2011 Summer League Game Summaries
Summer League Game Summaries --- Week 6
JV Boys Take Two, RS Girls Thump United
The PBA JV Boys avenged an early season loss to Redland with a 28-27 win, ending the summer season with a 6-4 record. The game was close from the tip to the final buzzer. At one time in the 2nd half, the Falcons were down by 6 but the boys never gave up the fight, going up for good with about eight seconds left in the game on a layup by Michael McDonald. Tim McIntyre also hit a big 3 pointer late in the game to help spark the comeback. Tim McIntyre finished with 12 for the game, follow by Michael McDonald with 7, Tucker Ross with 3, and Cole Carmack, Colin Fisher and Joe Brashear with 2 each. Defense was the difference tonight. Cole Carmack did a great job tonight keeping pressure on their ball handler. When Cole need a break, Tim McIntyre, Colin Fisher, Pete Barry, and Joe Brashear stepped up the pressure on the ball keeping the ball away from the basket. Really the entire team played some nice defense holding Redland to just 12 1st half points and 27 points for the game. Nice way to end the season!
The PBA JV Boys opened the game with a strong 1st half, taking a 21- 10 lead over Bethesda Tuesday night. Tim McIntyre, Cole Carmack and Jake Drissel led all scorers with 8 each, followed by Tucker Ross, Michael Collins and Gage Wolitzky with 4 each and Michael McDonald with 2. " We played intense, strong defense tonight, had very balanced scoring and really controlled the game from the tip," said Coach Weber. " It was a nice team win for the boys."
The PBA Varsity Boys lost a heart breaker Monday night to Olney, 43- 42. With about 10 seconds left in the game, Joe Soltis took a Jake Armstrong inbound pass to the basket for a layup and a 2 point lead. Unfortunately, Olney answered, hitting a game winning 3, as time expired, from just short of mid court. The boys played a really nice game tonight, did almost everything they needed to do, to win it, but came up short as Olney hit 15 free throws in the game (missing only 2), and hit the half court shot as time expired for the win. Joe Soltis lead all scorers with 18 points, followed by Kevin Simmons with 15, Ryan Bannon and Jake Armstrong with 4 each and Justin Souder with 1. Coach Weber said “They played a really good game and I was impressed with their effort, it's too bad we came up on the short end of the stick”.
Rising Girls Finish Strong
The Rising Star Girls took out some of their frustration from its loss in the previous game this week and thumped MC United 25-4. The Falcons played flawless defense in the first half, holding United to no points at halftime. Erin Green had numerous blocks and stymied any thought United might have in trying to score in the paint. As for offense in the first half, Erin Green had six of her game high eight points before the break, while Hannah Bush, Bridgette Hammett, and Tori Gruber each added a basket. As was the case in their previous game, the Falcons held an advantage at the half, this time by the score of 12-0. Coach Thompson noted, "We gave the United absolutely nothing in the first half. Erin and Tori were blocking everything in sight and our perimeter defense was very solid." Coach Thompson also pointed out, "We did a nice job of mixing man and zone defense, which seemed to keep the United off balance. Erin and Tori also hauled in almost every possible rebound." Erin finished the game with six rebounds, Tori corralled five.
The closest the United came to the Falcons in the second half was when they made consecutive baskets to slightly shave their deficit to 15-4. The Falcons then used a full court press to completely frustrate the United. The press, led by guards Madeleine Thompson, Haley Harkins, Hannah Bush, Roshawna Marshall and Avery Whitney-Blum, led to several turnovers and some easy baskets. The game ended with a 10-0 run for the Falcons. "Our guards were excellent in the second half by creating havoc on the opposition and not allowing them to get in any offensive flow at all", noted Coach Thompson. The Falcons were pressed full court by the United in the second half, but managed to use the pressure to their advantage by creating some fast break opportunities. On several occasions, Maureen Miller successfully helped out with bringing the ball up against the United's press and getting the offense started. Triana Wallace again played solid minutes and was effective on the defensive side of the ball. In the second half, points were generated by Cubby Schmidt with three points (which included a well stroked free throw), while Madeleine Thompson, Hannah Bush, Sammie Thomas, Erin Green, and Haley Harkins chipped in with a basket. Seven total Falcons scored in the game.
"We had a very productive summer season", said Coach Thompson. "We made tremendous strides in most areas of the game, with shooting being an area that needs the most work in the off season."In what was easily the most disappointing game of the season, the Rising Star Girls fell in the rematch game against the Pink Panthers 16-13 on Monday night in a very hot and steamy Blair High School Gym. The Falcons started the game strong with some superb passing from Madeleine Thompson and Triana Wallace to Erin Green in the low post. Erin displayed textbook positioning to allow herself to have open shots from close in to the hoop. As has been the case with the last few games, the Falcons defense was very stingy in the first half, allowing just one basket. Poolesville was up by four points at the break.
The second half is where the aforementioned disappointment began to unfold for the Falcons, although you would not have known it in the first few minutes. The Falcon lead was stretched to ten on baskets by Erin Green, Bridgette Hammett and a 20' jump shot by Maureen Miller. The full court press was working well for the girls early in the second half, but to the Panthers' credit, they took advantage of some unforced Falcon turnovers and made some baskets (including two three-pointers) to draw within one with about 4 minutes to go in the game. The only point the Falcons could muster in the latter portion of the 2nd half was a free throw by Cubby Schmidt, and it was not enough to pull out a victory.
"This was a tough loss for us in many ways" noted Coach Thompson. *I felt we left many points off the board by not converting our close in open shots (sounds familiar?) in the first half. We could have been up by 12 or 14 instead of the four point margin at the break". Coach Thompson also noted, "The girls were not taking advantage of some open players down low. Sammie Thomas was consistently wide open since Panther defenders were busy trying to deny Erin the ball, but we just didn't seem to find Sammie enough." Coach Thompson also said, "We had some depth issues again tonight, but I was proud of how well several of the girls responded to playing some new roles for them." Roshawna Marshall and Avery Whitney-Blum played well at the guard position, with Avery seeing her first time as a point guard.
The PBA Varsity Girls suffered a disappointing loss to the AAU Classics this past Tuesday night. The final score of 17-4 was a result of a very physical game with three players leaving the floor injured. The Lady Falcons worked their full court press well and held the Classics to seven points in the first half. “Although the score did not show it, our girls put in a tremendous defensive effort. With a few strategic tweaks this coming fall, our press will be deadly. Overall, we only shot 4.7% or 1 for 21 and that poor shooting was the result of a very physical game.” commented Coach Hall after the game. Allie Nevius lead all scores with a bucket and Casey Harkins and Christina Hilton added a free throw each. Breanne Hall did a good job looking for the rebounds and grabbed four while Karyn Comfort pulled three. The Lady Falcons finished the summer with a 7-3 record and will play in a competitive league this fall in preparation for the winter Mid-Maryland League.
Summer League Game Summaries --- Week 5
PBA Varsity Girls Keep Up the Heat, Tame Bulldogs!
RS Girls Unite, Top UnitedWTOP's headlines read, "Be Prepared, It'll be a scorcher of a day." The heat caused the PBA Varsity Girl Falcons to start a little sluggish but with a few iced towels and plenty of water, they turned it around in the second half. Lady Falcons tamed the aggressive Bulldogs with a 25 to 15 win by applying their aggressive full court press. "Although we have not worked on positioning, our press was effective and caused a number of turnovers. We did not convert many easy shots in the first half so we needed to find a few quick points to put the game out of reach." commented Coach Hall. Karyn Comfort, with her first double-double (11 boards and 13 points) lead all scores. Breanne Hall, back from sickness and camps didn't miss a beat and added eight. Casey Harkins and Mollie Bodmer each had a bucket. On the boards, Karyn and Mollie lead with 11 and not wanting to be left out, Breanne ripped six while Casey pulled five. "What I was really pleased with tonight was the guard penetration and distribution. Jami D'Amelio, Allie Nevius and Casey were looking for the open seam in the zone. Breanne was playing heads-up ball and dished out four assists. Several were wrap around passes and a few others were perfect drives and dishes." said Coach Hall. The Lady Falcons are 7 - 2 on the season with the AAU Classics next Tuesday night. The Lady Falcons are looking for a win to take the series against a talented travel team.
The PBA JV Girls lost to the Classic Blues, 42 – 16 on Thursday but the final score doesn’t tell the whole story. “I am very proud of the way our girls played tonight,” said Coach Trainor. “We were missing our two best scorers going into this game and I was really worried about where our offense was going to come from but our girls really stepped up and did a great job. It obviously wasn’t enough to win the game but it’s great to see these girls coming into their own.”
The Classics were a tough match up for the Falcon’s and at times were able to score at will. “I only run man to man defense in the summer,” said Coach Trainor. “When you are going up against an athletic team like the Classics you’re going to struggle at times playing man defense but I would rather the girls learn how to play defense against that type of team than play zone. To me the summer is all about learning.”
It took awhile for the Falcons to get on the board scoring only three points towards the end of the first half and going into the break with a 15 point deficit. “When you are down by a significant margin it’s easy to give up. Our girls did not give up. They came out and played the second half with a lot of heart and I am proud of the character our girls showed,” commented Coach Trainor. “You get a great feeling as a coach to see your girls scrap away and continue to fight through adversity. It is a beautiful thing to watch a player as the realization sinks in that they can play with anyone. You can see the confidence growing in them.”
Danielle Torres had a break-out game leading the Falcons on the offensive end with 9 points. She also did a great job on the boards using her size and strength to pull in rebounds. Tori Gruber, playing up for only the second time, had 4 points and played an all around great game. “Tori was all over the place,” said Coach Trainor. “She did a great job on defense, attacking the glass and running the court.” Hannah Bush contributed 2 and Kate Heimbach 1. Hannah Bush and Hailey Harkins shared the ball handling responsibilities and really did a good job. “Both Hannah and Hailey are playing up this summer and they are doing a great job,” commented Coach Trainor. “They are both scrappers and have great motors. They bring a lot of energy to the team and will do anything you ask of them. I think what impresses me most about the two of them is they won’t back down from anyone.”The PBA Rising Star Girls were without several experienced players on Monday night, however the team did not seem to be bothered by the fact that several of their teammates were forced to play positions that they have not played before or were challenged to expand their roles in ways they have not been previously asked. This utmost display of team work led to the Falcons toppling MC United 12-9.
The game was scoreless for several minutes before Madeleine Thompson opened the scoring with a 15' jumper. Madeleine also made a very timely steal and went the distance for a layup. Cubby Schmidt showed very nice strength and perseverance down low with four points in the first half. The Falcons closed with a seven point lead at the half as MC United was held without a field goal in the first half (their only point came on a single free throw).
"All of the girls really played their hearts out tonight" said Coach Thompson. " Since we again struggled in making our open shots, our defense again was the key to victory since the girls completely shut down United in the first half and played solid defense the rest of the way". Coach Thompson also noted, "We played more man to man defense than we have all summer and the girls have really responded by dramatically improving in that area". Despite having foul problems early on, Tori Gruber managed to score a basket and pull down many rebounds. "Tori and Cubby Schmidt were unbelievable on the boards tonight" said Coach Thompson. "They basically gathered every rebound that was anywhere near the basket". Cubby Schmidt was also a huge force on the offensive end by scoring six points to earn scoring honors.
Chloe Insalaco and Roshawna Marshall were stellar in providing several minutes of aggressive play at guard, while Maureen Miller continues her ascent to becoming a very savvy, all around player for the team. Coach Thompson notes, "I know Maureen has been working so hard on her game at home and she has come so far this summer in terms of handling the ball, rebounding and poise on the court".Triana Wallace provided important minutes at the power forward position when Tori Gruber was forced to the sidelines due to foul trouble and Avery Whitney Blum and Sammie Thomas were keys to maintaining the stout defense.
Summer League Game Summaries --- Week 4
PBA RS Girls Tame Pink Panthers!
PBA Varsity Girls Go Hollywood, then Get Stung By Bees!
Displaying a relentless defense throughout the game, the PBA Rising Star Girls pulled away in the second half and defeated the Pink Panthers 14-9. The Falcons led 6-1 early on in the first half and finished the break on top. The Falcons never trailed in the game. Six different players found the score sheet, including Sammie Thomas with four points, while Kelliann Lee, Madeleine Thompson, Erin Green, Hannah Bush, and Tori Gruber finished with two points each."I thought this was one of our strongest games from start to finish" said Coach Thompson. "We mixed our man and zone defense throughout the game and seemed to throw off the Panther's rhythm". Coach Thompson also stated, "Our rebounding has been one of our biggest improvements since the first couple of games. Tori Gruber was a real force on the boards and even our guards and small forwards helped out on hauling down rebounds." Tori Gruber finished the game with ten defensive rebounds, while Kelliann Lee had five and Sammie Thomas added four.
"Our passing today was probably the best I have seen in quite a while" noted Coach Thompson. "Kelliann Lee was absolutely magical in finding the open teammate and I thought our centers got really involved in kicking out to the open player when the defense collapsed."
The Falcons shot 28% from the field, considerably better than the 6% from the previous game, however the inaccurate shooting from near the basket continues to be an area that needs to be improved. "We simply must shoot a higher percentage from close in to really start making that big step forward as a team", said Coach Thompson. "We are making nice strides forward in many areas of the game and we need to include shooting in that group."
In a tale of two halves, the PBA JV Girls dropped another one on Thursday night to the Bulldogs, 30-14. It was a closer game at the half when the Falcons only trailed by 4 with a score of 10-6. Then the Bulldogs ran away with it in the second half. "It just seemed as if we ran out of steam in the second half," said Coach Trainor. "This summer has really been a learning curve for our girls. We have a smaller group than we did in the winter and some of the girls lacked game experience going into the summer. Girls are getting significantly more playing time and being asked to do things they haven't had to do before," commented Coach Trainor. "Our summer league record may not reflect it but this team has made some great strides over the past few weeks. I have seen a lot of personal improvement in all of our girls."
The Falcons scored early on a layup by Delaney Cecco and played the Bulldogs tight in the first half. The score was 6-6 with 3 minutes left in the half before the Bulldogs scored two quick buckets off of offensive rebounds at the end of the half. "One of the real areas of focus this winter is going to be rebounding," said Coach Trainor. "We have the height and the athleticism but we need to work on the basics - boxing out." The second half wasn't as close as the Bulldogs came out hot and built a 10 point lead early in the half. The Falcon's chipped away at the lead but couldn't put together a sustained run. The girls had plenty of open looks but struggled offensively. "We have struggled at times scoring this summer but to me that is easily fixed. We are going to work on mechanics and form and get better at shooting. We are also going to work on gathering a rebound, keeping the ball high and refining our touch in close to the basket."
Tori Gruber, Erin Green and Kelliann Ross all played up from the Rising Stars for the game and all played well. Delaney Cecco led all scorers with eight. Erin Green had four points including a beautiful pump fake and drive to the basket. Kelliann Lee contributed two for the Falcon's.
The PBA JV Boys fell behind early on Tuesday against Olney, but continued to climb their way back, finally reducing the deficit to one, 27-26, with just over two minutes left in the game. Olney then converted a three-point play and added a few late baskets to pull away, making the final score 34-26. "We battled really hard all night. We did a good job fighting for rebounds, especially Gage Wolitzky and Michael McDonald. I thought it was Gage's best game in a PBA uniform," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We just couldn't get the basket to put us in the lead. Free throws killed us all night, shooting just 2-for-10. Plus, Olney had a really good guard who was the difference in the game." Wolitzky led the team with 8 points and 11 rebounds. Cole Carmack scored 6 points, on two 3-pointers. McDonald scored 4 points and added 7 rebounds. Colin Fisher also scored 4 points. Tucker Ross and Michael Morgan scored 2 points each, to round out the scoring.
