Potomac girls fall on the road

By JASON WOLF
Published: February 28, 2008

DANVILLE — Potomac’s coach and star player were nowhere to be seen at the end of the George Washington girls’ 60-41 victory in a Northwest Region semifinal playoff game on Thursday night in Danville.

Both were ejected and escorted off the court minutes earlier after receiving two technical fouls for the Panthers, who saw their season end after shocking formerly undefeated Stonewall Jackson in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday.

GW (22-5), which won its 13th straight contest, advances to the Northwest Region championship game at Forest Park, a 66-42 winner against Riverbend in the other semifinal game, on Saturday. The Eagles also advance to state tournament competition against an opponent and at a location to be determined on Saturday, March 8.

“You don’t want it to overshadow what you’ve accomplished,” GW coach Wayne Shelton said, addressing the final minutes of the contest. “We win the game regardless. We win the game regard-less. The fouls were intentional. Obviously they were intentional. You can’t get technical fouls like that.

“Everybody really wants to advance to the next level and everybody can’t win, so you’ve got to be a little more gracious in defeat.”

Western Valley District player of the year Erica Warren led GW with a game-high 21 points, while Tiffany Houston and Narcissa Grayson chipped in 12 points apiece. Jasmine Hairston scored eight points, Grayson doled out seven assists and Houston, Hairston and Tia Chattin combined for 24 rebounds.

“This is one of the biggest games of my lifetime,” Warren said. “We knew we didn’t have enough height to contend with them on the inside, so Coach told us to just step it up on defense and work hard and do the best we can. We just played with heart, and we did all we could.”

GW dominated the boards, especially early in the game, despite a distinct size disadvantage, and the Eagles’ relentlessly swarming defense clogged passing lanes all night in forcing 33 turnovers. GW turned the ball over 19 times and visited the free throw line nearly 20 times more than Potomac (15-10).

“Tonight was my night from free throws,” Houston said after hitting all eight of her shots from the stripe, including six in the fourth quarter. “The pressure, boxing out, we did all the little things right tonight. The little things is what made it ... and the desire. We were ready.”

Potomac senior Lynetta Kizer paced the Panthers with 17 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three assists in her final high school game. Dominique Whidbee added eight rebounds. Kizer was the only Potomac player to score in double figures, and was ejected after receiving two technical fouls in the final minute of the game, fouls that sandwiched Potomac coach Mike Wilson’s second technical and ejection.

“When you’ve been cordial, you’ve been nice, and the foul situation is the way it was, and when you don’t feel like you’re getting a fair shake, you get frustrated, and that’s all that was was frustra-tion,” Wilson said. “I didn’t want that to happen. But it happened and I can’t be upset ... I felt pro-tective over my kids, and situations like that occur.

“To me, it was a poorly officiated game. That’s why we lost the game.”

Panthers starter Quiana Kizer fouled out with more than seven minutes remaining.

GW took control with a 14-2 run that stretched from the end of the first quarter to midway through the second, and never trailed after taking a 10-9 lead on the first bucket in that span. It was the Erica Warren Show in the first quarter, as the GW senior personally outscored Potomac 10-9 in the frame as the teams traded the lead five times.

The Panthers briefly cut GW’s advantage to single digits midway through the fourth quarter, but the Eagles largely played keep-away for the final 12 minutes of the game.

“I thought if we spread them out, that would make the big girl have to play somebody, and I thought that was really advantageous to us to make her come out from under the bucket and guard somebody,” Shelton said. “We got outscored by one point the last four minutes of the third quarter once we went to our four-corner delay, and if we’ve got a 14-, 15-point lead and we trade one point for four minutes, we’ve made a good decision.”

“I thought the officiating was outstanding,” Shelton said. “We had three college officials on the floor tonight, and I assure you he will never get officiating that good in his own gym. Period.

“We had an elite crew tonight. They don’t get them all right, but I thought they did an out-standing job as they usually do. Sometimes you have to be gracious.”