Landon 62 Potomac School 63

Landon Basketball 62 Potomac School 63

By Vernon Holleman

Tonight, the Bears lost a heartbreaker to the Potomac School Panthers. After losing last year in the final seconds of a game that the Bears had control of for most of the game, the Bears lost for the second time in a row by just 1 point to Potomac School.

The Bears, like most of the games so far this season, started off hot. The Bears were able to build a lead early and were up 7 points after a huge basket from Canin Reynolds assisted by Justin Patterson to put the Bears up 13-6 just 6 minutes into the game, and Potomac was forced to spend a timeout after this to regroup. The 60 second break appeared to work, as the Panthers and Bears traded a few baskets until Potomac hit a 3 to cut the lead to 4 just before the end of the first quarter. The Bears led after 1 quarter of play 20-16.

The second quarter, again, like most games this year, was the Bears’ slow quarter. Potomac started off on a quick run to tie the game at 20-20 just 30 seconds into the quarter forcing Landon coach Rory Perkins to use a timeout to talk things over. The Panthers would continue the run however, and take a 5-point lead 25-30 with 3:00 remaining in the second quarter, giving the Panthers their largest lead of the game. The Panthers would then extend the lead to 7 with about 2 minutes remaining in the game. However, freshman Eric Ford would come off the bench and provide a huge much needed boost of momentum, and close the gap to just 4 with 45 seconds remaining in the half. Kino Lilly, another freshman, would then cut the lead to only 2 with a huge jump shot with 8 seconds left, and Canin Reynolds even gave the Bears an opportunity to have a halftime lead after a steal and a close no call foul on a very contested 3 point attempt with no time remaining on the clock. The Bears would trail the Panthers by just 2 32-34 at halftime.

The third quarter was the most evenly matched of the game. It went very back and forth, and both teams scored just about the same, with Potomac edging out a 1 point difference in this high scoring huge quarter. The Bears started off quickly tying the gam back up after not having lead since the beginning of the second quarter 34-34 just a minute and a half into the quarter. The lead would then go very back and forth, with Potomac regaining the advantage at 5:57 remaining in the third to give the Panthers a lead 34-37 after a huge three pointer. The Bears and Panthers would then trade baskets for a while until with 8 seconds left in the quarter, Julian Larosiliere hit 2 big foul shots to end the quarter with the Bears down just 3 at 44-47.

The fourth quarter was either just as equally matched or even more than the third quarter, with neither the Bears nor the Panthers able to really build a big lead. Every time the Bears hit a shot, Potomac would answer, and vice versa. The Bears would have a huge basket just a minute into the final quarter, with a jump shot from Canin Reynolds with no time remaining on the shot clock to send the small Landon student section into eruption, and the Bears would regain a 48-47 lead. The crowd would erupt just a minute later, with 6:10 remaining, after a huge block from Justin Patterson, and a layup on the other end of the floor extended the Bears lead to 51-47. Potomac however, would regroup and regain the lead with 5:05 remaining after a small run to put the Panthers up 51-53. The Bears and Panthers would again trade baskets for much of the rest of the quarter. This would end with 1:50 remaining in the deciding quarter, when Canin Reynolds came up with a clutch steal, and fast break layup to put the Bears up 59-58. Potomac would then go on to regain this lead, hitting a huge three pointer, which was quickly followed by a Canin Reynolds 3 pointer, and the Bears trailed by 1 in the final seconds 62-63 with only 0:13 remaining. The Panthers then would miss a huge front end of a 1 and 1 after a Landon intentional foul, but the Panthers would get a crucial offensive rebound. The Panthers then had another chance to extend the lead with free throws just seconds later. The Panthers again would miss the front end of the 1 and 1, and the Bears had life with just 8 seconds remaining, only needing a 2 to edge out a huge win against a very talented Potomac Panther team. The bears could not really get a much better look at victory than they did, but a questionable no call on a very physically contested layup chance from Julian Larosiliere hit off the rim, landed on the floor, the buzzer sounded, and the Bears had again lost to the Panthers by just 1 point, 62-63.

The Bears will look to bounce back after a heart breaking loss after going through a week of exams next week. They will return to action against Severn School December 20 at home at 6:00. The Bears will need to use the time off this weekend and early next week to rest and study after three games in a week. The team will look to hit to the court with a chance to get back to 0.500 against a very talented Severn School (6-2) squad.