Opening-night jitters hit Panthers, Jackets

By Ben Trittipoe For the News & Messenger
Published: December 3, 2008

Wednesday night’s boys basketball season opener between visiting Osbourn Park and Potomac was typical of an early-season contest: one team had problems handling the basketball, and the other struggled with its shooting.
In the end, Potomac’s depth and offensive balance wore down Osbourn Park as the Panthers captured a 67-53 victory in a non-district game in Dumfries.
Junior Justin Burrell led four Panthers in double figures with 14 points. Senior Charles Shedrick had 12 points, senior Stephone Pringle added 11 and junior Dominique Goodwin contributed 10.
Senior Andrew Brookins paced the Yellow Jackets with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Wynton Wilson added 13 points.
Osbourn Park (0-1) struggled with its ballhandling. The Yellow Jackets committed 36 turnovers for the game, including three before it got off its first shot from the field.
OP had 18 turnovers in the first half, equaling the number of field goals it attempted and one more than its point total as Potomac (1-0) held a 28-17 advantage at intermission.
The Panthers were the one struggling with their shooting. Potomac converted just 38.9 percent (23 of 59) of its field goal attempts for the game, and it shot just over 50 percent (16 of 31) from the free throw line.
Potomac took a 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, then it began to take advantage of OP turnovers to open a comfortable lead in the second. The Panthers used a 13-4 run over the last four minutes of the period to stretch its lead to 11 at halftime. Shedrick led Potomac with six points at intermission, while five other players each had four.
The Yellow Jackets, however, would not go away. Increasing the intensity of its full-court pressure defense, OP went on a 14-4 run that trimmed Potomac’s lead to 35-31 when senior Brett Spencer hit a short jumper with 2 minutes, 59 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Panthers, however, closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to push their margin back to 44-33 entering the final eight minutes.
Osbourn Park had one final spurt, using a three-pointer from senior Ryan Manley to close within 57-50 with 2:26 remaining, but Potomac converted enough free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
Potomac returns to action Tuesday at home against Friendship Edison, while OP hosts Fauquier that night.