On a day that already meant so much, the Potomac Panthers somehow found a way to make it mean even more.
Down 17 points at halftime to Edison, the #11 Panthers scored 53 second half points to defeat the Eagles, 76-61. The game was the sixth and final of the day in the “Kyle Honore Tip-Off” to honor Kyle, the 2022 Potomac graduate who was struck and killed by a train at Wingate University this past August.
Anthony Mills, himself a Potomac graduate who replaced Kyle’s father Keith as Panthers Head Coach this offseason, was understandably very proud of team afterwards.
“In the second half, we showed up…we didn’t put our heads down,” he said.
Before the game Mills and the Potomac administration honored Coach Honore and his family by retiring Kyle’s number and presenting the Honore family with a framed jersey of his. Coach Honore then gave a short speech to the crowd, thanking the Potomac and Prince William communities, and all well-wishers, for their support.
The emotion on the faces of the Potomac fans and players was evident as Coach Honore gave the speech.
The Panthers then had to play basketball, and it didn’t go well initially. In the first half Potomac looked flat against a good Edison team which played with a lot of intensity. Eagles junior Teddy Morgan was unstoppable, as the long swingman scored most of his 27 points before halftime. Edison pounded Potomac on the glass early even without their center Nader Chirchi (football visit), and shot almost 60% from the field in the first half.
The Eagles led 40-23 at the break, without attempting a single free throw. On a day when Potomac wanted to honor Kyle, a four-year Panther letter-winner and 1,000-point scorer, we can only imagine what Mills told his team at halftime after its poor play on the floor.
“I told them we need to get it together,” said Mills. “Maybe it could have been the atmosphere, but we didn’t execute defensively. We were playing selfish on both the offensive and defensive end. Playing to their tempo and not controlling the basketball game.”
The Panthers definitely controlled the basketball game in the second half. Their defense ticked up a notch. Their bigs, especially senior forward BJ Fofana, got far more aggressive cleaning up misses at both ends. After some stops and breakaway buckets the crowd started to get into it.
Edison was on its heels. The Panthers got it to within two by the end of the third quarter. Then Kenny DeGuzman started to really get going.
DeGuzman, a junior guard who was our Player of the Week in Northern Virginia for the first week of the season, was absolutely unstoppable in the fourth quarter. He tied the score early in the fourth, then just kept riddling the Eagles’ defense with bucket after bucket. DeGuzman finished with 30 points.
Potomac was down 17 at half, but the Panthers storm back to tie it on this Kenny DeGuzman bucket early 4th. 51 all. pic.twitter.com/QKALZOVTwD
— Novahoops.com (@novahoopsCom) December 10, 2022
“They woke up and understood that it was just a basketball game,” said Mills, who was very complimentary of first-year Eagles coach Tre Ford. “Games are about runs, they made their run, we made our run but we got stops at the end. They’re a fantastic team and Tre’s doing a fantastic job over there.”
Mills seems also to be doing a pretty good job himself. Coach Honore in his pre-game speech specifically mentioned how proud he was to have him in charge, and how he could take the Panthers to “new heights.”
But this day wasn’t about new heights. It was about honoring the past, keeping memories of loved ones alive, and the Potomac basketball family.
“They embodied everything that it is to be a Potomac basketball player,” Coach Honore said of the second half Potomac rally.
“They played with Kyle’s spirit.”
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| POTOMAC | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| FOFANA | 4-7 | 3-5 | 7 | 10 | 0 | |
| DeGUZMAN | 14-19 | 1-1 | 30 | 1 | 5 | |
| MITCHELL | 6-11 | 0-1 | 13 | 5 | 2 | |
| HARRIS | 3-11 | 2-5 | 10 | 6 | 3 | |
| BETHEA | 5-9 | 2-4 | 12 | 2 | 3 | |
| Hargett | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tangwa | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 32-58 | 8-16 | 76 | 24 | 13 | |
| Threes: Harris 2-6, DeGuzman 1-2, Mitchell 1-2, Hargett 0-1 | ||||||
| EDISON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| GARCES | 4-6 | 0-0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | |
| MORGAN | 13-23 | 0-0 | 27 | 12 | 3 | |
| THOMAS | 2-14 | 4-4 | 9 | 8 | 2 | |
| MARIK | 1-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | |
| SAUNDERS | 2-5 | 0-0 | 4 | 2 | 5 | |
| Kurka | 4-6 | 0-0 | 10 | 2 | 0 | |
| Herman | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Davis | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 26-62 | 4-4 | 61 | 37 | 13 | |
| Threes: Kurka 2-3, Garces 1-3, Thomas 1-4, Morgan 1-7, Marik 0-2 | ||||||