Boys Basketball: Potomac Falls Quest for Third Straight State Title Runs Out of Gas Against Christiansburg

(March 7, 2012) - The Potomac Falls High School boys basketball team surprise run for a third straight VHSL Division 4 state title appeared to be on track in Tuesday's semifinals as the Panthers led Christiansburg, 39-32, late in the third quarter. The Blue Demons, however, went on a 19-0, and became the first team in three years to beat Potomac Falls at VCU's Siegel Center with a 66-52 victory.

Christiansburg (27-2) had been dominated by Potomac Falls (21-9) in last year's semifinals by a senior-laden Panther squad but the tables were turned Tuesday as the Blue Demons returned most of their starters from 2011 including Virginia Tech football recruit Brenden Motley, who was 0 for 11 from the field a year ago, but Tuesday the senior cored a game-high 20 points with seven rebounds and played tough defense on Panther 6-foot-7 senior star Greg Graves.

The only starter back from last year, Graves scored just one field goal in the first half and finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and five block shots. The double-double for Graves ended a brilliant 4-year career that saw him become one of the only players in state history to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds.


Potomac Falls freshman Wanya Allen was playing well in the second quarter when he got in foul trouble and he finished with four points. Combined Graves and Allen were 5 of 25 from the field.

A combination of aggressive defense and precise offense -- the Panthers put on a clinic early on backdoor cuts to the basket for easy points -- the Panthers were up by seven points after senior Todd Shanosky (11 points) stuck a miss back in late in the third quarter.

Christiansburg, which had shot well early from beyond the 3-point arc but had struggled in the middle of the game, found its shooting touch and senior Kam Johnson, senior Darius Kelly and Motley hit treys on three straight possessions to fuel the 19-0 decisive run. That stretch was kick-started by senior Zach Davis, whose put-back came after the Blue Demons had already missed two shots but the Panthers were unable to secure the rebound.

While the Blue Demons got their offensive swagger rolling, Potomac Falls started sputtering on their end of the floor as Graves was called for offensive charges on back-to-back trips, Allen missed twice and then senior Matthew Galloway (9 points) was blocked from beyond on a breakaway lay-in attempt by Allen. That big play came with Christiansburg leading 44-39.

Graves on the next two Panther possession got great inside position and put up good-looking shots, only to see the ball trickle off the rim. By the time Shanosky made two free throws to stop the run the Blue Demon lead was double digits at 51-41 and the Panthers had simply run out of gas.

Junior Brandon Orbe scored 11 for Potomac Falls and junior D'Shawn Shorts added six.

Senior Zach Snell scored 10 for Christiansburg to give the Blue Demons with three in double figures and Johnson (8 points) and sophomore Joey Augustin (7 points) also gave them depth. Augustin's dunk during the 19-0 run was basically the signature score for Christiansburg and it came off of one of the Panthers 17 turnovers in the contest.