Panthers Pounce on Park View, Stay Undefeated
STORY BY: MICHAEL MARZZACCO / GAMEDAYMAGAZINE COLUMNIST
STERLING, VA - The Panthers beat the Patriots at Potomac Falls two days ago. Last night, the teams met again at Park View. Fans from both schools were out in full force. The Panthers were looking to sweep this home and home series and remain undefeated in the Dulles District.
As the Panthers scored the first six points of the game, Park View kept it close. It was a low scoring game in the beginning. After the first quarter, the Panthers were winning 10-8.
The Panthers were looking to extend their lead in the second quarter, and they found a way when Zack Curran made two straight three-pointers that put the Panthers up 19-12. Park View didn't quit as they went on a 7-0 scoring run to tie the game at 19. The Panthers then went on a run of their own - a 7-2 run to close the first half. The score was 28-23 in favor of Potomac Falls.
In the middle of the third quarter, the Panthers had an 8-0 scoring run to give them a 43-31 lead with 3:27 left. When the quarter ended, the Panthers were ahead 53-40.
In the fourth quarter, Park View was trying to comeback, and they cut the lead to five with the score 67-62. Then, the Patriots cut the lead to three, but Lukas Mihailovich made two key free throws that put the Panthers ahead 70-65.
In the last game, Greg Graves made an outstanding dunk that made the crowd go wild. In this game, it was Brendon Chesson that made a dunk at the end of the game that put the icing on the cake. The final score was 72-65.
Coach Hawes said, "I knew it was going to be tough over here to win. They played well and have some good players. Once again, we didn't play real well in the first half. We really started attacking in the second half, and we got as high as a fifteen point lead. It was good because they really came at us hard at the end. The free throws that Lukas made really made a difference in the outcome of the game. It was a great win for us."
The leading scorer for the Panthers was Lukas Mihailovich with 23 points. Brendon Chesson added 20 points; Zack Curran scored 15 points, Greg Graves had 6 points and Tarrell Owens scored 4 points.
The leading scorer for the Patriots was Ryan McCarter with 25 points. Jordan Owens added 16 points, JR Shooks scored 14 points and Alec Dombkowski had 6 points.
The Panthers return home to take on Briar Woods in the last game before midterm exams. Tip-off is at 6:30 pm. Once mid-terms are over on Friday, the Panthers will go to Broad Run in a highly anticipated game.
