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By James A. McCray III
Prince George's County, Content Manager
There are 32 minutes in a high-school basketball game. As many coaches and players believe it takes all 32 to win a game, it took the Potomac Wolverines just under three minutes, in essence, to earn a 63-60 victory Monday night against the visiting Frederick Douglass Eagles.
Potomac (10-5) went on a 12-2 scoring run during a crucial 2 minute, 30 second section of the fourth quarter to open an eight-point, 60-52 lead and, in turn, earning enough of a cushion to go on to victory.
"It was a big stretch," Potomac first-year head coach Torrence Oxendine said of those couple of minutes.
Not only did the defense stifle the Eagles during the stretch but, according to Oxendine, holding Douglass' Timmone Whatley --game-high 19 points-- scoreless for that stretch was just as vital.
"Timmone is a great player," the coach explained. " ... We just tried to keep him out of the middle because he controls their offense. Keeping him out of the middle helped us limit their shots and hold them to one and done."
"Coach just told us to play tough [defense]," Potomac's Daron Wiseman said. "Defense wins games."
Even still, Potomac had to fight off a furious late-game rally from Douglass including an errant three-point attempt at the buzzer to earn the victory.
On surviving the last few seconds of the contest, Potomac's Greg Morgan added: "We are a family, and we work together."
"We had a special timeout situation," Oxendine said of the last moments. "I told them, 'I'm not going to talk to you. You already know what time it is, go back out on the floor.' So they took it upon themselves to come together and say, 'Hey, let's finish this.'" ... All season long, it has been a problem for us, to finish, but tonight we were fortunate to finish this game."
As the team worked as a unit on defense, the offense was just as potent.
The victors boasted three double-digit scorers as Wiseman led all Potomac scorers with 16 points. DeAndre Montgomery and Chris Wiseman added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Douglass (9-7) put on a display of resiliency during the final minute of the game, however fell just short in its bid at a last-second tie.
"We were just was a step behind in a lot of things tonight," Douglass head coach Tyrone Massenberg said. "We are a much better team than what we showed. You can't play a "C" game in our league and expect to win, and that is pretty much what we did tonight."
Concerning Whatley's scoring ability in the game, Massenberg added: "The game is easy for him. He is able to score around the basket and get pretty much where he needs to get to on the court. ... He has a lot of upside and he kept us in the game."
Teams across the league are now in the stretch run of the regular season and wins and losses at this time of the year can help gain momentum heading into the playoffs and vice versa.
"They are getting there, they're getting there," Oxendine said of his team. "They are coming together, and starting to see what basketball is all about. They are learning how to finish games, how to hit clutch free throws, how to play tough, hard-nosed defense. In low scoring games like this one, you have to be a defensive team."
tmccray@digitalsports.com
Potomac 63, Frederick Douglass 60
Douglass -- 13 22 8 17; Whatley 19, Mays 11, Bonham 7, Brandon 6, Murray 6, Washington 5, Fennell 4, Watson 2
Potomac -- 15 17 11 20; D. Wiseman 16, Montgomery 12, C. Wiseman 10, Brockenberry 8, Morgan 8, Hopkins 6, Lee 3