Playing with only 5 players is tough. It's even tougher when none of your players are primarily guards. If they didn't already know it, the PBA JV Boys learned that lesson the hard way on Thursday, falling to Redland, 36-21. "Redland wore us down with their superior quickness and ability to substitute players. I was really proud of our effort, but we couldn't keep up with them. Although we had a height advantage at most positions, they had one skilled big man who was bigger than anyone we had. The banging that went on underneath wore us down more than it wore him down, which was particularly apparent when we tried to cover their quick guards." according to Coach Morgan. "On the bright side, I thought Michael Collins had a very good game offensively, and Michael McDonald had another good game on the boards. Additionally, we had a respectable game from the foul line, shooting 56%." Collins led the team with 10 points, including 4-for-6 from the charity stripe. McDonald scored 6 points, and led the team with 9 rebounds. Michael Morgan scored 3 points, and Gage Wolitzky added 2.
With the paparazzi out in full force and cameras flashing, the PBA Varsity Girls upstaged the Maryland Stars with a 27-8 win Tuesday night. In their third and final meeting, the Lady Falcons swept the voting and took all nominations to become true Hollywood Divas.
Hearing the cheers from their adoring fans, the Lady Falcons took to the court and put on an Oscar like performance. Taking home Best Actor in Scoring was Kristen Darragh with 12. Runner-up nominations went to the other four players on the court tonight: Mollie Bodmer five, Jami D'Amelio and Lauren Lightcap four and Christina Hilton with a bucket. Best Actor in a Supporting Role went to Kristen dishing out three assists with nominations going to Christina two and Mollie one. Rounding out the awards was Mollie with her performance in the paint. Mollie grabbed eight rebounds while Christina narrowly missing the award ripping six.
"I want to thank all my fans for their support, to Coach Hall for allowing me to shot the three and to my other four teammates that played tonight - love you guys." said Kristen after the game. Christina had this to say, "Thank you to my fans, your cheering inspires me. Now it's yogurt time - you're welcome Steph."
The PBA Varsity Lady Falcons were stung on Thursday night and lost 32-17 to the St Bees. Going into game day with only four players, the Lady Falcons called in all favors and just before game time, three other PBA players stepped up. "A big thank you to Anna, Rebecca and Morgan (coming out of retirement) for being there tonight. Without them we would have had a tough night. Overall, tonight was not one of our best performances. We only had three players score and that is a tough way to muster a win." commented Coach Hall. Mollie Bodmer and Jami D'Amelio each had six points in the effort and Lauren Lightcap added five.
Summer League Game Summaries --- Week 3
PBA JV Boys and RS Boys Sweep Week!
Varsity Girls Shoot Down Stars, Lose to ClassicsThe PBA JV Boys won both games this week, taking their record to 4 and 2 for the season.
Poolesville jumped out to a 10-0 lead against St Johns and never trailed in the game, as the JV Boys cruised to a 39-22 win. The guards put pressure on the ball high, the Falcon bigs didn't allow the ball to get into the paint and as a result, SJ only scored 6 points in the 1st half. "This was by far the best overall game we've played this summer," said Coach John Weber. "The boys played excellent defense and hit their shots on offense." Tim McIntyre and Cole Carmack lead all scorers with 12 each (each also hit a three-pointer), followed by Michael McDonald with seven and Pete Barry and Jake Drissel with four each. "We had eight boys tonight and they all contributed on to this win," said Weber.
Against the Orange Alliance on Thursday, the JV Boys jumped out to a 23-15 lead at half time and squeezed the Oranges in the second half to record a 52-37 win. "This was the first game that we shot over 50% from the free throw line hitting 10 of 18 shots," said Coach Weber. All seven players scored tonight led by Michael Collins with 11, followed by Tim McIntyre with nine, Pete Barry with eight, Joe Brashear with seven, Cole Carmack and Colin Fisher with six each and Gage Wolitsky with five. "I really liked how everyone got involved in the offense tonight, we really need that type of balance to be competitive," said Weber. In addition to his five points, Wolitsky also pulled down 15 rebounds, followed by Tim McIntyre and Michael Collins with seven each (as the team accounted for 40 total).
The PBA Varsity Girls shot down the Maryland Stars Wednesday night with an 'interesting' performance. Winning 15-4, the girls were in command the entire night but their dominating performance was non-existent. "We shot 5 for 29 - that's only 17%. Against teams like this, the girls need to focus on their shot selection and take high percentage shots." commented Coach Hall. Leading all scores for the Lady Falcons was Jami D'Amelio with five. Lauren Lightcap added four, Kristen Darragh three, Casey Harkins two and Karyn Comfort one.
In the anticipated second match-up, the Lady Falcons faced the AAU Classics Thursday night. In their first meeting, the Lady Falcons dominated the second half and grabbed a win. During this contest, it was the Potomac Valley Classics that controlled the second half and walked away with a 28-26 win. "We only had six players tonight and several of the girls came with their A game. Allie Nevius was on a mission and gave us 110% - no 112%. Casey Harkins managed the point and (although getting mugged) penetrated the Classic zone. Lauren Lightcap was looking for her shot tonight and going 2-3 was nice to see." commented Coach Hall. Allie lead all scores with eight followed by Karyn Comfort and Casey with five a piece. Kristen Darragh and Lauren each added four to round out the scoring. Coach Hall continued, "We started off on the right foot and lead at the half, 17-14. In the second half, we only scored 9; just four from the field and we went 5-12 from the line. We were given the opportunity for a win by going to the line 12 times (most in the final minutes) but we could not convert." In her aggressive 112% performance, Allie lead the team with four steals and was right behind Kristen Darragh (five) with four boards. The Lady Falcons face the Classics one more time this season and will be looking to take the series.
On Monday night, the PBA 6th Grade Rising Stars Boys started out fast and strong against the Lakers by taking an early 10-point lead and never looking back in a 41-20 victory. At the half the Falcons held a 22-10 lead with everyone making contributions. The pressure from the Falcon full-court press was very effective causing the Lakers difficulty in setting up their offensive sets to gain quality shots. Poolesville rebounding was excellent with Robert Siegrest, Tyler Morningstar, Colin Metz, Pete Barry, and Tommy Poole all having five or more rebounds led by Robert Siegrest with eight. Brady Pearre and Pete Barry led with three assists each and Darrell Marshall, Ryan Haddaway, and Colin Metz also making assists. Scoring was provided by seven different players with Pete Barry having 11, Ryan Haddaway 10, Michael Basehore 8, Tommy Poole 6, Johnny Thompson, Darrell Marshall and Brady Pearre contributing two each. The Falcons continue to work on reducing the turnovers with the team committing 16 turnovers on the night. Coach Haddaway told the boys "when you play a fast and hard pressure game you will have turnovers but we need to continue to minimize the number of bad ones." Coach was pleased with the effort and results. A game well played.
In their second game of the week, the Falcons met a team with size and speed tonight and came home with a 38-18 victory. Tyler Morningstar matched up well with the Orange Alliance's biggest man this evening finishing the evening with eight point and eight rebounds. Coach Haddaway noted that some of our players who have not played our style of basketball prior to this year are really beginning to pick up on how the Falcons play pressure defense, with Trevor McFall, Jimmy Dutton, and Darrell Marshall coming in and picking up the pressure right where the others left off. Ryan Haddaway and Pete Barry each had five steals with Brady Pearre, Marshall, McFall and Dutton each having two steals. The team pulled down 28 rebounds with Morningstar leading the way with eight, Pearre and Pete Barry each had four, Ryan Haddaway three, Michael Basehore, Tommy Poole, McFall, Dutton each having two, and Marshall with one rebound. The scoring was led by Haddaway with 14, Barry and Morningstar with 8, and Pearre and Poole with each. Coach Haddaway let the boys know tonight was a good victory against a good team---in his opinion the best game the RS Boys played this season.
The PBA Varsity Boys gave Olney all they could but fell short in the end, 44-35. The Falcons trailed by two points at the half but Olney managed to pull away in the fourth quarter despite double-figure scoring from Nathan Onderko (10 points). In their second game of the week, the Varsity Boys lost to a strong Wheaton squad by a final score of 27-11. Kevin Simmons led Poolesville with nine points. Jake Armstrong and Ryan Bannon chipped in four points each in the loss. Dylan Landis, Sean Murphey and Chris Johnson also scored.
RS Girls Clamp Down, Destroy Destroyers
The PBA Rising Star Girls used a suffocating defense and fast break offense to overcome a halftime deficit and defeat the Destroyers 18-15. The Falcons started very slowly, going down 7-2 with just a few minutes in the game having transpired. From there the Falcons defense stiffened and the rebounding, once a weakness of the team for the first few games of the season, was much improved in not allowing many second chances from the Destroyers. The Falcons gave up just two other baskets in the first half and closed the deficit to three points at the break.
The Destroyers pressed the Falcons all game long and paid the price several times since Kelliann Lee, Madeleine Thompson, and Haley Harkins were able to find daylight and lead the fast break. Cubby Schmidt and Tori Gruber were on the receiving end of some of these breaks. "I thought all of our guards did an excellent job tonight in keeping their composure and displaying nice ball handling skills in helping to solve their press", Coach Thompson said. "I also think the girls are starting to see the value of attacking the press and converting it to fast break scoring opportunities." Kelliann Lee led the scoring with six points, followed by Madeleine Thompson and Tori Gruber with four points each. Cubby Schimdt added two points, while Triana Wallace had her first ever basket in competitive basketball. "I was so happy for Triana to score since she has been working so hard in practice with us as well as at home" noted Coach Thompson. "Triana also hauled in several key defensive rebounds and played solid defense."
"I was proud of so many players tonight" said Coach Thompson. "Chloe Insalaco played strong defense and displayed more poise than normal for a player that is still relatively new to the game. I thought Bridgette Hammett continues to improve with her passing and quick reaction with defensive help." "Roshawna Marshall continues to take small, but forward steps to improving her game and made a couple of very aggressive steals to help seal the win late in the game" noted Coach Thompson. "Erin Green was a force tonight despite not finding the scoresheet since she had numerous key blocks and rebounds. Erin even dazzled the fans in the stands a couple of instances by performing her best Jason Kidd impression leading the break down court". Maureen Miller and Avery Whitney-Blum added solid minutes in both halves to help preserve the victory.
The Rising Star Girls took a tough one on the chin losing to Holy Redeemer 20-6. Early on, the game looked like neither team wanted to score and the Falcons had just one basket at the break. The low point total for the game was not for lack of trying by the Falcons "We just could not convert on the many scoring opportunities, even with most of the shots from within just 8 feet of the basket" noted Coach Thompson. "Coach Green counted of our 32 shots, just two were made (two of the points came on free throws), or six percent shooting for the game. You can't win games by misfiring so many times, especially when the shots were so close to the basket."
Tori Gruber had three points for the Falcons, Erin Green had one field goal for two points, and Hannah Bush had one point.
"In looking at the glass half full, I thought Bridgette Hammett played a very strong defensive game, showing great anticipation in stealing passes and showing nice athleticism on help defense", said Coach Thompson. "I also thought Erin Green did a nice job with several great blocks while Tori Gruber and Maureen Miller grabbed several defensive rebounds throughout the game.
Summer League Game Summaries --- Week 2
Rising Star Boys 10-Point Turnaround Takes Down Damascus
Rising Star Girls Win First PBA Game, Young Falcons Clip Hawks' Wings
Varsity Girls Sting Bees, JV Boys Split, JV Girls Get CloserThe PBA Rising Star Boys again came from behind to bring home a 40-37 win over Damascus . The night started slow for the youngest Falcons with the group of boys still learning to play together as a group. Damascus came out strong and played pressure defense all night causing 15 Falcon turnovers. Coach Haddaway talked to the boys about protecting the basketball, making sure they saw who they were throwing the ball to before making a pass. Taking better care of the ball in the second half and full court pressure by the Falcons turned the tide late in the game. With three minutes to go and the Falcon's trailing by seven points, a Ryan Haddaway basket and the Falcon's full court pressure produced three consecutive turnovers leading to six straight points and giving the Falcons a one point lead. Five more unanswered points put the Falcons up by six in the final minute. The Hornets scored a three-pointer and stole the inbound pass to give them an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds. Heads up defense by Colin Metz made the final shot by the Hornets a bad one and the Falcons brought home the three point victory. The Falcons had ten out of eleven players with rebounds with Michael Basehore leading the way with four. Ryan Haddaway led the scoring with 11, followed by Brady Pearre with eight, Robert Siegrest with seven, Preston Foster with six, and Johnny “Rocket” Thompson and Tommy Poole with four each.
The Rising Star Boys experienced some serious growing pains in meeting the Bethesda Bullets last night at WatkinsMill High School in a 41-29 loss. When it was all said and done there is a belief the Falcons may have brought home a new Genus World Record for most turnovers ever in a game of Basketball. However, despite having trouble throwing the ball to the invisible man, the Falcons went on a ten-point run with three minutes to go to close the lead to six points. Tyler Morningstar led the comeback with a strong offensive rebounding effort and six points, Tommy Poole and Johnny Thompson hit big shots. The Falcons played excellent full court press defense in the second half. Five players had assists in the game and eight of the nine players had rebounds. Despite the turnover issues the team never quit and continued to play aggressive defense until the end. Tommy Poole led the scoring effort with nine followed by Tyler Morningstar with six, Robert Siegrest and Johnny Thompson with four each and Michael Basehore, Pete Barry and Preston Foster with two each.
The PBA Rising Star Girls team bounced back from its winless opening week in a big way by cranking up the offense to a tune of 35 points and defeating the Hawks 35-14. The game featured a little bit of everything for the Falcons---several fast breaks, strong rebounding, many points in the paint, and several successful long jump shots.
"The girls played a very nice game tonight and showed a lot more toughness and aggressiveness both offensively and defensively" said Coach Thompson. "I can't ask much more from the team in terms of offensive balance since we had nine different girls score and we had four players record six points each. Hannah Bush was potent offensively right from the opening tip scoring all of her points in the first half. She was aggressive in going to the hoop and also displayed a nice shooting touch from outside," noted Coach Thompson. "I thought Tori Gruber showed what a great force she can be inside the paint, by exhibiting great persistence in following up her missed shots and ultimately scoring the basket."
Along with Hannah Bush, Bridgette Hammett, Tori Gruber and Madeleine Thompson each had six points to lead the team in scoring. Erin Green had four points, Sammie Thomas had three, Cubby Schmidt, Chloe Insalaco and Haley Harkins added two points to round out the scoring. Maureen Miller contributed to the team effort by being called on to help out in breaking the press, while Roshawna Marshall had a very nice steal towards the end of the game.
The Rising Star Girls were matched up tonight against one of their arch rivals, the Lightning Bolts, and played very well for the first half trailing by just one point before fading in the second half and ultimately losing 28-10. The Lightning Bolts started the game up 9-0 before the Falcons woke up and went on a 8-0 run to close the first half. Erin Green led the Falcons in scoring with six points, while Tori Gruber and Kelliann Lee chipped in with two points each. In the first half, Tori Gruber made a strong power move to the basket and got fouled while shooting. She calmly swished both free throws for her two points on the night.
