Kizer tip eliminates Stonewall

By DAN CLENDANIEL For the News & Messenger
Published: February 26, 2008

There were plenty of tears shed by both teams following the Northwest Region Tournament quarterfinal game between Potomac and Stonewall Jackson on Tuesday night.
Lynetta Kizer’s tears were tears of joy.

The 6-foot-3 senior center, headed to the University of Maryland, converted a field goal with one second left to enable Potomac to upset the previously-unbeaten Raiders, 60-59.

Kizer’s stick back of a missed shot by teammate Kyana Jacobs set off an explosion of joy at the Panther bench. While Kizer cried and hugged well-wisher after well-wisher, Potomac coach Mike Wilson raced across the floor to embrace Woodbridge coach George Washington, his coaching men-tor and good friend.

“We had a lot of motivating factors,” said Wilson, whose team lost to Stonewall, 64-43 in Decem-ber. “Nobody gave us a chance. The newspaper said Stonewall was the team to beat. I used that to motivate the team.”

For Kizer, it was surely the signature performance of her high school career. The senior scored 21 points and hauled in 22 rebounds to match the entire Stonewall team. She also dished out five assists.

Stonewall, the reigning Cedar Run District and regional champs, appeared to have the game in control following a third quarter which saw the Raiders turn a 31-29 halftime deficit into a 46-38 lead.

The Raiders pressing defense embarrassed the Panthers in the third quarter. Potomac had 21 possessions in that period and turned the ball over 14 times while scoring just seven points.

Potomac, the Cardinal District runner-up, looked tired and ready to be counted out. But the Pan-thers weren’t done yet.

“We looked a little ragged,” said Wilson. “We just tried to get the girls calmed down. Our defense came through. That’s the way I thought we could play defense all year.”

Potomac held the Raiders to three field goals in the final period. It also did not hurt that Wilson still had Kizer on his side.

“She was ready to play,” said Wilson. “She’s not just one of the best players in the county or the state. She’s one of the best players in the country and she proved it tonight.”

In the first four minutes of the final period, Kizer took over the game, scoring five points, assist-ing on two others and grabbing four rebounds as the Panthers took back the lead at 52-51.

“We got a little frustrated in the third quarter,” said Kizer. “But we just told ourselves we weren’t going to lose this game.”

The lead seesawed back and forth over the final four minutes, as Potomac lost key players Quiana Kizer and Dominique Whidbee to fouls.

Gwen Washington, Stonewall’s leading scorer who finished with 24 points, hit a pair of free throws with 63 seconds to play to give the Raiders the lead at 57-56.

Potomac, which cut its turnovers to four in the final period, beat the Stonewall press on the next possession as Lynetta Kizer fed the ball to Teja Johnson for a layup with 48 seconds to play and Potomac took back the lead, 58-57.

Washington put the Raiders back on top and sent the home crowd into a frenzy as she floated across the lane for a basket to give Stonewall a 59-58 lead with 32 seconds left.

Things looked even better for the Raiders as Washington hauled in a rebound with 18 seconds left and was fouled.

But Washington missed both free throws. Potomac got the rebound and called a timeout. Jacobs then drove the lane with five seconds left, but her shot was blocked out of bounds by the Raiders Samantha Jordan.

On the next inbounds play, Jacobs again drove for a sliding jumper from eight feet that missed.

But Kizer, alone on the opposite side of the basket, quickly took the rebound and scored.

Both sides wondered if the shot had beaten the buzzer. One of the referees finally signaled that the basket was good, and Potomac had pulled off the upset of the season.

“This is huge,” said Lynetta Kizer. “This is the highlight of my high school career. Everyone came out with the attitude that we were going to get this done.”

Stonewall coach Nsonji White, gracious in defeat, told his players to hold back their tears in the locker room following the game.

“We had a letdown on defense,” said White. “We gave up 60 points for one of the few times this year. We had a big third quarter but then we relaxed.”