Boys Basketball: Potomac 82, Westlake 78

By James A. McCray III
Prince George's County, Content Editor

With every offensive possession, the well-traveled Potomac Wolverines boys' basketball crowd rose to its feet.

And as Potomac guard Da'ron Wiseman raised up for jump-shot after jump-shot in Friday night's contest, so did the hands of the Potomac crowd with high expectations of the ball striking the net.

More often than not, those shots indeed scorched the white cotton enough for Wiseman to score a game-high 28 points in Potomac's 82-78 win over the 3A South No. 7 seed Westlake Wolverines (Southern Maryland Athletic Conference) in the first round of the regional playoffs.

"It was tough," Wiseman said of the Potomac victory. " ... [We had to] keep playing together, listen to our coach, playing [defense], and we came out with the win."

"The intensity was what I expected for a play-off game," first-year Potomac head coach Torrence Oxendine said. "The SMAC is a good conference, so we knew that they were going to come to play and we tried to come out and match their intensity."

As Potomac built a 17-point, 62-45 lead late during the third quarter of play, Oxendine's belief of the SMAC conference came to pass.

The Wolverines from SMAC fought throughout the fourth quarter getting within points of either tying the score or taking a lead, however, Wiseman and teammate Shamel Akins (24 points) answered with clutch basket after clutch basket to hold off the valiant run.

Akins was able to use his speed and quickness to earn key lay-ups during critical moments of the fourth.

"I had a mismatch," Akins admitted. "I had a slower defender on me, so my players opened it up for me and I just took it one-on-one."

On Westlake's come-from-behind efforts, Akins added: "Basketball is a game of spurts. Everybody has their runs, we had our run, and they had their run, but we came out on top."

Westlake eventually cut it down to 77-76 during the fourth quarter, but a Wiseman jumper on the following possession sparked a 5-0 run to secure the win.

"I am glad that those guys persevered, and they had enough guts and will power to just take it home at the end," Oxendine said of his club.

Maurice Mason led all Westlake scorers with 21 points on the night including the three-point basket that cut the lead to one point in the fourth quarter.

However, the Wolverines from SMAC fell just short in its efforts of a come-back victory.

Potomac advances to face another SMAC foe in 3A South No. 2 seed Lackey, a game scheduled for Monday night at Lackey.

"I know Lackey is a great team," Oxendine said. " ... We just want to come out and compete. I am pretty sure Lackey doesn't expect much out of us, but we expect a lot from them."

Ajani Irish (16) and Maurice Owens (14) each also scored in double digits for Westlake, respectively.

David Brockenberry was a low-post presence for Potomac scoring 14 points on the night.

E-mail: James A. McCray III

Potomac 82, Westlake 78

Potomac   --   21   25   18   18; D. Wiseman 28, Akins 24, Brockenberry 14, Lee 6, Montgomery 6, Perkins 3, C. Wiseman 1

Westlake  --    21   18   19   20; Mason 21, Irish 16, Owens 14, Fort 9, Leathers 8, Warren 5, Jackson 3, Jenifer 2