"We played a team tonight that has won championships in past seasons" said Coach Thompson. "They have many skilled players, move the ball around very nicely and have very dangerous outside shooters." Coach Thompson also noted, "I thought our team made some very positive strides despite the loss. Erin Green and Tori Gruber took the ball very strong to the basket on several occasions. The aggressiveness to the basket not only turned into points, but it also led to many fouls on the Bolts."
The Falcon guards were able to penetrate through the Bolts' defense in the first half, but early in the second half, the full court press got the offense out of sync and led to some costly turnovers. "We definitely need work on breaking the press said Coach Thompson, but it has been difficult since we have been shorthanded for most games at the guard position. I feel pretty good about the personnel at the ball handling position we have on the roster, but we just need to all get together and keep working".
The PBA Varsity Girls took the sting out the St. Bernadette (St. Bees) Tuesday night with a 23-20 win. The Lady Falcons found themselves down 0-6 after the first two minutes of the game due to sloppy passing and what seems to be the Poolesville curse: Playing games during PBA camp week. The girls composed themselves and brought the game back within reach by the half. "A win is a win but we narrowly escaped this one. We just started the game flat. The girls were not running their offense, not crashing the boards and not taking care of the ball." commented Coach Hall. Turning things around in the second half seems to be the summer time "raison d'être" for the Lady Falcons. In this most recent contest: 24 rebounds or 62.5% came in the second half; all by one assist came in the second half and 61% of the scoring came in the second half. "When these girls start playing to the level of their capabilities, they are a fun group to watch. They are a talented group and when they take care of the little things, they will be a dominating force." continued Coach Hall. Turnovers in the first half were a factor but only shooting 29% on the night was one of the main reasons for the game being so close. Although the Lady Falcons were more aggressive in the second half, they only shot 27% (6 for 22) as compared to their 36% (4 for 11) in the first. The missed opportunities on the second, third and fourth attempts allowed the Bees to stay in the game. Compounding the scoring challenges, the Lady Falcons only hit 3 of 14 (21%) from the line.
The Varsity Girls won their fourth straight game 27-14 against the Bulldogs. With all their energy being zapped from the PBA Camp, the Lady Falcons struggled to crank-up their game. "We had a tough time getting things going again tonight. I decided to make them put on a full court press to jump start their aggressiveness and that seemed to do it." commented Coach Hall. Casey Harkins lead all scores for the Falcons with seven, followed by Allie "three baller" Nevius and Karyn Comfort with five each. Also contributing were Mollie Bodmer and Kristen Darragh with four and Laruen "It's my Birthday" Lightcap chipping in a bucket. Mollie controlled the paint again with seven boards and Erin eating her bowl of aggressiveness before the game ripped three. Jami D'Amelio, Karyn, Kristen, Laruen and Allie each pulled two while Casey pulled one. Coach Hall added, "With a long weekend ahead of us, I'm hoping the girls rest, get outside and shoot MANY foul shots and work on boxing out - one can only hope."
Leading all scores for the Falcons were Casey Harkins and Karyn Comfort with six each. Kristen Darragh contributed five and Mollie Bodmer, Lauren Lightcap and Allie Nevius each added a bucket. Mollie controlled the paint with seven boards, Kristen ripped six and Casey pulled four. Karyn found herself in position and grabbed three while Jami D'Amelio, Christina Hilton, Lauren, Allie and Erin Sparrow each tallied one.
The PBA Varsity Girls won their fourth straight game 27-14 against the Bulldogs. With all their energy being zapped from the PBA Camp, the Lady Falcons struggled to crank-up their game. "We had a tough time getting things going again tonight. I decided to make them put on a full court press to jump start their aggressiveness and that seemed to do it." commented Coach Hall. Casey Harkins lead all scores for the Falcons with seven, followed by Allie "three baller" Nevius and Karyn Comfort with five each. Also contributing were Mollie Bodmer and Kristen Darragh with four and Lauren "It's my Birthday" Lightcap chipping in a bucket. Mollie controlled the paint again with seven boards and Erin eating her bowl of aggressiveness before the game ripped three. Jami D'Amelio, Karyn, Kristen, Lauren and Allie each pulled two while Casey pulled one. Coach Hall added, "With a long weekend ahead of us, I'm hoping the girls rest, get outside and shoot MANY foul shots and work on boxing out - one can only hope."
PBA JV Girls Show Toughness in Comeback Loss.
The PBA JV Girls played another close one on Wednesday night against the Lady Classics. Trailing 11-18 at the end of the first half the girls came back to tie the game with minutes left but gave up some last minute buckets to finish with 27-23 loss. "I think this is was our best overall game of the summer so far. The girls played tough defense, did a better job on the boards, and we had balanced scoring against their 2-3 zone," commented Coach Trainor. "We just ran out of steam at the end of the game. We played tough defense and created several turnovers at the end of the game but couldn't capitalize. Regardless of the score, I was very pleased and proud of the way our girls played."
Delaney Cecco led the team with nine points and did a great job of rebounding. Hailey Khalil and Hannah Bush each had 5 and played great perimeter defense. Danielle Torres had 4 and was also a force on the boards along with Kate Heimbach. "The best part of summer league is watching these girls improve every game," said Coach Trainor.
The JV Girls continued to struggle offensively on Monday night dropping a tough one to the Maryland Fury, 32-9. "The girls kept it close for the first half considering we only scored three points. We ended the half down 12-3," said Coach Pat Trainor. The girls rallied and scored the first 6 points of the second half to bring it to 12-9 but just couldn't get anything going offensively for the remainder of the game. "We are executing offensively, and had some good looks but were ice cold for most of the game", commented Coach Trainor. "We also turned the ball over way to much."
"The girls are playing hard and hustling the entire game, but we need to cut down on turnovers, convert our fast break opportunities, and do a better job on the boards," said Coach Trainor. "We really got pushed around on the boards Monday night. When you're out-sized you really need to focus on putting a body on your girl and box out better. We did a decent job defensively but then we would give them a second, and sometimes a third opportunity."
Coach Trainor also commented on the need for balanced scoring. "Delaney Cecco had all nine of our points. We are going to need some other girls to contribute on the offensive end of the court if we expect to win. One of the things I mentioned to the girls after the game was that it's great to be unselfish and pass the ball to a teammate who is in a better position to shoot but they can't be afraid to take a shot when they have wide open looks at the basket," said Coach Trainor. With only eight players there is a lot of playing time to go around and the girls are giving a great effort every game. One of the great things about the summer league season is that girls are getting substantial minutes and gaining valuable game experience.
The PBA JV Boys defeated the Terps on Tuesday night 35-29. Poolesville started the game off strong and ended the 1st half with a ten point lead---25-15. Pete Barry and Jake Drissel lead all scorers with 10 each, followed by Michael McDonald with six, Tim McIntyre with four, Cole Carmack with three and Gage Wolitzky with two. The Falcons ended the game with 10 assists which accounted for over half their points with Colin Fisher, Pete Barry and Michael McDonald picking up two assists each. The final bucket of the game came on a perfect inbound pass from Colin Fisher to Jake Drissel for an easy layup. Poolesville tallied 24 rebounds for the game, lead by Gage and Jake with six each. Defensively the Falcons point guards did a nice job, keeping pressure on the ball the entire game.
Thursday night the JV Boys took on the Classics team and trailed for the tip to buzzer, losing 40-39. Poolesville had the opportunity to win this game with less than 10 seconds left but failed to sink three close shots as time ran out. At one time in the 2nd half the Falcons were down by nine but never gave up and almost pulled this one out of the loss column. Michael McDonald lead all scorers with 13, followed by Tim McIntyre with seven, Jake Drissel with five, Pete Barry and Michael Collins with four each, and Joe Brashear, Tucker Ross and Gage Wolitzky with two each. Poolesville shot a little better percentage-wise from the free throw line but still only managed to hit on 7 of 19 shots for 37%. Brashear, Barry and Drissel combined for 6 of the Poolesville 8 assists. The Falcons ended the game with 17 steals, lead by Michael Morgan with five. Morgan did a really nice job anticipating the pass (something Coach Weber talked about before the game) tonight and this was the result. It was a hard fought game and in Coach Weber's opinion the boys really outworked the Classics but just came up a little short on the scoreboard.
Despite 18 points from a virtually unstoppable Kevin Simmons, the PBA Varsity Boys fell to St. Andrews by a final score of 47-26. Sean Murphey and Dylan Landis also scored for Poolesville. Earlier in the week the Varsity Boys fell to the Orange Alliance 39-29. The Falcons mounted a fierce second half comeback by outscoring the Alliance 20-12 but Poolesville simply ran out of time. Simmons hit for 10 to lead Poolesville. Ryan Bannon scored eight points in the loss. Chris Johnson scored his first points as a PBA player.
Summer League Game Summaries --- Week 1
Small Town 1, AAU All-Stars 0
PBA Varsity Girls Take Down Classics
JV Boys Tame Bobcats, RS Boys Win 1st PBA GameThe PBA Lady Falcon Varsity Girls took down a very aggressive AAU Classic's team Thursday night, 24-15. In the first half the two teams matched play and traded baskets. The Classics went into the locker room with a 7-6 halftime lead. "We played 'with them' in the first half, reacting to their game and not playing ours. However, in the second half our girls attached the boards, penetrated their defense and made them react to us." commented Coach Hall. The Lady Falcons were able to stay in the game by tallying 7 of their total 11 steals before the half.
In the second half, the Lady Falcons took the initiative with anticipation, agility, and aggressiveness and out scored the Classics 18-8. Mollie Bodmer (driving to the basket with two girls literately hanging onto her) lead all scores with eight points followed by Karyn Comfort with six. Kristen Darragh and Breanne Hall each added four points to the effort. With aggressiveness and court awareness, Casey Harkins picked up her first PBA points (these will not be her last) by adding a bucket to the effort. Mollie's points came from a domination in the paint. Mollie ripped 14 boards with five being on the offensive end. Karyn, Kristen and Breanne were right behind Mollie with six, five and four rebounds respectively. Casey, Erin Sparrow and Allie Nevius each contributed with pulling rebounds.
The guards for the Falcons felt the ball pressure all night but responded well. Breaking down the full court pressure was not a stumbling block tonight for Poolesville. "With pressure being applied to the ball for most of the 28 minutes, our signature transition game was not available. We did have good ball movement and the girls were looking for the open player. One of my favorite plays tonight was when Kristen drove to the basket from the left side. Mollie recognizing the dribble penetration, positioned herself in the opposite short corner. Kristen, responding to the collapsing zone by dumping the ball to Mollie for an uncontested lay-up." said Coach Hall. The Lady Falcons dished out five assists; Breanne with two and Kristen, Jami D'Amelio and Allie each having one.
The PBA Varsity Girls open their season with an impressive 34-7 win over the Maryland Stars. It has been over 100 days since their last game and it took the Lady Falcons a while to get started. The cobwebs and maybe even nerves were being shed with each tick of the clock and after the full 14 mins of the first half expired, the young ballers were back in full stride. At the half, the Lady Falcons only shot 18% but held a 14-2 lead. The second half was a completely different game entirely. The girls settled, looked for their open shot and ran the transition game with perfection. A second half shooting percentage of 41% is proof enough. Karyn Comfort lead all scores with 10 followed by Mollie Bodmer and Allie Nevius with 6 a piece. Christina Hilton, working the short corner in the second half, chipped in a career high 4. Kristen Darragh, Jami D'Amelio, Lauren Lightcap and Erin Sparrow each added to the effort. "The second half was what I expect to see from these players. They started to run the offense in the second half and their man to man defense was much better. Our ball handlers, Breanne Hall and Casey Harkins did a wonderful job at point finding the open Falcon and dishing the ball for a shot. Having almost every player score tonight is a testament to the unselfishness of these girls." commented Coach Hall after the game.
The PBA Rising Star Boys first game saw a strong challenge from the Classic-Magic team last night at Clarksburg HS with the Falcons persevering for a 36-30 victory. The Falcons and Magic exchanged 16 lead changes with the Magic taking a four point lead with 4:32 remaining on the clock. The Falcon then outscored the Magic by ten in the final four minutes to secure the six point victory. Both teams full court pressed for the majority of the game with the Magic also shifting to a 1-3-1 trapping zone that was broken by solid Falcon passing. In the final four minutes the Falcons had scoring contributions from Ryan Haddaway, Brady Pearre, Pete Barry, and Colin Metz to close out the tight fought game. Preston Foster and Ryan Kasten provided a strong rebounding presence for the Falcons. Darrel Marshall came up with two big steals in the second half. Michael Basehore--fighting the flu all week---gave the team critical minutes at the end of the game. The Falcons had four players with over five rebounds. Ryan Haddaway led the scoring with 18 points followed by Brady Pearre and Pete Barry with eight and Colin Metz with two.
The PBA JV Boys dropped their first game of the summer season 44-34 to the Bethesda Spartans. Overall, the JV Boys didn't execute well on offense and even worse on defense---really out of character for these guys. Poolesville scored off the tip and maintained the lead through most of the 1st half but ended the half down 20-17. In the second half the Falcons turned the ball over at half court too many times and just couldn't recover from those mistakes. Michael McDonald lead all scores with eight, follow by Pete Barry, Tucker Ross, and Jake Drissel with six each, Michael Collins with four, and Joe Brashear and Gage Wolitzky with two each. Tucker's points came off two three-point shots. Poolesville ended the game with six assists with Joe and Pete having three each. Again (same as last winter) the JV Boys free throw shooting was painful to watch as they hit only 2 of 12 from the charity stripe.
The JV Boys bounced back strong in the second game of the week by routing the Bobcats 53-27. Poolesville started off slow, behind 4-0 early in the game but ended that half with 12-6 lead. In the second half the Falcons did a much better job anticipating the pass which resulted in a number of steals and fast break points. The JV Boys ended the game with 13 assists with Colin Fisher and Jake Drissel leading the team with three each. Cole Carmack lead all scorers with 14, followed by Michael McDonald with 10, Jake Drissel with eight, Michael Collins with six, Michael Morgan and Cole McKenney with four each, Tucker Ross with three and Joe Brashear and Gage Wolitzky with two each. Wolitzky lead all rebounders with nine followed by McKenney with 5. "While the outcome of the second game was better, we really need to work harder on defense and drive to the basket more on offense," said Coach John Weber. "Again our free throw shooting hurt us hitting only 5 of 13 for 38% and I think we should be at 75% or better. Now that schools out, I expect the boys to be working on their game!"
Taking on a much taller team, the shorter, but higher GPA PBA Varsity Boys outlasted the Ridgebacks and pulled away with a 34-30 win in their second game of the week. After a back-and-forth turnover infested game, the Falcons were able to secure a 14-10 lead at halftime. Led by the 9 of 10 shooting by Joe Soltis from the charity stripe, Poolesville applied a half-court press that frustrated the 'Backs. Turning turnovers into tallies, the 7th graders celebrated their last days of school with a win. Big man Joe Soltis led all scorers with 17 points, Kevin Simmons hit for nine (including the first three-pointer from a front court player in the Coach Micheals regime), Andrew Bacus hit for three and Justin Souder and Louis Potts also scored.
The Wheaton Wolves took a bite out of the PBA Varsity Boys and jumped out to an early 26-14 advantage. Out-rebounding the shorter, but higher GPA Falcons, the Wolves were able to match any pressure that the Falcons provided and moved the ball fairly easily. The halftime lead grew to thirty points by the end of the game. Poolesville eeked out the loss, 61-31. Joe Soltis led the Falcons with 10 points, Kevin Simmons hit for nine, Sean Murphey scored three points, and Dylan Landis, Justin Souder, Louis Potts and Ryan Bannon also had a bucket each. In his PBA debut, Liam Horrigan also scored!
