Be sure to click on the videos link above to see all of the highlights from Tuesday's game!
By Andy States
SMAC Content Manager
Rashad Beam gathered in the loose ball, raced downcourt and rose up for an emphatic two-handed jam.
It didn't much matter that the dunk came after time had expired, as the Lackey Chargers let all of their emotion loose on the court. Just seconds before Beam's post-game jam, Lackey's Valdis McFall and Brian Dixon forced a game-preserving turnover after Potomac inbounded the ball with 3.5 seconds left with a chance to tie or win. But the Chargers' defense came through to get the second-seeded Chargers an 84-82 win over the visiting and tenth-seeded Wolverines in a 3A South quarterfinal affair on Tuesday night.
Beam scored a game-high 41 points to lead Lackey (21-2) past an explosive Potomac team that scored 35 third-quarter points to take a 70-66 lead into the final period. But with Beam leading the fourth-quarter charge, the Chargers surged back and took the lead for good on Antonio Waugh's bucket with roughly 20 seconds remaining.
"At the end of the third quarter everybody got together and said, 'Don't quit,'" Waugh said. "We played North Point and were down by 20."
"It was real tough, but we kept our heads," added Beam. "We just slowed it down and played Lackey basketball."
While Lackey entered the game on a 15-game winning streak and possessed the higher seed, Lackey Coach Tony Mast knew that Potomac (16-7) presented possibly the most severe matchup problems his club could face. The Wolverines run the floor as well as anyone, and entered the game playing well with a recent win over the region's top-seeded Friendly Patriots in tow.
"They ran five guards at us a lot of the night and just said, 'Hey, try to defend it,'" Mast said. "Down here in SMAC we've got some good players, but no team in SMAC can put five guards out that are all as good as those five guards.
"They are a well-coached, well-disciplined team. They know what they want to do and if you really look at this game, I think you would talk a lot about what Potomac did right. I don't know how we got out of here with a victory."
Beam played a big part in that. The senior worked inside and out, and somehow found a way to keep from fouling out. Beam had three in the first half and picked up his fourth less than 30 seconds into the fourth quarter.
"I just kept my head, basically," he said. "Just tried to get no more fouls. I prayed to God to keep me in the game and he did and we came out of here with the victory."
"It's starting to be what Rashad does," Mast said of Beam's clutch performace. "As common as that sounds, that's how good of a player he is. We needed every point he gave us tonight."
"[Beam] is a fantastic guy," Potomac coach Torrence Oxendine said. "No matter what county you are in, players are players. If you can play the game, you can play the game, and he is a flat-out player."
Beam scored 10 points to lead all scorers in the decisive fourth quarter, and 25 in the second half. Lackey's No. 2 scorer was different, though.
After senior Wayne Henry, the team's No. 2 scorer through the regular season, left the team prior to the playoffs, the Chargers had a void to fill. Enter Deandre Jordan, who scored 17 points to capably fill the role. Waugh scored 13, including what proved to be the game-winner, and Dixon added 11.
"I knew I had to step up on offense and defense," Jordan said. "They were looking for me to knock down shots."
"Deandre stepped up and took the place of Wayne Henry," Mast said. "Deandre's been waiting that turn and I think a lot of people sat here and said, 'What are you going to do without Wayne Henry?' And he stepped right in and scored more than Wayne Henry averaged. He did a great job."
Potomac trailed by as many as 12 points early in the second quarter, but never let the game get far from its reach. The Wolverines, after trailing at the end of the first and second quarters, closed out the third on a 9-2 run to take the lead into the final period.
Four Wolverines scored in double figures, led by Shamel Akins' 21-point night. Da'ron Wiseman scored 19, Deandre Montgomery 16 and Chris Wiseman 10 on a night when Potomac simply ran out of time.
"That's what it's all about. The playoffs is about great basketball for the fans, for the players, for the coaches," Oxendine said. "I just enjoyed coaching against the Lackey coaching staff and also coaching my boys. Hats off to them."
Potomac produced one of the more dramatic turnarounds this year. After a 5-18 year last season, the Wolverines were one of the top teams in the Prince George's 3A/2A/1A league in Oxendine's first season at the helm this winter, and proved with Tuesday's game at Lackey and the late-season win against Friendly that they were more than capable of competing against the very best.
"The kids didn't get the ink that I thought they should have, but that comes with being the new kid on the block," Oxendine said. "That's a heck of a turnaround for anybody. I'm proud of the boys."
Lackey advances to play the winner of Wednesday night's matchup between the third-seeded Chopticon Braves and eleventh-seeded La Plata Warriors. Lackey defeated Chopticon 57-56 in the teams' only meeting back on Feb. 4. But, the emotional win over Potomac under their collective belt, the Chargers feel good about hosting the Braves the second time around.
"It's a big boost for our confidence," Beam said of Tuesday's win. "We're just going to keep it rolling."
Lackey 84, Potomac 82
P 15 20 35 12
L 23 17 26 18
Potomac: Akins 5 11-12 21, D. Wiseman 6 4-4 19, Montgomery 7 1-3 16, C. Wiseman 4 1-3 10, Lee 2 5-7 9, Perkins 1 0-0 3, Murray 0 2-2 2, Blockenberry 1 0-0 2
Lackey: Beam 17 4-6 41, Jordan 4 5-5 17, Waugh 4 5-5 13, Dixon 4 2-2 11, McFall 1 0-0 2
Three-pointers: Potomac 6 (D. Wiseman 3, C. Wiseman, Montgomery, Perkins); Lackey 8 (Jordan 4, Beam 3, Dixon)
astates@digitalsports.com