bit of net before Hawes did the final honors to cheers.


Ironically the net that the Panthers were cutting down was the same net that they shredded in the opening quarter as Potomac Falls jumped on Liberty to the tune of 21-2 in the first four minutes of the contest.

Senior Lukas Mihailovich who has led the Panthers two-year title run after moving back into the program from out-of-state, scored 10 straight points during the run after Graves had opened with a basket in the paint.

"We had great energy in the lockerroom tonight. The first (shot) felt good and I kept stroking it," said Mihailovich, who finished with 19 points.

Even with Hawes inserting his deep bench into the game in the first quarter, Potomac Falls kept at it with more seniors carrying the load as Alex Kress knocked down a jumper, Ben Sweger hit a couple of free throws and Matt Hoover caught fire and scored six of his 10 points.

By the end of the quarter, the Panthers had put more than 10 players on the floor and junior Todd Shanosky took a nice feed from senior Zach Hobby to make it 29-6. Extended playing time and great boxing out led Shanosky to a team-high 10 rebounds.

In all, Potomac Falls had a dozen players score in the game. Graves had a big night, running the floor well and finishing off a nifty length of the court pass from Mihailovich with a rim-rocking dunk in the third quarter that brought the loudest cheers of the night from the packed home stands.

"Our fans showed tonight that they are the best fans in the state," said Graves.

With both teams moving on and Potomac Falls up big, both teams emptied out their benches early in the second half and the only suspense was if Potomac Falls could hit the century mark -- missed free throws cost them that novelty as Potomac Falls went a human 12 of 24 from the line.

Potomac Falls seniors: Brendon Chesson, Zach Hobby, Pete Simoneau, Zach Curran, Matthew Byrd, Alex Kress, Ben Sweger, Lukas Mihailovich, Mickey Wagenhoffer and Matt Hoover

Potomac Falls 96, Liberty 58L     9  19  18  12 - 58
PF 29  17  26  24 - 96

L (19-7): Gorby 2 2-2 7, Ramirez 1 1-2 3, Isner 5 5-7 16, Mighty 6 2-2 17, Raymond 2 0-0 4, Ramos 0 1-2 1, Latimer 2 0-3 5, Colbert 2 1-2 5, Lindsey 0 0-1 0. Totals 20 12-21 58

PF (27-1): Chesson 2 0-2 5, Curran 1 0-0 2, Mihailovich 8 1-2 19, Wagenhoffer 3 0-0 6, Graves 12 4-6 28, Wilson 0 0-0 2, Hobby 2 0-0 4, Simoneau 2 0-0 5, Kress 3 0-0 6, Gallloway 2 3-6 7, Sweger 0 2-2 2, Shanosky 1 0-2 2, Hoover 4 2-2 10. Totals 40 12-24 96

3-Pointers: L 6 (Mighty 3, Gorby 1, Isner 1, Latimer 1), PF 4 (Mihailovich 2, Chesson 1, Simoneau 1).

Rebounds: L 38 (Ramond 9, Mighty 5, Colbert 4, Lindsey 4, Ramirez 3, Gorby 2, Isner 1, Ramos 1, Latimer 1, TEAM 8); PF 51 (Shanosky 10, Wagenhoffer 7, Graves 6, Galloway 5, Chesson 4, Sweger 4, Hoover 4, Mihailovich 3, Kress 2, Hobby 1, TEAM 5).