The PBA Girls Rising Star team lost their second game of opening week 13-6 to Team Skillz. The game started very promising for the Falcons leading 6-2 very early, but things took a turn for the worse starting with Madeleine Thompson having to sit out all but the first couple of minutes with a nagging knee injury. Just like the opening season loss, the Falcons were clinging to a one point lead, but lost the edge in the second half. Tori Gruber led the Falcons in scoring with four points.
"We had numerous opportunities to score throughout the game but squandered them by not taking the ball strong to the hoop and settling for rushed shots from the outside" said Coach Thompson. "We also had several times on the fast break where we didn't quite connect on the lead pass up court, which would have lead to uncontested layups."
Coach Thompson also said, "The girls did a little better job in rebounding, but we have a ways to go to improve in that area of the game. We also have to protect the ball better after we gain the rebound since there were way too many tie-ups today." On a more positive note, newcomer Triana Wallace has shown promise with her rebounding and intelligent play on the court and fellow newcomer Haley Harkins doing a nice job in helping out in the ball handling department.
The PBA Rising Star Girls lost their opening game of the summer season 19-12 to Bulldog Hoops. The Falcons had a one-point lead at the half, but managed just four points in the second half. Kelliann Lee had six first half points and shared scoring honors with Erin Green. The Falcons' zone defense was fairly effective in stopping the opposition's inside game, however, the Bulldogs were able to sink three three-point shots.
"Considering we have some players that are new to the game or have limited experience, we did a decent job on defense throughout much of the game" said Coach Thompson. "However where we really fell short tonight is allowing them second and third chances after the initial shot. The Bulldogs have some strong, good sized players that were very physical, attacking the basket. We can not get pushed around in the paint" Coach Thompson notes.
The Falcons were a bit thin on experienced depth of ball handling guards for this game, but Kelliann Lee and Madeleine Thompson did a nice job of advancing the ball up court and avoiding the Bulldogs' constant full court pressure. Tori Gruber forced several turnovers, while Bridgette Hammett used her speed to get open on several fast breaks.The PBA JV Girls got off to a slow start and were never able to recover against the Fireballs on Monday night. The final score was 47-19. Poolesville had no problem beating the 1-3-1 press but the JV Girls shots just weren't falling. All eight girls saw significant playing time and everyone hustled, played hard and never gave up. Delaney Cecco led all scorers with eight and was also a force on the boards. Newcomer and rising sixth grader Hailey Harkins had five points and played well in her Falcon debut. Hailey Khalil, Hannah Bush, and Danielle Torres each had two points.
The JV Girls lost a close one Thursday night to the Lady Bulldogs at Wooton High School, 20-17. The girls were within one with less then a minute to play but gave up a layup with 40 seconds left on the clock. The girls worked hard to bring the ball up the court against the Bulldog’s full court press and had a couple of chances, with time winding down, to tie the game but just couldn’t get one to fall. The girls played excellent defense the entire game and with only eight girls, everyone worked hard and contributed to the effort. Offensively, Delaney Cecco put up 8. She also did a great job of getting on the boards especially since she was giving up 6+ inches to her defender! Hailey Khalil scored six points and easily led the team in steals. Danielle Torres did a great job on the boards and played hard defense against the Bulldog’s bigs.
2010-11 Winter League Game Summaries
Regular Season End Summaries ----- February 26-27, 2011
Varsity Boys Summit Mt. Airy
JV Boys Fall in Last Minute, RS Boys Quiet Thunder, RS Girls Finish 10-0Despite a spirited charge by the visitors towards the end of the game, The PBA Varsity Boys beat the Mt. Airy Varsity Boys by a final score of 43-38. Zach Long (16 points) and Steven Morningstar (14 points) delivered most of the goods for Poolesville, with Joey Cartwright also pitching in six points. Reid Patton shipped in four points, Ryan Shorts had a bucket, and Eric Lee hit a critical free throw to help put the game out of reach. The Varsity Boys finished the regular season by winning two of their last three games with an overtime loss to Catoctin the only thing standing in the way of a strong finish entering the playoffs.
Mt. Airy's JV Boys beat the PBA JV Boys early in the season by 20 points, a fact not lost on the Falcons in the return match. Poolesville led the entire contest this go-round but ran short of big men at the very end and lost to Mt. Airy by a final score of 40-35. The Mt. Airy inside game forced all three of Poolesville's "bigs" in to foul trouble in an effort to defend the paint, as Kevin Simmons (nine points), Joe Soltis (six points), and Dylan Landis (two points) all eventually fouled out of the contest. Poolesville was paced in scoring by Justin Souder (10 points). Jake Armstrong chipped in six points. Ryan D'Amelio and Jackson Purdy also scored for the Falcons. Poolesville hoped to win their third in a row to finish up the regular season.
In their regular season finale, the PBA Rising Star Boys beat the Thunder by a final score of 35-32 to finish the regular season with an 8-2 record. The RS Boys led by as many as 12 points in the second half before a 7-for-21 performance from the free throw line made the game a lot closer than it needed to be. Cole Carmack and Jake Drissel led the way for the Falcons and finished with nine points each. Pete Barry and Jacob Brightful finished with four points each. Tim McIntyre hit for three points. Ryan Haddaway, Tucker Ross and Michael Collins also scored in the win.
On Saturday, the PBA Rising Star Girls defeated the Cool Beans for the third time this year---this time by a final score of 28-12. Delaney Cecco led all scorers with 10 points. Hailey Khalil hit for nine, Siann Riggs scored three points and Kristen Hepburn, Kaley Fisher and Danielle Torres also scored for Poolesville. The win caps an undefeated regular season for the Rising Star Girls, who finish the year with a 10-0 record and a Chesapeake Division title under their belts.
Tournament Summaries ----- February 26-27, 2011
Rising Star Girls Advance!
PBA Varsity Girls Season Ends With Two-Point Loss to Walkersville, JV Girls Fall in OT, Rising Star Boys Stumble Against Damascus.
Karyn Comfort of the JV Girls strong-arms her way to a bucket against Windsor Knolls. Michael Morgan drives past his Damascus defender in the Rising Star Boys playoff loss. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA Rising Star Girl Delaney Cecco scores against the TSB Cool Beans on Sunday. Coach Chris Hall implores his team to hold on against Windsor Knolls in their Mid-Maryland League playoff game. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
In playoff action on Sunday, who else would the PBA Rising Star Girls play but….the Cool Beans (for the fourth time this year). While the game was closer than the other three contests, the end result was the same as Poolesville ran past the Cool Beans by a final score of 33-28. Delaney Cecco continued her weekend feast on the Cool Beans---she finished with 17 points. Hailey Khalil and Julia Fisher kicked in four points each. The quartet of Samme Mullikin, Siann Riggs, Kaley Fisher, and Morgan Harney also scored for Poolesville. With their first-ever playoff win under their belt, the Rising Star Girls now face the Lady Bulldogs with the Rising Star semi-finals and championship games just one week away. Said Coach Margaret Heimbach "I think the Cool Beans have had enough of us this year!"
The PBA Varsity Girls first round tournament game against Walkersville was a hard fought physical game throughout. Poolesville got off to a slow start falling behind 8-3 after the first period. They climbed back into the game in the second period and trailed by two at the break 13-11. Walkersville extended the lead to five at the end of the third, 24-19. In the fourth period, the Lady Falcons mounted another comeback with their defense creating steals and causing turnovers and saw them tie the game at 29-29 with about 2 minutes to go in the game on a jumper by Denise Larson. Unfortunately, Poolesville wouldn’t score again as they missed a couple of jumpers and Walkersville hit a couple of free throws to win the game 31-29. Rachel Neville had a tremendous game---her best during her tenure in the PBA by all accounts---leading the team with eight points and controlling the boards with eleven rebounds. Larson and Anna Murgia finished with six points each, Anna Desoto scored five points and Kristen Darragh added four. After the game, Coach Carnahan told the girls that they should hold their heads high and that she was proud of their effort and of how much they had developed over the season. "The girls have come a long way," said Carnahan. "We were blown out by Walkersville earlier in the year and tonight we had a real chance to win---and they knew it."
The PBA JV Girls faced Windsor Knolls in the first round of the Division I playoffs and gave it their all but came up a little sort in OT losing 26-23. “It was an exciting game and emotions were riding high. I’m very proud of our effort today. It was definitely a life lesson for the entire team – including the coaches," commented Coach Chris Hall after the game. The Falcons came ready to play and by the end of the third quarter they had a 21-17 lead. “Jami D’Amelio had a fantastic game. She was driving to the basket and causing havoc on their 3-2 zone," said Coach Hall. “We worked hard at practice attacking the basket and the girls responded.” Jami led the team with 10 points and pulled five boards. Karyn Comfort also played a solid game adding six points. “Karyn came alive tonight. During one play, she took the ball down the left side of the court, crossed over at the foul line to avoid a defender and executed a perfect reverse layup on the right side.” In addition to her six points, Karyn led the Falcons in rebounding with seven. Also scoring for the Falcons were Laruen Lightcap with three while Jesse Martinez and Erin Sparrow each added a bucket. With the experience these girls gained from playing in the top division, they will be a force to reckon with next year.
The PBA Rising Star Boys playoff contest against Damascus started off on the wrong foot and got worse as the game went on. In the end, the seemingly star-struck Falcons fell with a resounding thud to their cross-county rivals by a final score of 63-31. "Obviously we didn't play our game," said Coach John Weber. "In fact, it's hard to tell whose game we did play. We didn't get back on defense and it seemed like their bigger players took our guys right out of our game. We played hard like we played hard all year, but just playing hard wasn't going to get it done today. We're going to work on our basketball I.Q. this spring, summer and fall and I hope we can face these guys again." Jake Drissel again led Poolesville with eight points, Tucker Ross and Cole Carmack hit for six points each. Tim McIntyre scored four points, Michael McDonald pumped in three and Ryan Haddaway and Michael Morgan also scored. The initial PBA season was a success for the boys and next year the Mid-Maryland season awaits them.
Game Summaries ----- February 17-21, 2011
Train Wreck for Brunswick!
Murgia, Morningstar Lead Poolesville to Sweep of Railroaders,
JV Boys Take Two. Rising Star Girls Stay Undefeated
PBA Varsity Boy Zach Long elevates for a bucket against Catoctin on Monday. Rising Star Girl Samme Mullikin muscles her way past a Fireball. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA Varsity Boy Ryan Shorts fakes past a Cougar while Hannah Bush and Rebekah Fisher put the squeeze on a Bulldog. Photos by Tom Amiot and Donna Khalil. For reprints of Tom's photos, contact him at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA Rising Star Girls stand at 9-0 for the regular season and are coached by Margaret Heimbach and Pat Trainor. Jocelyn Harris (mom of former PBA MML Champion Karissa Harris) and former PBA stud Zack Zapata tackle the book and the clock at a recent PBA game. Photos by Donna Khalil and Tom Amiot. For reprints of Tom's photos, contact him at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
After trailing for most of the game, the PBA JV Boys roared back to beat Brunswick on Sunday by a final score of 39-37. Ryan Bannon hit the game winner with just a few seconds left to lead Poolesville to the victory. Kevin Simmons came up big for the JV Boys---he finished with 14 points. Joe Soltis and Justin Souder continued their fine stretch of play and finished with seven and six points respectively. Louis Potts scored five points and recorded five steals. Ryan D'Amelio also hit for three points for the Falcons.
On Monday, the JV Boys turned a 17-12 halftime deficit into a 26-19 third period lead and ended up finishing off the Catoctin Cougars by a final score of 34-31. Joe Soltis scored five of his team-high eight points for the Falcons in that fateful third period and fellow "big" Kevin Simmons hit for seven points. Tim McIntyre and Jackson Purdy scored four points each, Ryan Bannon and Sean Murphey hit for three points each, and Louis Potts also dropped in a deuce.
The PBA Varsity Boys found their way to double-overtime against Brunswick on Sunday, and this time Steven Morningstar (24 points) did the heavy lifting by scoring all of Poolesville's OT points to lead the Falcons to a 48-44 win over the Railroaders. Morningstar hit a layup with eight seconds left in regulation to get Poolesville to the extra periods, and then he scored 13 points in the two extra stanzas to will the Falcons to victory. Joey Cartwright (nine points) hit two big free throws in the fourth period and Reid Patton (four points) hit a big bucket to pull Poolesville close enough in regulation. Zach Long hit for 11 points for the Falcons and Nic Fisher gave the team solid backcourt play and good minutes when they needed it.
In a game that featured 13 lead changes, Catoctin fended off a late Poolesville charge in regulation and held on to win 51-50 in overtime in Monday night action at PHS. Poolesville's "big three" were not to be denied despite the loss. Falcon point guard Joey Cartwright hit for 17 points, including seven in the third period as the home team mounted a comeback. Poolesville big man Steven Morningstar did double duty and finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Forward Zach Long scored 14 points and grabbed five boards and five steals. Nic Fisher and Reid Patton also scored for the senior Falcons.
The PBA Varsity Girls came out hot in the first quarter of their game Thursday night against St. Johns getting numerous steals leading to easy baskets on the way to a 16-6 lead after one period. The second through fourth quarters weren't as hot for the Lady Falcons as St. Johns settled down and got the ball inside and the Lady Falcons began to miss shots and not finish layups. However, in the end, the Lady Falcons were able to hang on for a 30-24 win. Poolesville had balanced scoring with Anna Desoto and Anna Murgia each scoring eight points. Kristen Darragh and Denise Larson each finished with six points and Taylor Thomas added two.
The PBA Varsity Girls didn't bring their "A" game to Walkersville on Saturday and lost by a final score of 38-21. The Lady Falcons started slow and Walkersville came out aggressive, putting Poolesville on the line early and often. Unfortunately, the Lady Falcons were only able to convert two of nine shooting from the free throw line and trailed 9-2 at the end of the first period. Walkersville extended its lead over the next two quarters before coasting to the win. Scoring for Poolesville were Anna Murgia with nine, Denise Larson with seven, Mollie Bodmer with four and Kristen Darragh with one.
The PBA Varsity Girls came out stronger than they did on Saturday night and took it to a Brunswick team that held them scoreless in the initial quarter of their first meeting of the year. This time, the Lady Falcons had good ball movement in the first quarter with five different girls scoring as they scored 10 points to trail by one at the end of the first. Brunswick extended their lead to 17-14 at the break after a low scoring defensive second period. After halftime, the Lady Falcons came out playing aggressive and outscored Brunswick 7-4 to tie the game at 21-21 with one quarter left to go. In the final period, Anna Murgia came out strong scoring all eight of Poolesville's points in the quarter as the Lady Falcons came away with a 29-27 victory. Murgia finished with a team high ten points. Rachel Neville provided strong play off the bench as she scored seven points. Anna Desoto and Denise Larson added three points and Mollie Bodmer, Kristen Darragh and Taylor Thomas all added two points to round out the scoring. With this win the PBA Varsity Girls finished their stretch of five games in eight days with a 3-2 record and moved up into a tie for 5th place in the division and are well prepared for the tournament starting this weekend.
The PBA JV Girls won 25-6 against a younger MSD team in their first of three games this past weekend. "It was a total team effort," said Coach Chris Hall. "MSD is a young team and tonight was a perfect chance to have everyone involved right from the start. Nine of our ten players scored tonight and that is exciting to watch." Karyn Comfort led the Falcons with six points and Erin Sparrow chipped in four. Jami D'Amelio hit for three points while Taylor Behrens, Delaney Cecco, Breanne Hall, Lauren Lightcap, Jessie Martinez and Allie Nevius each added a bucket.
