Potomac School began its game with host St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes on an impressive 9-2 run with guard Mike Grimes on fire from outside. That run didn’t hold up for long, but another 9-2 run much later did as the Panthers registered an impressive 66-64 comeback victory over the Saints.
After falling behind early the Saints’ zone expanded to pick up Grimes and the Panthers’ shooters better. The Saints’ considerable size and length in the zone also consistently bothered star Potomac center Devon Flowers, who only had three points at halftime. Still down at halftime the Saints started the second half red-hot, getting great looks at the rim and expanding their lead all the way up to double digits. For a while it looked like the Saints might coast to victory.
But the Panthers started to creep back. Reserve guard Pedro Rodriguez gave his team a nice lift at the end of the third quarter with five quick points, drawing Potomac to within five at the start of the fourth. The Saints soon started to settle for poor shots, especially with senior guard Dom Bailey on the bench with foul trouble.
Then things fell apart for the hosts as Potomac embarked on its second 9-2 run of the game down three. First Flowers scored underneath. Guard Preston Bacon then found sophomore wing JT Tyson open for a three-pointer with three minutes left. Tyson converted a fast-break lay-up and again on an offensive rebound after two Saints free throws. Suddenly the Panthers were up 63-59 as their fans who made the trip to Alexandria went wild.
It wasn’t over yet. The Saints’ Christian DePollar was fouled on a three-point attempt with under a minute left and converted all three free throws to make it 63-62. Bacon missed two free throws but the home team couldn’t take the lead, missing a shot and fouling Flowers on the rebound. Flowers hit both free throws and put his team up by three and again the Saints failed to convert. Bailey missed a lay-up and then the Saints waited too long to foul afterwards. It was over.
Grimes was particularly impressive for Potomac School (11-4), scoring 22 points on five three-pointers and even grabbing eight rebounds from the guard position. Bacon added six assists and while Flowers (11 points) and Tyson (10 points) were relatively quiet for much of the game, they were clutch late.
For the Saints (9-5) Bailey led the way with 18 points. Junior forward Jared White had 12 off the bench while Christian DePollar had a good all-around game with 10 points, five boards and five assists. Junior center Charles Thompson also was his usual handful down low, contributing 10 points, nine boards and numerous blocks.
–Chris Jollay
all stats are unofficial
| SSSA | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| HOWARD | 4-8 | 1-3 | 9 | 5 | 1 | |
| LIPSCOMB | 1-5 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| BAILEY | 5-9 | 7-7 | 18 | 4 | 2 | |
| DePOLLAR | 3-8 | 3-3 | 10 | 5 | 5 | |
| THOMPSON | 5-8 | 0-5 | 10 | 9 | 1 | |
| White | 4-7 | 2-2 | 12 | 1 | 1 | |
| Screen | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Beasley | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 23-48 | 14-22 | 64 | 28 | 12 | |
| Threes: White 2-2, Bailey 1-2, DePollar 1-3, Lipscomb 0-1, Howard 0-3 | ||||||
| POTOMAC SCHOOL | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| GRIMES | 7-14 | 3-4 | 22 | 8 | 1 | |
| BACON | 1-6 | 5-11 | 8 | 3 | 6 | |
| FLOWERS | 3-14 | 5-7 | 11 | 4 | 0 | |
| LAW | 1-9 | 5-6 | 8 | 4 | 1 | |
| TYSON | 4-7 | 0-1 | 10 | 3 | 0 | |
| Gagnon | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| Sands | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| J.Wooten | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
| Rodriguez | 2-2 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Montgomery | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 19-56 | 18-29 | 66 | 31 | 12 | |
| Threes: Grimes 5-9, Tyson 2-4, Rodriguez 1-1, Bacon 1-4, Law 1-8, Montgomery 0-1, J.Wooten 0-1 | ||||||