There were stark contrasts among the faces of the Potomac and George Washington-Danville players in the final substitutions of Thursday night’s Northwest Region semifinal, clearly delineating between the team continuing on to the Group AAA state tournament and the one staying home.
Panthers senior Donald Vaughn slowly walked off the court with the knowledge that it was for the final time in his high school career, giving way to junior Charles Reed.
Freshman Daniel Clark replaced junior Terrance Townes for the Eagles to spread the experience of playing in a big-time region game, a 78-71 come-from-behind George Washington victory on the road in Dumfries.
Despite leading 39-29 at the mid-way point, Potomac just had no answers for the 6-foot-3 Townes under the basket, allowing the forward to tally 23 points (12 in the second half) and seven rebounds and senior guard Nick Barbour found his stride in the second half scoring all 15 of his points in the final two periods.
Losing Bobby Mott for the majority of the third quarter and part of the fourth when he picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, the Panthers were left without a stabilizing force on both ends of the court.
“That was the difference in the basketball game,” Potomac coach Keith Honore said. “He really controlled the game in the first half. We really lost our continuity offensively and defensively [without him].”
Mott’s absence was apparent almost immediately as the Panthers seemed to play without a singular direction, scrambling both with the ball and defending.
The Eagles took full advantage, scoring almost at will on a 12-4 run to open the third and found their first lead of the game at 52-51 on a Barbour layup with 7:23 remaining in the fourth.
“We had some plays drawn up and we just changed them a little bit [in the fourth],” GW coach Bobby Martin said. “We ran the same play about three times and we made some defensive stops and got some rebounds — TJ Price hit a big 3-pointer for us and that got us going.”
Price’s shot came on the possession following Barbour’s score and set the Eagles on a 14-5 roll that virtually sealed the win.
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