On the hump game of their three-game weekend, the JV Girls lost 27-16 to Walkersville. "Turnovers and tentativeness is how I would describe our playing tonight," said Coach Hall. "Our girls need to attack the basket more and protect the basketball. There were a few bright spots and we'll highlight them in practice this week." Leading all scores for Poolesville was Breanne Hall with eight points. Lauren Lightcap, Jami D'Amelio, Allie Nevius and Karyn Comfort added a bucket.
The JV Girls traveled to Brunswick for their three-game end-of-season road trilogy and won 35-24 over the Lady Railroaders. The game could be characterized as a tail of two halves. The Falcons had a 13-12 half time lead going into the locker room. In the third quarter, the girls raised their game and outscored the Railroaders 17-5 to take a commanding 30-17 lead after three quarters. Karyn Comfort led all scores with 11 followed by Allie Nevius with eight. Jami D'Amelio chipped in six and Delaney Cecco added four. Also scoring for the Falcons were: Breanne Hall (3), Lauren Lightcap (2) and Taylor Behrens with one.
On Saturday, the PBA Rising Star Girls continued their march towards an undefeated regular season by beating the Fireballs for the second time this year---this time by a score of 23-17. "I thought our defense turned it up a notch today," said Coach Margaret Heimbach. "The girls executed our man-to-man really well." Delaney Cecco hit for seven points, Samme Mullikin and Siann Riggs had six points each, and Hailey Khalil and Kristen Hepburn also scored.
In Sunday action, the Rising Star Girls defeated the Bulldogs, 30-21, to run their record to 9-0 on the regular season. Cecco and Mullikin led the team with 11 and 10 points respectively. Khalil and Riggs scored four points each and Hannah Bush also scored. "Our offense was clicking today," said Coach Heimbach. "The girls passed well and we did a good job of transitioning."
Poolesville's Rising Star Boys managed to turn a 19-17 halftime lead into a 46-26 loss by failing to contain Darnestown's single big man. "We lived on the outside shot in the first half and lost by it in the second half, plus it looked like we were afraid of their big man," said Coach John Weber. "This wasn't our typical game and was probably our worst showing of the year on defense. Not pretty." Jake Drissel led Poolesville with 12 points. Tim McIntyre, Cole Carmack and Jacob Brightful hit for three points each. Michael McDonald and Cole McKenney each hit for a bucket and Michael Morgan also scored.
Game Summaries ----- February 17, 2011
JV, Varsity Girls do Splits at Middletown
Quartet Scores Four in WinThe PBA JV Girls picked up a much needed win Tuesday night against Middletown. Sweeping the Lady Knights this year, the young Falcon team controlled the game from the tip-off. "We still are not taking advantage of all scoring opportunities and we are sloppy with the ball," said Coach Chris Hall. "Our defense has been solid and that is what has kept us in the game. Although it's not an official stat we keep but we have more blocks than you will find in a nursery." commended Coach Hall. The Lady Falcons held Middletown to just two points in both the second and third quarter and walked away with a 19-12 win. Four Falcons led in scoring with four points each: Lauren Lightcap, Jami D'Amelio, Jessie Martinez and Breanne Hall. Erin Sparrow added a bucket and Karyn Comfort hit a free throw to round out the scoring effort. The JV Girls have games Friday, Saturday and Sunday to round out their season as they head into the playoffs.
The PBA Varsity Girls stayed within a couple of baskets of the first place Middletown Varsity Girls throughout their game on Tuesday night until the fourth quarter when Middletown's depth allowed them to pull away for a 39-28 victory. A few too many bad passes and turnovers and a few too many missed shots were the difference in the game. The Lady Falcons were much better able to handle the pressure defense of Middletown as compared to the first game between these two teams which Middletown won by 34 points, another demonstration of just how much the girls have improved over the season. This whole season, the 3rd quarter has been a difficult quarter for the Varsity Girls, however, in this game the Varsity Girls came out determined and outscored Middletown 8-7 in the quarter. The Lady Falcons had balanced scoring with Anna Murgia scoring eight points, Denise Larson and Mollie Bodmer scoring five points, Rachel Neville and Anna Desoto scoring four points and Taylor Thomas scoring two points.
Game Summaries ----- February 12-13, 2011
Varsity Girls Finish Strong, Top Oakdale
Rising Star Boys and Girls Keep Rolling
PBA Varsity Girl Anna DeSoto shows off the form that would make any shooting coach proud. Coach Gina Grubb makes sure (from left) Anna Murgia, Kristen Darragh, Taylor Thomas, and Mollie Bodmer know where to go in the Varsity Girl's win over Oakdale. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
Varsity Boy Nic Fisher isn't going to let a little defense get in the way of him driving to the bucket. JV Boy Ryan D'Amelio lofts one over an Oakdale defender. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
JV Girl Breanne Hall uses a strong Karyn Comfort pick to get past her Oakdale defender. Rising Star Girl Kristen Hepburn has her eyes on the prize in her team's win over the Mustangs. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
Sunday's PBA Varsity Girls game against Oakdale started out as a déjà vu from Poolesville's previous game against Oakdale, as well as many of the Lady Falcons previous games. The first stanza was a close defensive quarter that ended with Oakdale up 5-4. In the second quarter Poolesville came on strong to outscore Oakdale 12-5 for a 16-10 halftime lead (the score of the previous game at halftime was 16-11). After the half, the Lady Falcons came out flat---as in many of the Varsity Girls previous games---and got outscored 12-6 and the third period ended tied 22-22. This time---as opposed to the previous games---the Lady Falcons buckled down and outscored Oakdale in the 4th period 9-4 to bring home a 31-26 victory. During each quarter of the game a different girl stepped up and helped lead Poolesville to the win. In the first quarter, Mollie Bodmer scored all four points for the Lady Falcons as part of her season-high ten points. She also grabbed ten rebounds for a double-double. Anna Murgia scored all six of her points in the second period. Rachel Neville scored four of her six points in the third period. Denise Larson scored all five of her points in the 4th period, hitting the go-ahead basket and nailing three free throws down the stretch to help maintain the Poolesville lead. Taylor Thomas and Kristen Darragh each added a basket to round out the scoring. The victory over Oakdale starts a period of five games in eight days for the Varsity Girls as they make their run toward the playoffs.
The PBA JV Girls dropped a tough game, 28-13, against Oakdale. The Lady Falcons kept an aggressive Oakdale team within arms reach during the first half. At the end of the first quarter the Lady Falcons were down 8-6 but in the second quarter they relaxed a little and allowed the middle of their 3-2 zone to open and Oakdale responded, sending the Falcons into the locker room at the half down 17-10. In the second half the young Poolesville team continued to play great defense. They held Oakdale to only 11 points in the second half. Unfortunately the Falcon offense was just not clicking. "We shot 40% in the first half and I was very pleased with our performance on both ends of the court," said Coach Chris Hall. "We kept an aggressive Oakdale team within reach. However, when you score only three points in a half you have zero chance to pull out a win. By the end of the game the girls looked tired---shooting 1-for-13 in the final period. If we hit our free throws and if we shot like we did in the first half we would have walked out of there with a win." Scoring for the young Falcons were Jami D'Amelio with four. Lauren Lightcap, Karyn Comfort, Breanne Hall and Erin Sparrow each had two. Allie Nevius added a free throw to the effort. The girls did get some R&R on Sunday by taking a break to go snow tubing as a team. Everyone seemed to have a great time and had a few laughs.
On Saturday the PBA Varsity Boys met up with a high-flying and aggressive Oakdale team who pressured the ball all game long all and over the court. Despite facing ball pressure at every turn, Poolesville handled the ball well and finished with their second highest point total for the season in a 63-45 loss that was closer than the score indicates. "All their hard work in practice working on handling the press is paying off," said Coach Bill Cartwright. "Our boys were able to handle the press and play an up tempo game. We were only behind by five in the first quarter and it looked like this was going to be yet another close one." Oakdale got hot from the field in the second and third quarters (piling up 41 points in the two quarters) which then put the game out of reach. As usual the Poolesville squad did not give up as the fourth quarter, despite pressure the whole time, was played to a virtual draw. Steven Morningstar had a big-time game for Poolesville. He shot 9 for 14 from the free throw line and finished with 20 points. Joey Cartwright and Zach Long finished with nine points each, Reid Patton and Ryan Shorts hit for three points each and Nic Fisher also scored.
The PBA JV Boys stayed within reach of Oakdale on Saturday but could not close the deal as they fell to the Eagles by a final score of 43-29. The Falcons trailed by seven after two quarters but Oakdale would let Poolesville get no closer in the second half. "This team beat us by 20 the first time and by 14 this time. I figure if we play them three more times, we can beat them," quipped JV Boys Coach Marshall Micheals. "We did pretty well in the first half by handling their pressure and moving the ball up the court. The third period where they went to a 15-7 outburst put the nail in the coffin. Our energy was much higher this game than it's been in the past so that was good to see. Everyone played pretty well. This was a 'good loss' if there is such a thing." Joe Soltis kept his improved second half of the season "mojo" working and finished with 13 points. Justin Souder hit for seven points, Kevin Simmons and Ryan D'Amelio scored three each. Andrew Bacus hit a bucket and Louis Potts also scored.
The PBA Rising Star Girls faced a strong first half challenge from the Mustangs who obviously took good notes from the first drubbing the Falcons laid on them earlier in the season. Poolesville only led 10-9 at the half. In the second half, a timely outburst from Falcon guard Hailey Khalil (team high nine points) drove the young Falcons to a 19-13 win. Khalil snagged a rebound and nailed the put-back to give Poolesville a 12-9 lead. Then she hit a three-pointer to push the advantage to 15-9. A short time later another Khalil jumper made it a 17-9 Poolesville lead with eight minutes left. After several Mustang shots bounced around, Bella Garner took matters into her own hands with two strong rebounds to quell the threat. With the Mustangs running an aggressive press to try to get back into the game, Poolesville ran a well-orchestrated press break several times to keep the game in their favor. Hannah Bush drove twice to the hole only to have two shots rim out. Siann Riggs strong defense forced a time out and then a steal for Poolesville. Delaney Cecco (six points) nailed a shot from the lane to push the lead to 19-11 with one minute left. After a Mustang bucket, Riggs drew an offensive foul to hand the win to the RS Girls. Danielle Torres grabbed two critical rebounds as the Mustangs made their surge. Beckah Trainor grabbed a rebound and forced a foul with her aggressive play. Bush ended up with a steal and a rebound. Kate Heimbach had two rebounds and Kristen Hepburn and Samme Mullikin also scored to help Poolesville stay undefeated.
The PBA Rising Star Boys were not in the mood to mess with the Celtics on Sunday. They started their rematch with the boys in green by going on a 20-3 roll to start the game. The rest of the game was more evenly played, resulting in a 41-25 win for the Falcons. "The boys played well in the 1st half on both offense and defense today and that's something we need to do every game," said Coach John Weber. "The three Michaels (Morgan, McDonald and Collins) did a nice shutting down the Celtics main scoring threat today. They also got a lot of good help-side defense from their teammates." Ryan Haddaway and Tucker Ross led Poolesville with six points each and Tim McIntyre with finished with five. Pete Barry, Cole Carmack, Jacob Brightful, Jake Drissel and Michael McDonald scored four points each, and Michael Morgan and Colin Fisher each hit a bucket. "There was a good balance today, with 10 of 12 scoring," said Weber.
Game Summaries ----- February 3-6, 2011
Rising Star Boys Take Two, RS Girls Stay Undefeated!
JV, Varsity Boys Fall in Overtime
PBA Rising Star Boy Ryan Haddaway splits two defenders on his way to the bucket against the Clarksburg. RS Coaches Steve Morgan, Bill Cartwright, and John Weber celebrate the win over the Coyotes. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA Rising Star Girl Siann Riggs elevates for two against the TSB Cool Beans. Photo by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com. Kaley Fisher blows past a Bean. Morgan Harney throws down an inbounds pass. Photos by Donna Khalil.
PBA RS Girl Hailey Khalil has her eye on the ball. Beckah Trainor does her best imitation of a Falcon playing defense---good job! Delaney Cecco soars above her opponents for the rebound. Photos by Donna Khalil.
On Saturday, the PBA Rising Star Boys squared off against Mary of Nazareth for the second time. The RS Boys started off slow and ended the half with a 15-12 lead. The Falcons turned up the defense in the second half to roll off a 40-18 win. "Our shots just weren't falling and we gave up to many drives to the basket in the first half," said Coach John Weber. "In the second half we tightened up on defense by only allowing six points---four from the free throw line. Eleven players scored tonight which was fun to watch." Jake Drissel scored nine points to lead Poolesville. Pete Barry hit for nine and Jacob Brightful and Michael McDonald had four points each. Colin Fisher, Ryan Haddaway, Michael Morgan, Michael Collins, Cole McKenney, Tim McIntyre and Cole Carmack also scored in the win. Poolesville recorded 14 assists total with Carmack dishing for five and Fisher, Barry and Morgan passing for two each.
The RS Boys stared down Clarksburg for the second time this season on Sunday. The first half wasn't pretty again for the Falcons as they trailed 22-14 at the midpoint. "Our shots didn't fall, we were getting out rebounded, we weren't playing good defense and we were letting them beat us in transition - just not playing our game," said Coach Weber. To make matters worse, Clarksburg didn't miss from the free throw line, hitting eight in the first half alone. The Falcons and the Coyotes traded baskets early in the second half but then Poolesville took it up a notch. With about three minutes left, the Falcons took their first lead. With a little under two minutes to play, Ryan Haddaway hit the final go ahead jumper. Strong defense prevailed, and with 17 seconds left Tim McIntyre hit a free throw that sealed the 36-34 final margin of victory for Poolesville. "This was a hard fought, quality win for the boys, but I would really like to see them play a complete game - these second half wins are fun to watch but are hard on my health," said Coach John Weber. Eight players scored in the win led by Drissel with 10, McIntyre with seven, Haddaway with six, Carmack with five, and Morgan with three. Tucker Ross, Fisher, and Brightful also scored in the win. "Tucker Ross did a nice job slowing down their big guy," said Weber. "Cole Carmack pulled down 8 of our 22 steals, Tim McIntyre lead with team with 3 assists and the whole team stepped up the defense in the second half."
The PBA Rising Star Girls stayed on their season-long roll by beating the TSB Cool Beans by a final score of 26-18. The undefeated RS Girls were led in scoring by Delaney Cecco and Samme Mullikin. "They played a zone against us for most of the game and I thought the girls passed well against it," said Coach Margaret Heimbach. "Everyone gave us a good effort today."
In a thrilling overtime game last Thursday, Crestwood's Varsity Boys came from behind to upend the PBA Varsity Boys 50-44 in overtime. Poolesville jumped out to a quick lead and pulled away to lead 26-13 at halftime. Crestwood battled back behind great defense and pulled within three points with less than 10 seconds to play. Micah Meredith hit the three pointer at the buzzer to force overtime. Crestwood outscored Poolesville 8-2 in the overtime period to earn the victory. Leading all scorers with 19 points was Steven Morningstar followed by Zack Long with 12, Joey Cartwright with seven, and Ryan Shorts with three. Nic Fisher and Reid Patton also scored for Poolesville in the loss.
