With just over two minutes left in the third quarter, star Tuscarora senior guard Jayden Johnson drove the lane and missed, but followed his own shot for his 32nd point of the ballgame. That gave his Huskies a 52-37 lead over visiting West Potomac, and it looked like Tuscarora was going to cruise to an impressive victory in its opener.
Then the tide turned. West Potomac did a better job defending Johnson the rest of the way and applied some solid defensive pressure in general, especially full court after made baskets. The result was an eventual 67-62 Wolverines victory that left the Huskies and their fans stunned.
“We’re tough, my kids played tough defense,” said West Potomac coach David Houston III. “And we followed the game plan, finally, in the fourth quarter.”
The game was tied after a quarter, but Johnson and the Huskies then started to absolutely torch West Potomac’s defense. Johnson hit from beyond the arc five times, and punished the Wolverines defense by attacking them at the rim. He had 19 points at halftime and thirteen more in the third quarter.
Still, as good as he was all night, Johnson only scored two more points the last ten minutes of the game. West Potomac started to reduce its deficit in the third quarter, cutting it to single digits by the start of the fourth. The Wolverines chipped the Tuscarora lead down to 58-53, and when Tusky guard Payton Williams found Jet Thompson for a thunderous alley-oop, West Potomac immediately counter-attacked for a quick score of its own.
On offense the Wolverines (2-0) became far more aggressive, dominating the battle of the boards in the second half and getting to the line 20 more times after intermission than the Huskies. Athletic sophomore Justin Edwards tied the game at 62 with an offensive put-back, then he and his teammates defended the paint in earnest. Tuscarora had several chances down the stretch to again grab the lead but were often rejected in the paint from everyone from Edwards to Wolverines point guard Chris Morrison.
There were plenty of heroes. Edwards had 18 points and eight rebounds on the evening, while Morrison added 16 points and had several key free throws down the stretch. Senior big man Ethan Green had 11 points and eight rebounds, while junior Dominic Sanchez gave his team a nice lift off the bench with nine points, five boards, and two assists. Junior guard Michael Ofori was one of many Wolverines who played much better in the fourth quarter.
Even with the loss, Tuscarora (0-1) demonstrated its potential for success against a quality opponent. The Huskies will no doubt regroup and work on finishing games better. Johnson finished with 34 points, while Thompson added 13, including three impressive dunks.
“Sometimes it takes 16, 17-year-olds a while to get it together but I was really proud of them,” said Houston of the Wolverines. “That’s a really good team we played, too…I didn’t think we played our best, we missed 20 free throws, but Alexandria is tough, man. We’re tough.”
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| WEST POTOMAC | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| MORRISON | 4-9 | 7-10 | 16 | 5 | 2 | |
| OFORI | 1-4 | 2-4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
| COLLIGAN | 0-5 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| EDWARDS | 6-8 | 6-13 | 18 | 8 | 0 | |
| GREEN | 4-7 | 3-4 | 11 | 8 | 0 | |
| Nkrumah | 1-3 | 1-2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| Koelsch | 2-2 | 0-0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | |
| Sanchez | 2-6 | 5-7 | 9 | 5 | 2 | |
| Hopper | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Forti | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| TOTALS | 20-44 | 25-42 | 67 | 35 | 8 | |
| Threes: Nkrumah 1-2, Morrison 1-4, Sanchez 0-1, Colligan 0-4 | ||||||
| TUSCARORA | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| JOHNSON | 13-24 | 3-5 | 34 | 2 | 1 | |
| PRICE | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| WILLIAMS | 2-8 | 2-4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | |
| TJ DUGGAN | 2-8 | 3-4 | 8 | 1 | 2 | |
| THOMPSON | 4-8 | 5-5 | 13 | 3 | 1 | |
| Travis Duggan | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Scott | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| #23 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | |
| Winkler | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 21-50 | 14-20 | 62 | 19 | 8 | |
| Threes: Johnson 5-9, TJ Duggan 1-4, Williams 0-3, Thompson 0-3 | ||||||