Thursday night at Robinson in an Occoquan Regional Semifinal, West Potomac got a shot by Abby Beddis just before time expired to defeat South County, 41-39. The dramatic win earned the Wolverines a spot in Friday’s Occoquan Championship versus Robinson, and clinched a state tourney berth for them after a year’s absence.
“It means a lot,” said Beddis. “That’s a big win–they got us last time on a buzzer-beater, we had to get ’em back this time on a buzzer-beater.”
That last time was just last week, when South County defeated West Potomac 51-49 in the Patriot District Semifinals on a Savannah Simmons last-second shot. That Stallions win relegated West Potomac to a harder road through the Occoquan Tournament, a road that nevertheless eventually led back to red-hot South County, a team that had won the Patriot District Tournament and eight straight games.
Abby Beddis the game-winner at the buzzer, West Potomac defeats South County 41-39. pic.twitter.com/R5tsPNtb5l
— Novahoops.com (@novahoopsCom) February 28, 2025
Now after a year absence the Wolverines are headed back to states under first-year Coach Joe Petrucelli.
“It’s pretty crazy, this is where we lost last year when I was an assistant, we lost on this floor,” said Petrucelli, referencing his team’s loss to Woodson in the Occoquan Semifinals last year.
“We talked about it in the locker room before the game, it’s kind of full circle. Now back in this moment to win like that against South County, which is a great team…redemption time for us. I didn’t think it was going to end like that, but the perfect way to end it between two awesome teams.”
It took everything his team had just to put Beddis in a position to win the game at the end. South County played fantastic defense the whole game, limiting Petrucelli’s potent offensive team to under 40% shooting from the field, 3-17 shooting from three-point range, and zero points from the line.
Two of West Potomac’s three-pointers were crucial in the first half. South County led 20-14 in the closing minutes of the half, having played almost flawless defense in the second quarter. The Stallions committed no fouls the entire game up until that point, and had held West Potomac to just two second quarter points.
Then, the Wolverines gave the crowd some foreshadowing of the dramatics to come. First, senior Olivia Jones found Beddis for a three, then right before the first half buzzer, Jones nailed a remarkable three from very long range.
OLIVIA JONES of West Potomac two threes in a row…this spectacular one right before the half. West Potomac and South County now knotted at 20 at half. pic.twitter.com/kHNxiNzkEu
— Novahoops.com (@novahoopsCom) February 27, 2025
Those important shots tied things at 20 going into the locker room and gave the Wolverines momentum. Still, things remained nip-and-tuck the rest of the way. When South County junior guard Laila Tull rebounded a teammate’s miss and scored, the Stallions led 39-37 with 1:39 left.
Jones responded with a jumper just inside the three-point line to tie things up. South County broke the Wolverine press and pushed the ball up the floor with numbers, but West Potomac senior Jill Humphreys anticipated a pass and delivered a key steal, setting her team up for a final shot.
Still there were 45.2 seconds left to keep the ball away from the dangerous South County defense before that shot was to come. When West Potomac’s Dawn Houston slipped and went to the floor with the ball with 23.6 seconds left, Petrucelli burned his last timeout.
“No,” said Beddis when asked if the plan was to get the ball in her hands. “The plan was to just get a shot. Time was winding down…I was just trying and it [the attempt] felt good.”
Jones led the Wolverines (24-3) with 18 points and six rebounds. Sophomore forward Lina Hashimi added 10 points, most in the first quarter as she exploited her height advantage inside against smaller South County.
Tull led the Stallions (20-5) with 12 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Makyah Mason added 10 and senior Julie Lisenby eight points. While it was a tough end to the season, South County has a lot of returning firepower and should be a state contender again next season.
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| WEST POTOMAC | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| JONES | 8-17 | 0-0 | 18 | 6 | 1 | |
| HARKLESS | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| BEDDIS | 3-10 | 0-2 | 7 | 2 | 3 | |
| HOUSTON | 1-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| HASHIMI | 5-10 | 0-0 | 10 | 4 | 0 | |
| Garey | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Humphreys | 1-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Copty | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 19-49 | 0-6 | 41 | 21 | 6 | |
| Threes: Jones 2-7, Beddis 1-6, Hashimi 0-1, Humphreys 0-1, Houston 0-2 | ||||||
| SOUTH COUNTY | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| LISENBY | 2-5 | 2-2 | 8 | 6 | 0 | |
| TULL | 5-9 | 1-2 | 12 | 9 | 2 | |
| WOOTEN | 1-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| MASON | 4-9 | 2-4 | 10 | 1 | 3 | |
| SIMMONS | 1-5 | 0-0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | |
| Young | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Woodham | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Trapp | 1-1 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 15-36 | 5-8 | 39 | 24 | 9 | |
| Threes: Lisenby 2-3, Tull 1-1, Trapp 1-1, Mason 0-3, Wooten 0-4 | ||||||