Not so super on Super Bowl Sunday is a good way to describe Sunday's Varsity Boys game. Although starting out super---the Varsity Boys led after both the first quarter 13-10 and at half time 24-22, the Poolesville lineup just did not have enough steam to finish with the win. As usual they gave their all and fought hard, but Linganore just had too much and pulled away to a 48-32 victory. Leading all scores for the Falcons was Steven Morningstar with 13 points and six rebounds followed by Zack Long with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals. Joey Cartwright finished with three points, five rebounds and six steals, Ryan Shorts recorded three points and a rebound, Brandon Bush grabbed two rebounds, Nic Fisher with a rebound and Logan Rocco finished with a steal and a shoulder injury after diving for a loose ball.
On Thursday, Crestwood's JV Boys jumped out to a strong first quarter lead and spent the rest of the game holding off a determined PBA JV Boys squad by a final score of 54-40. Good pressure defense allowed Crestwood to get off to the quick start in a game. Poolesville was led by Kevin Simmons with 15 points. Joe Soltis added eight points for Poolesville.
In Sunday's match-up at Linganore, the PBA JV Boys looked for a season sweep over the Lancers. The sweep was holding together until the second half of the game reared its ugly head in which the hosts put the clamps on the Falcons and cooked up a 42-35 win in overtime. Kevin Simmons continued his strong play of late and led Poolesville with 13 points. Justin Souder and Jake Armstrong finished with six each. Ryan Bannon hit for four, Joe Soltis had three, and Ryan D'Amelio also scored.
Game Summaries ----- January 29-30, 2011
Varsity Boys Paddle the 'Creek
Varsity Girls Shoot Down Urbana, Rising Stars Pick-Up Wins
PBA JV Girl Jami D'Amelio hangs in the air against Boonsboro, JV Boy Kevin Simmons elevates against Ballenger Creek. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA Varsity Boy Joey Cartwright hits for two of his game-high 16 points against Ballenger Creek. Rising Star Cole McKenney drives and shoots against the Thunder. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA Varsity Boys continued their recent winning ways with a 36-26 victory over Ballenger Creek on Saturday night. The Falcons found themselves in familiar territory after the first quarter down 10-7. Poolesville's Joey Cartwright (game-high 16 points) opened the second quarter with a quick four points to put Poolesville up 11-10. Steven Morningstar then hit for six of his 13 points to give the Falcons a lead they would never give back. Great defense was also the name in of the game as Ballenger Creek, who averages about 36 points a game was held to only 20 points until the last minute of play by the stingy Falcon defense with six of their points coming in the last minute to play. Zach Long hit for four points for Poolesville and Logan Rocco converted an "and-1" for his three points.
After laying down a 21-point first quarter and an 18-point second quarter, Ballenger Creek pulled the throttle back and cruised to a 56-35 win over the host PBA JV Boys last Saturday. Poolesville's Kevin Simmons continued his recent offensive assault with 14 points followed by Joe Soltis with six and Nathan Onderko and Jake Armstrong with four each. The Falcons played a strong second half but it was not enough to keep the Ballenger Creek JV team out of the win column.
On Sunday, the PBA Varsity Girls stormed into Urbana and came away with a 51-15 victory as their aggressive defense held the home team in check throughout the game. Poolesville led 28-6 at the break in a dominating first half performance that saw everyone score with good ball movement and a swarming team defense. The defensive pressure continued in the second half and Poolesville cruised to the 51-15 victory. Several players for Poolesville scored new season highs with Taylor Thomas getting five points and Rachel Neville getting eight points. Anna Murgia continued her outstanding play with 18 points with Kristen Darragh scoring eight points and Denise Larson scoring six points. Anna Desoto, Mollie Bodmer and Danielle Macarian all added two points. Anna D., Mollie and Rachel were strong on the boards as well, all grabbing seven rebounds.
The Poolesville and Boonsboro Varsity Girls game on Saturday was close throughout with the lead going back-and-forth throughout. The game was tied at 13-13 at the end of the 1st period as Danielle Macarian hit a layup as the quarter ended on a nice assist from Anna Murgia. The PBA Varsity Girls led 21-19 at the break. Boonsboro controlled the third period, outscoring the home team 9-2, to take a 28-23 lead. Poolesville fought back in the fourth period to retake the lead at 32-31 with a minute left in the game. Poolesville missed the front end of a one and one and Boonsboro ended up with the ball out of bounds under their own basket with 12 seconds left. They got the ball to Kiersten Coulter in the middle of the lane and she made the basket over two Poolesville defenders to give Boonsboro the victory. Poolesville was led by Anna Murgia with nine points and five assists, Denise Larson with eight points and Kristen Darragh with seven points and five steals. Taylor Thomas, Mollie Bodmer, Danielle Macarian and Rachel Neville all added two points.
On Sunday, the PBA JV Girls matched up against the undefeated Urbana Hawks. The Lady Falcons came ready to play. At the end of the first quarter they jumped out to a 12-5 lead. "Our guards were looking for their shots tonight. When they had good looks, they squared up and took the shot. I'm also very proud of the hustle each one of these girls displayed." said Coach Hall. In the second quarter, the Lady Falcons let down their guard just enough to allow the Hawks to take a 20-17 lead at the half. Although they gave it their all, the Lady Falcons could not stop The Hawks standout player and ultimately lost 45-31. Breanne Hall led all scorers with 10 (going 4-8 from the line) points and Jami D'Amelio contributed eight. Allie Nevius and Karyn Comfort each scored four points while Lauren Lightcap and Erin Sparrow added two. Taylor Behrens went 1 for 2 from the line picked up her first point of the season. Way to go Taylor!
The Boonsboro Lady Warriors hit the PBA JV Girls at the right time on Saturday. The Falcons fell behind 11-0 at the half with poor shooting hurting the home team. The lead was too much for the young Poolesville team to overcome and ultimately they eventually lost 13-6. The Lady Falcons were lead by Breanne Hall with three points, Lauren Lightcap with two and Jami D'Amelio with a single.
The PBA Rising Star Girls beat the Bulldogs for the second time this season, this time notching a 22-9 win on Sunday to stay undefeated in their initial Rising Star campaign. Delaney Cecco matched her season high with 16 points in leading the Falcons to the win. Other scorers for Poolesville were Hailey Khalil, Kristen Hepburn, Julia Fisher, and Danielle Torres. "It's nice to be able to win and get everyone some playing time," said Coach Margaret Heimbach. "It didn't matter who I plugged in and where, the girls ran our plays to perfection. Our full court man-to-man defense smothered them."
The PBA Rising Star Boys started off a little slow by Coach John Weber's standards on Sunday, but managed to extend a 15-10 halftime lead over the Thunder. The lightning would hit in the second half as the Falcons stormed past the Thunder 24-10 to pick up a 39-20 win. "In the second half, we played more aggressively on defense and that really help us pull away these guys," said Coach Weber. "We had 13 assists for the game lead by Tim McIntyre (with six) and Cole Carmack (five). Most of the assists happened in the 2nd half, resulting in a number of layups. We ended the game with 25 rebounds, a good number for us." Leading the team on the boards was Cole McKenney, Jacob Brightful and Ryan Haddaway with four each. Jacob Brightful and Tucker Ross paced Poolesville in the scoring column with eight and seven points respectively. Pete Barry scored six points; Haddaway hit for five, McIntyre had four points, as did Jake Drissel. Carmack, Joe Brashear, and Michael McDonald also scored for the Rising Star Boys. The young Falcons extended their record to 4-1 on the season.
Game Summaries ----- January 22-23, 2011
PBA Varsity Boys Tame Lions!
Rising Star Girls Stay Undefeated
PBA JV Boy Nathan Onderko drives against Windsor Knolls, JV Girl Erin Sparrow muscles her way to the bucket against Walkersville, Varsity Boy Reid Patton takes a jumper against the Hawks. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
In a game that featured ten lead changes, the PBA Varsity Boys managed to hold the lead change that counted and took home a hard fought 39-36 victory over visiting Walkersville. The Falcons went 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the last few minutes of the game to ensure the win. Poolesville's Zach Long hit for 15 points and was 8-for-10 from the line for the game. Fellow Falcon Joey Cartwright (13 points) hit two critical free throws at the end. Steven Morningstar hit for five points and Reid Patton scored four points. In their game at Windsor Knolls on Saturday, the Varsity Boys gave it all they could against the Hawks but fell by a final score of 47-34. Steven Morningstar led Poolesville with 11 points and eight rebounds. Zach Long kicked in 10 points, Chris Novel got on the scoreboard with four points, as did Reid Patton. Cory Riggs scored three points, Eric Lee also scored for Poolesville.
The PBA Rising Star Girls did their share this past weekend by ringing up two close wins over the Mustangs and the Fireballs. On Saturday, the youngest Falcons tamed the Mustangs by a final score of 18-15. Point guard Hailey Khalil led all scorers with nine points. Delaney Cecco hit for four points, Siann Riggs scored three and Samme Mullikin also scored. "Our girls came to play on defense today," said Coach Margaret Heimbach. "When we're working hard we force turnovers and that was the difference today." ON Sunday, the Fireballs were doused by a final score of 26-23. Cecco personally watered down her opponents with a game-high 15 points. Khalil finished with six, Riggs scored five and Kaley Fisher also scored. "Probably our best team effort of the season so far, said Coach Heimbach. "Everyone played and everyone contributed."
In their second match-up of the season, the PBA JV Girls fell 24 - 8 to an improved Windsor Knolls team. With Windsor Knolls playing solid defense the Lady Falcons played like couldn't get anything going and just could not buy a bucket. On the night, the Falcons shot only 2 for 42. However, there were several bright spots: Karyn Comfort hit an inbound lay-up; Breanne Hall was perfect from the free throw line going 2 for 2; Allie Nevius hit a three at the buzzer; and the team only committed 10 turnovers. Leading all scores for Poolesville were Allie (3), Breanne (2), Karyn (2) and Lauren (1). Coach Hall shaking his head after the game was quoted saying, "It was just one of those nights. Typically you have one or two players having an off night but unfortunately we had an off night as a team. In the end, I was happy to see them play good defense. We held them to fewer points than our last meeting but tonight, we just could not score."
On Sunday, the PBA JV Girls came back to life. The Lady Falcons moved the ball on offense and ran their transition game well. However, the taller Walkersville team controlled the paint which, in the end, was the difference maker. The Lady Falcons came up a little short and lost the game 27-25. The entire game was exciting: at the end of the first period the score was 4-4; at the half it was 10-10 and at the end of the third quarter Poolesville jumped ahead 18-17. Although they moved the ball well, the Lady Falcons did not convert opportunities from the field and the charity stripe into points. Scoring for Poolesville were Allie Nevius with 6, Jami D'Amelio, Breanne Hall & Erin Sparrow 4, Karyn Comfort 3 and Lauren Lightcap and Jessie Martinez with a bucket each.
Against the Celtics on Saturday, the PBA Rising Star Boys really didn't play all that great but still managed to pull out a 44-37 win. Poolesville started slow and ended the half down 16-11. The Falcons picked up the defense in the 2nd half and turned steals into points to close out the game. Jake Drissel lead all scorers with 9, followed by Ryan Haddaway with 8, Tucker Ross and Tim McIntyre with 6, Cole Carmack with 5, Michael Morgan, Jacob Brightful and Cole McKenney each with 2, and Michael McDonald with 1. For the second straight game, 10 of the 13 boys scored. Coach John Weber said, "Our shooting percentages have to improve and that's something the boys need to work on outside of practice. I don't have our shooting percentage from the floor and that's probably a good thing, it wasn't pretty". The RS Boys weren't much better from the free throw line either shooting 6 for 19, or 31%.
The PBA RS Boys played much better against the Spartans on Sunday and had a 22-17 lead at half, but couldn't finish the job, dropping their first game of the season by a final score of 37-36. Ryan Haddaway's three-pointer with 12 seconds left brought the Falcons to within one point of the Spartans and put Poolesville in a good position to win, but Tim McIntyre's half court shot came off the backboard a little hot as time expired. Coach Weber said, "I liked what I saw today, even with the loss, I was much happier with this game then the game the day before, they fought hard, executed much better today and ended with 11 assists (lead by Cole Carmack with 6). I also really liked the hustle out of our point guards this weekend. They tallied a good number of assists, steals and rebounds and minimize turnovers. As an example, Colin Fisher had multiple steals and rebounds each day with no turnovers." Ryan Haddaway lead all scorers with nine, followed by Jake Drissel with eight, Cole Carmack with six, Tim McIntyre with four, Joe Brashear, Tucker Ross, Jacob Brightful and Michael Collins with two each, and Michael Morgan also scored. "It was our shooting that really hurt us-----we missed too many easy shots and from the free throw line went 5 for 21 - that's 24% (rounded up) and that was really the difference in the game. So in the first 4 games, we've gone 19 for 72 from the line for a 26% shooting percentage, but even worse, that's 53 points missed and on top of that, some of those misses were on the front end of a 1 and 1." Sounds like more practice, boys!
Playing a Windsor Knolls team that had beaten the PBA Varsity Girls by 24 points in the first meeting at Poolesville early in the season, the Falcons came out playing hard and took it to the Windsor Knolls team in the first half and trailed by only two at the break 17-15. Anna Murgia played strong scoring 11 of points in the first half including two three-pointers in the second period. Unfortunately Murgia picked up her fourth foul in the third period which limited her aggressiveness and Windsor Knolls came out hot and outscored the Lady Falcons 16-5 to lead 35-22 at the end of the period. The Lady Falcons didn't give up and played hard in the 4th period, outscoring Windsor Knolls 10-2 to set the final score at 37-32. Murgia led the team with 18 points (including 8 for 10 from the free throw line). Denise Larson added eight, Anna Desoto added four and Mollie Bodmer added two. Kristen Darragh finished with ten rebounds in a strong defensive effort.
On Sunday, the Varsity Lady Falcons again continued with their strong play as they faced Walkersville in a close, hard fought game. The Lady Falcons controlled the game in the first half and led 15-11 at the half. For the second straight game, the Lady Falcons were outscored in the third period as Walkersville came out hot and outscored Poolesville 11-5 to take a 22-20 lead at the end of the period. The fourth period went back and forth with Poolesville retaking the lead at 27-25 with 2 minutes to go in the game. Walkersville tied the game at 27 with about a minute to go on a put back of a missed shot. A turnover by Poolesville gave the ball back to Walkersville who worked the clock down for a last minute shot. The Lady Falcons played outstanding defense, contesting the shot and causing it to miss and sent the game into overtime. During the overtime period, Walkersville hit a three point shot from the top of the key to give them the early lead and they held on, hitting three additional free throws, to win 33-28. Poolesville was led by Anna Murgia with 11 points. Denise Larson added seven points and eight rebounds. Kristen Darragh grabbed ten rebounds for the second game in a row and added two points. Anna Desoto finished with four points, Mollie Bodmer with three and Rachel Neville with one finished out the scoring. The games this weekend showed how far the team has come and how hard they are working every game. The PBA Varsity Girls enter the second half of the season a better team and look forward to finishing the season strong.
Walkersville's JV Boys trailed for most of three quarters on Sunday before outscoring the PBA JV Boys14-7 in the final period to wrestle a 30-23 win over the Falcons. Poolesville was paced by Joe Soltis and Justin Souder with six points each. Jake Armstrong scored five for the Falcons in the loss. On Saturday, the JV boys took it on the chin, losing 59-22 to Windsor Knolls.
Game Summaries ----- January 15-17, 2011
JV Boys, Girls Capture Knights
Rising Star Boys Move to 2-0, JV Girls Win 5th in a RowThe PBA JV Girls picked up two wins over the weekend. After opening up an 11-point lead, the Falcons hung on to defeat Crestwood on Saturday by a final score of 37-36. The Cavaliers rode the three-point line hard and often, hitting five treys during the game, but Poolesville managed to solve Crestwood's outside game just in the nick of time. Poolesville's Karyn Comfort led all scorers with 16 points (including four for four from the line) and seven rebounds. Breanne Hall had six points, four assists, and four steals, lightening quick Allie Nevius finished with six points and six steals, and Jessie Martinez had five points and six boards. Overall, the Falcons shot 52% from the field.
On Sunday, the PBA JV Girls showed defense does win games as they beat Middletown 15-8. The Falcons ran a solid half court offense to lead 8-2 at the half and an Allie Nevius three-pointer after the break sealed the win. Nevius finished with five points and Breanne Hall, Jami D'Amelio, Karyn Comfort, Jessie Martinez, and Erin Sparrow all added a bucket.
The PBA Varsity Girls defeated Crestwood 28-21 despite having another terrible shooting game. The game was close throughout, but Poolesville was able to win each of the first three quarters by one point each to lead 21-18 at the end of 3rd period. In the 4th period, the Lady Falcons pulled away and won 28-21. Anna Murgia led the way in the first half scoring all eleven of her points with Anna Desoto leading the way in the second half scoring eight of her ten points. Kristen Darragh hit a nice 3-point shot as part of her four points. The best play of the game was the last play, as Anna Murgia dribbled into the lane as we worked the clock down and hit Taylor Thomas breaking to the basket for an easy lay-up.
The PBA Varsity girls played their best quarter of the season during the first quarter against Middletown as they easily handled the Middletown press and got some easy lay-ups on good passes to open girls. The first period ended with Middletown leading 12-10. From then on, the Middletown man-to-man defense created too many Poolesville turnovers and Middletown continued with its hot shooting as they extended their lead to 22-12 at the half and then cruised to a 48-21 victory. Poolesville was led by Anna Murgia with nine, Kristen Darragh with five, Denise Larson with four and
Mollie Bodmer with two. "We handled the pressure well in the first quarter, but not the rest of the game" said Coach Larson. "The girls continue to work hard and the first quarter showed that when they play together as a team, looking for and making good passes to open teammates, good things happen".Poolesville's JV Boys turned a 14-point second half deficit into rousing 39-35 win over Middletown on Monday night behind the hot shooting of Justin Souder and Kevin Simmons. The Falcons hit their free throws down the stretch to pick up the win. Leading scorers for the campaign were Souder with 16 (including 6 of 8 from the charity stripe), Kevin Simmons (10) and Jake Armstrong (5). Joe Soltis and Ryan Bannon each chipped in four in the win.
In their game against Thomas Johnson, TJ held a slim 8-7 margin over the PBA JV Boys in the first quarter and book-ended it with a 16-4 fourth quarter to win 46-29. Poolesville was up to the challenge, but wasn't able to handle the pressure of the TJ press. Leading scorers for Poolesville were Kevin Simmons and Justin Souder with eight points each, Joe Soltis with seven, and Nathan Onderko had a big three-pointer. Ryan D'Amelio had a bucket, and Sean Murphy hit one side of a two shot foul shot.
In the first of two games this past weekend, the PBA Varsity Boys faced Thomas Johnson, who was this year's the runner-up in the Sugarloaf Shootout. In their first meeting at the vaunted holiday tournament, TJ won decisively 40-28. Their second meeting saw a more determined Poolesville team hitting the floor. Poolesville scored first and held the lead until late in the 4th quarter when TJ went on a quick 5 - 0 run to take the lead with a minute left in the game. Foul shooting was a key to Poolesville's success in the second game with the Falcon's collectively hitting 15 of 18 from the line led by Steven Morningstar going 6 for 9 from the line. With under a minute to go, Poolesville's great foul shooting continued with Joey Cartwright sinking both of his free throws to put Poolesville up by one. With 19 seconds left TJ retook the lead and brought home the 33-32 victory. In defeat Poolesville was able to take a lot of good things from the game. Leading Poolesville in scoring was Steven Morningstar with 12 points and six rebounds, Joey Cartwright finished with 8 points 5 rebounds 3 steals, Zach Long (8 points 4 rebounds 1 steal), Reid Patton (2 points and 1 rebound), Logan Rocco 2 points (both from the line), Ryan Shorts (2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal) and Brandon Bush pulled down a rebound.
In the second game of the weekend Middletown rolled into town with an unbelievable height advantage---in all four starters taller than Poolesville's. The height advantage did not deter Poolesville from making the Knights fight hard to leave town with a victory. The final score (44-26) did not show it but Poolesville gave the Knights' one heck of a fight. Poolesville tenacious pressure forced 21 turnovers----a season high. In the end Middletown's height proved to be too much. Scoring for Poolesville were Steven Morningstar (8 points 8 rebounds 1 steal), Joey Cartwright (7 points 1 rebound 5 steals), Zach Long (7 points 5 rebounds 1 steal), Ryan Shorts (2 points 1 rebound 1 steal), Brandon Bush (2 points), Nic Fisher (1 rebound 1 steal), Reid Patton (2 rebounds 2 steals), and Tyriek Riggs (2 rebounds 2 steals).
The PBA Rising Star Boys overcame a 15 -11 point halftime deficit to beat the Clarksburg Coyotes 41-31. Defense was the difference in the 2nd half as the full court press created a number of turnovers allowing the young Falcons to pull ahead for good midway through the second half. Ten of the 13 boys put points on the board lead by Tucker Ross with 10, Cole Carmack with eight, Pete Barry and Tim McIntyre with six each, Joe Brashear, Ryan Haddaway, Jacob Brightful, Michael Collins and Michael McDonald with two each, and Cole McKenney with 1. Ross ended the game with a double-double, pulling down 10 rebounds in addition to his ten points. McKenney, Carmack and McDonald each finished the game with 4 rebounds apiece. The RS Boys also tallied more steals than turnovers (19 versus 12) with Carmack leading the team them with seven steals followed by Ryan Haddaway with four.
"This was a really good team win with everyone contributing to this victory," said Coach John Weber. "We went 3 for 15 (1 for 11 in the 1st half) and we need to do better than that against a team like Clarksburg. From the floor, we shot about 24% for the game, hitting 14 shots in the 2nd half while hitting only five in the 1st half so it was nice to see the boys step it up."
Game Summaries ----- January 8-9, 2011
Rising Stars Open Season With Wins!
PBA RS Girls and Boys Sweep Weekend, JV Boys Take Down Linganore
PBA RS Girl Hailey Khalil goes for a steal, Coach Margaret Heimbach has her troop's attention. Samme Mullikin shows how to defend---hand in the passing zone, eyes on the passer---good job! Photos courtesy of Donna Khalil.
The PBA Rising Star Girls picked up two quick wins to start the season by edging the Bulldogs on Saturday (29-25) and the TSB Cool Beans on Sunday by a score of 22-13. On Saturday Delaney Cecco led the way with 11 points and guard Hailey Khalil joined the double figures crowd with 10 points. Samme Mullikin hit for four points and Kristen Hepburn and Kaley Fisher also scored. In Sunday's match-up, Cecco led all scorers with 12 points and Siann Riggs hit for seven. Beckah Trainor and Khalil also scored in the win. "Great team effort both days," said Coach Margaret Heimbach. "Excellent defense especially."
The PBA Rising Star Boys started the season off strong, with a 37-16 win over the team from Mary of Nazareth. The boys opened the game with an 8 to 0 lead and never looked back as they finished the 1st half with a 24-5 lead. Scoring was lead by Tim McIntyre with nine points, followed by Cole Carmack and Michael Collins with six each, Michael McDonald with five (including 3 for 3 from the free throw line), Jake Drissel with four, Michael Morgan with three, and Joe Brashear and Tucker Ross with two each. The defense created over 20 steals and a good number of turnovers led by hustle of the guards Pete Barry, Ryan Haddaway, McIntyre, Carmack and Colin Fisher. Our big guys did a nice job rebounding as the team combined for almost 40 rebounds lead by Collins with eight while Joe Brashear, Jacob Brightful, Cole McKenney, McIntyre, and Drissel had four or more rebounds apiece. After the game, Coach Weber said "We had a lot of steals at the point today which started with the guards and turned into good looks at the basket, it was a good team effort. The boys combined for 11 assists today (lead by Carmack with four) which is how you win games. I am concerned with the number of turnovers. We ended the game with over 20 turnovers today and we need to do better than that."
In their first game of 2011 and their first road game of the season, the short-handed PBA Varsity Girls, playing with only six girls, won a hard fought game against the Lady Warriors of Boonsboro. The first half was marked by numerous fouls by both teams and ended with Poolesville leading at the break 17-9, although the lead could have been more as the Lady Falcons only hit 5 of 16 from the free throw line. The third period was evenly played and in the 4th period, the Lady Warriors hit a couple of 3-pointers to tighten the game. The Lady Falcons shot better from the free throw line in the second half, hitting 6 for 9, and hung on to win the game 29-22. Denise Larson led the way offensively with eleven points (seven points from the free throw line after getting fouled on drives to the basket). Mollie Bodmer played strong underneath, getting eight points and leading the team with seven rebounds. Anna Murgia led the team with her aggressive defense, disrupting the Lady Warriors on offense throughout the game and contributed four points. Kristen Darragh played well overall, getting four points on two nice drives to the basket and was strong on the boards, getting six rebounds. Rachel Neville also was strong on the boards, getting six rebounds. Anna DeSoto rounded out the scoring with two. "It wasn't always pretty, but the girls fought hard and this was a good win for us" said Coach Carnahan.
In the first half of the Linganore double-header on Saturday-----a game that feature eight lead changes---the PBA JV Boys gained and held the last advantage as they outscored Linganore's JV Boys 13-2 in the final quarter to record a 40-32 win over the visiting Lancers. The Falcon's fourth quarter charge was led by center Kevin Simmons (game-high 14 points) and Dylan Landis (11 points). Logan Rocco played an excellent second half for Poolesville and finished with six points. Jake Armstrong, Ryan Bannon. Joe Soltis and Justin Souder also hit for Poolesville.
The PBA Varsity Boys gave it all they had against defending MML champion St. Johns, but the Vikings had too much for the Falcons, and with the help of a couple of untimely injuries the homestanding Johnnies beat Poolesville by a final score of 63-43. Zach Long picked up his game in the absence of is fellow starters (Steven Morningstar and Joey Cartwright) and finished with a season-high 21 points. Nic Fisher stepped into the breach and picked up eight points. Reid Patton had a solid game and finished with six. Tyriek Riggs had his best defensive game of the season in the loss. St. Johns shot eight for 12 from the line and hit nine three-pointers.
On Saturday, Linganore's Varsity Boys parlayed balanced scoring and a decided height advantage to open up a ten-point lead early and then keep Poolesville's Varsity Boys at arm's length the rest of the way. The end result? The visiting Lancers brought home a 49-36 win over the Falcons. Steven Morningstar (14 points eight rebounds) and Joey Cartwright (12 points) did all they could to keep Poolesville in the game. The Lancers other underclassman, Thomas Lang, hit a bucket, handed off three assists, and grabbed three steals. Ryan Shorts had two steals, Reid Patton had six points and six rebounds, Brandon Bush had two boards, Tyriek Riggs had three rebounds and one steal.
9th Annual Sugarloaf Shootout ----- January 1-2, 2011
Crestwood Captures Shootout Title Over T.J.
PBA Varsity Boys Finish Strong at 9th Annual Sugarloaf Shootout. Go to "Tournaments" for all final game scores.
The scoreboard tells the whole story as Coach Morningtar makes sure his team keeps playing hard in the PBA Varsity Boys defeat of Boonsboro. Joey Cartwright elevates on his way to the bucket against the Warriors. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The Crestwood Cavaliers capped an undefeated run through the 9th Annual Sugarloaf Shootout with a thrilling 35-34 win over Thomas Johnson in the tournament championship game on Sunday. Both teams swept their set of three games to reach the finals, as did Windsor Knolls, but the Cavaliers and the Patriots advanced to the championship on the basis of least points allowed during the pre-lim games. T.J. defeated defending champion Darnestown in a thriller to eliminate Windsor Knolls and move on to the finals. Go to "Tournaments" for all final game scores.
The PBA Varsity Boys finished off the tournament with two wins over the teams from Boonsboro. In their second game, the Falcons beat the Heat by a final score of 44-31 behind 18 points and eight rebounds from Steven Morningstar. Zach Long hit for 12 points (he was in double figures all three games) and snagged five steals. Joey Cartwright hit for eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. Ryan Shorts grabbed seven rebounds as well to go along with his four points. In their second game, a 41-31 win over the Celtics, Cartwright led the way with 19 points, including seven points in the final period. Morningstar finished with 15 points. Long hit for 12 and added 10 rebounds and three steals. Reid Patton and Cory Riggs also scored four points each. In their tournament opener against T.J., the Falcons lost 40-28 but picked up 10 points from Long, six points from Patton and four points from Morningstar (along with nine rebounds). Cartwright and Shorts hit for three points and Logan Rocco also scored.
Game Summaries ----- December 19, 2010
JV Girls Stop Train Wreck
7th Grade Girls De-Rail Brunswick for Sole Sunday Win, JV Boys Capture First Victory Over Catoctin on Saturday.
PBA JV Boy Justin Souder drives for a bucket against Oakdale. Varsity Girl Rachel Neville fights to get off a shot. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA Varsity Boy Joey Cartwright nails a three against Oakdale. JV Girl Lauren Lightcap slides into the passing lane. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom atjcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA JV Girls bounced back from an early deficit to defeat Brunswick's JV Girls by a final score of 35-21. The Falcons trailed by a score of 5-1 thanks to the Railroader's 1-2-2 press. Once Poolesville got a grip on the tough press, the Falcons stormed out to a lead they would not surrender. Karyn Comfort led Poolesville with nine points. Jessie Martinez, Allie Nevius, and Jami D'Amelio all scored seven each for the Falcons. Nevius hit a critical three-pointer in the second quarter to break the game open for the Falcons. Martinez went three for six from the field in her best shooting game ever. Breanne Hall and Lauren Lightcap scored two points each and Christina Hilton continued the tradition of fine PBA play from a Hilton girl by scoring her first PBA point. Seven Falcons scored in all.
The PBA Varsity Girls again fell behind early with a poor first quarter and Brunswick took a 10-0 lead after one quarter. Poolesville finally started scoring in the second period with Anna Murgia and Denise Larson each hitting a three pointer and Anna DeSoto getting a three point play underneath to narrow the gap to 17-11 at the half. The third period was another scoring drought for the Lady Falcons as they fell behind 28-15 at the end of the third period. In the fourth period Anna DeSoto (10 days out from having her appendix taken out) got hot and hit for six of her game high nine points but it was not enough as Poolesville fell 36-28. Denise Larson tied for game high in scoring with nine and added nine rebounds. Anna Murgia added five, Kristen Darragh added three and Taylor Thomas added two to round out the scoring.
Brunswick's JV Boys kept the PBA JV Boys at arm's length for most of the game and held on at the end to record a 35-30 win over the Falcons. The Railroaders held a 10-point advantage that Poolesville managed to whittle down to four with just a minute left in the game and Falcons in control of the ball. Brunswick made a key defensive stop and hit their free throws to bring home the win. Poolesville was paced by big men Joe Soltis (game-high 16 points) and Kevin Simmons (six points). Justin Souder also hit for four points in the loss. Tim McIntyre and Sean Murphey also scored critical buckets for the Falcons.
The PBA Varsity Boys clawed back from a 10-point deficit in the final final seven minutes of their game against visiting Brunswick to trail by just one with just a minute left, but that's as close as it would get for the Falcons as the Railroaders hit a key free throw with just seconds left to preserve a 36-34 exciting win at Poolesville. The Falcons picked up pick free throws from Joey Cartwright and Steven Morningstar (nine points each) in the final sixty seconds to lead to the dramatic finish. Poolesville also received nine points from Zach Long before he fouled out in the final moments. Cori Riggs nailed a crucial bucket in the 4th quarter to keep the Falcons alive. Ryan Shots also came up big with a short jumper. Nic Fisher and Reid Patton also scored for Poolesville.
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The PBA JV Boys flew past the Catoctin Cougars 53-29 on Saturday night to pick up their first win of the season. Poolesville started with a strong press and led the Cougars 16-4 at the end of the first period. Poolesville's lead continued through the half. Catoctin put up a hard fight in the second half by applying the press to Poolesville. Catoctin outscored Poolesville 13-9 in the 4th quarter, but it was far too little, too late for the Cougars. Poolesville was led by Joe Soltis with ten points and Kevin Simmons with nine. Tim McIntyre and Jackson Purdy each chipped in with six. Andrew Bacus, Sean Murphey, Nathan Onderko, Justin Souder all hit for four points each. Ryan D'Amelio, Louis Potts, and Jake Armstrong also scored in the victory.
Poolesville's Varsity Boys fell to Catoctin on Saturday night by a final score of 48-38. The Cougars came out strong in the first quarter with a pressure defense and up tempo game to take an early 6-0 lead. Poolesville came back with a run of their own to lead at the end of the quarter 14-12. Catoctin would outscore the Falcons 9-6 in the second quarter to regain the lead at the half 21-20. The Cougars stretched their lead in the third quarter to 9 by outscoring Poolesville 15-7 to take a 36-27 lead. Catoctin and Poolesville played to a draw in the final period, which allowed Catoctin to bring home the win. Poolesville was led by Steven Morningstar who scored a game high 18 points while pulling down a game-high 20 rebounds. Zach Long chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds. Joey Cartwright scored three points, Ryan Shorts chipped in a bucket, as did Chris Novel. Reid Patton and Cori Riggs also scored in the loss.
Game Summaries ----- December 13, 2010
JV Girls Hang On Over Windsor Knolls!
PBA JV Girls Pick-up First WinPoolesville's JV Girls held off a furious Windsor Knolls comeback just long enough to record a 31-27 win over the visiting Lady Hawks. Poolesville's transition game was clicking early as the Falcons raced to an 11-4 lead and later posted a 24-14 advantage. Windsor Knolls mounted a hard fought comeback but Poolesville sealed the deal by scoring the last four points of the game for the final margin of victory. The Falcons were led by Karyn Comfort with nine points, Jami D'Amelio with seven and Breanne Hall with five. The Falcons also picked up scoring and aggressive play from Allie Nevius and Jessie Martinez (four points each) and Lauren Lightcap (two points).
The Poolesville Varsity Girls fell behind early and never really got into the game as they lost to a good visiting Windsor Knolls team by a final score of 41-18. The Lady Falcons played with somewhat more intensity in the 4th quarter, but it was too little too late. Mollie Bodmer played her best game of the year, scoring five points in the 4th quarter as she led the team in scoring and rebounding with seven points and seven rebounds. Also scoring for Poolesville were Taylor Thomas with four, Anna Murgia with three, Denise Larson with two and Rachel Neville with two. "Anna Murgia fought hard until the end despite the score," said Coach Cathy Carnahan. "I was happy to see Rachel Neville working all game long to get in the right spot. We have plenty of work to do!"
Game Summaries ----- December 12, 2010
Sunday Not Fun-day!
Oakdale Sweeps PBA Quartet for First Time Ever!It had been two weeks since the PBA Varsity Girls last game, but in the first quarter they didn't show it as they jumped out to a 12-2 first quarter lead, running the offense and getting some good passes against the Oakdale zone defense. The rest of the game though was a different story, as the Oakdale press and pressure defense caused the Lady Falcons to get away from running their offense and turn the ball over too much as Oakdale slowly worked their way back into the game and ultimately took the lead in the fourth quarter and won 27-21. Denise Larson and Anna Murgia led the team in scoring, each getting six points. Kristen Darragh added five. Mollie Bodmer and Rachel Neville each added a bucket while leading the team in rebounding with six each.
Oakdale's relentless pressure proved to be too much for the PBA JV Girls as the visitors built up a 24-8 halftime lead and never looked back in their 34-16 win over the Falcons. Coach Chris Hall said after the game "The girls are working hard and they are teetering on the edge of good things. The pieces are there, they just have to keep working at putting it all together." Poolesville's scoring came from Jami D'Amelio, Allie Nevius, and Breanne Hall with four points each. Jessie Martinez and Delaney Cecco also pitched in a bucket each.
Oakdale's Varsity Boys had just enough of everything they needed to hold off the PBA Varsity Boys by a final score of 44-36. Oakdale built up and held several double-digit advantages throughout the game, but the Falcons cut the margin to 33-29 halfway through the final quarter before forcing Oakdale to hit their free throws to secure the win. Poolesville's Zach Long led all scorers with 17 points, with 15 of the total coming in the second half. The Falcons also picked up scoring from Steven Morningstar (10), Joey Cartwright (seven), and Nic Fisher (two).
Oakdale's JV Boys outscored the PBA JV Boys in every quarter en route to a 45-25 win over the homestanding Falcons. Kevin Simmons paced Poolesville with seven points and Joe Soltis hit for six for the Falcons. Louis Potts and Jake Armstrong also pitched in four points each, and Dylan Landis, Justin Souder, and Ryan Souder also scored in the loss. "Our guys gave a good effort," said Coach Marshall Micheals, "but collectively we have to play at a faster pace. We may not be the tallest team but there is no reason why we can't be the quickest."
Game Summaries ----- December 4, 2010
Varsity Boys Throw Goose Egg at Mt. Airy to Go 2-0
The PBA Varsity Boys shut down and shut out the Mt. Airy Varsity Boys in the final quarter on Saturday night to collect their second win of the season by a final score of 37-27. Poolesville led after the first quarter 15-4 but Mt. Airy bounced back to tie it up at 20-all at the half. The third quarter was evenly played but it was all Poolesville in the final stanza as the Falcons held the home team scoreless to capture the win. Steven Morningstar led Poolesville with 14 points and six rebounds. Zach Long was strong on the boards and finished with nine points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Joey Cartwright hit for seven points, Reid Patton (three points) finished with eight boards and Brandon Bush also hit a bucket for the Falcons.
The PBA JV Boys fell to Mt. Airy early on Saturday by a final score of 45-25. Although the score suggests a blowout, it was a much closer game throughout the contest. Leading 4-2 after the first quarter and losing 12-8 at the half, the Falcons started slow in the third. The scoring was spread out pretty evenly through all the Falcons but they were led by Joe Soltis and Kevin Simmons with six points each. Justin Souder hit for two and a foul shot for three total and Nathan Onderko, Dylan Landis, Jake Armstrong, Louis Potts, and Jackson Purdy contributed two points each. After keeping the score close through three quarters, the young Falcons let the game slip away in the fourth as Mt. Airy started to run the ball and scored on several quick hitters that eventually put the game out of reach.
Game Summaries ----- November 28, 2010
Varsity Boys, Girls Win Season Openers!
Cartwright Shoots, Passes, Steals, and Rebounds in Final Two Minutes to Preserve Win. Varsity Girls Cruise to Victory.In a game that featured 13 lead changes, Poolesville's Varsity Boys made the last lead stick as they bested the visiting Folly Quarter Varsity Boys by a final score of 34-31. Folly Quarter roared back from a six-point deficit to lead Poolesville by one with two minutes left, but three Zach Long (five points) free throws and one Steven Morningstar (11 points, eight rebounds) put back gave Poolesville the final margin of victory. Joey Cartwright (five points) had two keys steals, two big rebounds, an assist and a free throw in the last two minutes to help seal the Poolesville win. Ryan Shorts also came up big with four points, as did 7th Grader Reid Patton. Logan Rocco hit for three points in the win and Nic Fisher also scored for Poolesville.
The PBA Varsity Girls began their final Mid-Maryland League season under Coach Carnahan with a very convincing win over Urbana. The game was never really in doubt as the Lady Falcons raced out to a 12-2 lead after one period, a 27-3 lead at halftime and won going away with a 50-15 victory. The easy victory gave everyone a chance to play and everyone contributed. Anna Murgia and Kristen Darragh each scored nine to lead the Falcons in scoring. Other scoring included Breanne Hall (seven), Denise Larson (six), Rachel Neville (five), Anna Desoto (four), Mollie Bodmer (four), Jamie Damelio (two) and Danielle Macairan, playing in her first PBA game, scored two. Mollie and Denise also both grabbed six rebounds. According to Coach Carnahan, "All of our games won’t be this easy, but it was great to get this first 'W'".
Poolesville hosted Folly Quarter's JV Boys on Sunday and fell 34-31 in a last second shot thriller. After jumping out to a 6-2 first quarter lead and 21-14 halftime, Folly Quarter led by as much as 13 when the PBA JV Boys came roaring back on the 8 for 8 foul shooting of Kevin Simmons. After tying the game late in the fourth quarter with a 17-point outburst, Folly Quarter had five seconds on the clock and hit a three from the baseline to end Poolesville's hopes of winning their opener. Poolesville's Kevin Simmons and his 8-8 foul shooting gave him 10 total. Joe Soltis had eight and Ryan Bannon, Andrew Bacas, Tim McIntyre, Justin Souder, Jake Armstrong, and Jackson Purdy each scored a deuce to balance out the Poolesville scoring attack.
In their Mid-Maryland debut, the PBA JV Girls gave it their all but fell short against a very tough Urbana team dropping their first game by a final score of 42-35. Trailing 21-14 at the half, the Lady Falcons come out of the locker room all fired-up. They brought the game within one point but the Urbana full court pressure was too much for the Falcons to maintain their spark. Karyn Comfort with her first double-double of the season lead all scores with 13 points and added 12 rebounds. Jami D'Amelio chipped in 10 points, Jessie Martinez hit for five, Breanne Hall scored four points and Allie Nevius finished with three points. After the game, Coach Hall commented, "Allowing them to go up 13-3 after the first quarter was too much to overcome. In the remaining three quarters of the game, we outscored them 32-29 --- that says a lot about the tenacity of these girls. This is a tough group of girls."
Summer League 2010 Game Summaries Week 6
JV Girls Polish Off Damascus, Finish Summer Undefeated!
Cecco Paces PBA Rising Star Girls, RS Boys Finish with SplitThe PBA JV Girls finished their dream summer season with a perfect 10-0 record after defeating Damascus 25-4 Thursday night. "These girls played very well this summer. We provided a lot of playing time for everyone to show case their skills and they did just that. This summer their transition game was top notch and many of their points were scored running the court." said Coach Chris Hall after the milestone victory. Breanne Hall led all scores Thursday night with 10 points, followed by Jami D'Amelio with eight. Also scoring were Kristen Darragh with five and Jessie Martinez adding a bucket. The Lady Falcons dictated the game right from the start. Damascus controlled the jump ball and before they could dribble, Hall stole the ball and scored an uncontested lay-up. The Falcon's defense continued to caused havoc all night and in the end, the team racked up 21 steals. Reflecting on this summer, Coach Hall continued, "Tonight was a great finish to a perfect season. Many of these girls produced some great stats and I'm looking forward to the winter season in Mid-Maryland to see how we stack up." Here are the top two leaders in each category on this epic season: Scoring: Jami D'Amelio 53 points (6.6 / game) & Breanne Hall 43 (6.1 / game); Rebounding: Jessie Martinez 49 (5 / game) & Lauren Lightcap 34 (4 / game); Steals: Lauren Lightcap 22 (2.4 per game) & Hall 20 (2.9 / game); Assists: Hall 12 (2 / game) & Kristen 8 (1.6 / game). Congratulations Falcons! See you all at Open Gym nights and tryouts in October.
The PBA JV Girls won Tuesday night 20-10 over DeChantal. Taylor Behrens playing her best game of the season and walked way with tally marks in every stat column. Taylor ended the night with six points, three boards, two steals and an assist. Kristen Darragh back from vacation finished the night where she left off. Kristen had six points, a couple boards, three steals and an assist. Breanne Hall playing a "big man" all night, controlled the paint with ten boards, added four points, several steals and an assist to the victory. Also scoring for the Lady Falcons were Lauren Lightcap and Jami D'Amelio with a bucket each. A rematch against Damascus on Thursday night is the only game that stands between the JV Girls and an undefeated summer league season.
In a wrap-up of their final four summer league games, the PBA Rising Star Girls did not fair well on the scoreboard but significant progress was made and Delaney Cecco showed her chops by scoring 42 points in those final four contests. In their most recent two games, the young Falcons fell to the Mustangs by a final score of 23-17 with Cecco hitting for eight, Hailey Khalil and Kristen Hepburn scoring four each and Siann Riggs also scoring. Against the Dynamo's, Poolesville lost a tough one with Cecco scoring 10 and Khalil and Riggs scoring four each. Hepburn and Kaley Fisher also scored. The RS Girls lost a heartbreaker to the MD Lady Hoopsters by a final score of 26-24 with Cecco shouldering the load with 16 points. "While we finished 3-7, I thought the girls did a nice job in their first season of higher level basketball," said Coach Margaret Heimbach. "We're looking forward to getting back out on the court again in the fall with lots of practices to work on the fundamentals. I hope to see all of the girls at the Open Gym Nights as well!"
After splitting their last two games of the season, the PBA Rising Star Boys finished the year with a 5-5 record. "We have plenty of work to do," said Coach John Weber. "This group of kids has shown they can work hard. We have a lot of players who are very even in terms of their abilities. I'm looking forward to seeing who wants to jump out in front of the pack coming up this fall and winter."
The PBA Varsity Boys game against the Pistons on Wednesday night was a tale of completely different halves. "The 1st half we thought three-point shots were the ticket and against a team that has three big boys, if you're not hitting you're in trouble, and we weren't hitting!," said Coach John Weber. "The real issue with this approach was the Pistons would get the rebound, run transition, beat us back and end up with an easy basket. As a result we ended the half behind, 32 to 9 (no typo, 23 points down). The second half we started to move on offense against the 2-1-2 zone and started to attack the basket. The Pistons continued to press us, kept their big men in the game and tried to ran transition but we just played much better than the 1st half," said Weber. The Varsity Boys ended up losing 52-26. "The majority of our 17 second half points came either from inside the paint or from free throws," said Weber. "If we'd have played this way the entire game, who know what we might have been able to accomplish? I liked the fight I saw in them tonight, they were down big but never gave up or quit fighting."
Against Damascus, the Varsity Boys fell behind 11-9 and ended up losing 30-21. Zack Long hit for seven points, Joey Cartwright had six, Logan Rocco had four and Vincent Posey and Ryan Shorts both hit for two each. "They put a lot of pressure on us but Cori Riggs and Ryan Shorts handled the pressure well," said Coach Bill Cartwright. "Zack Long did a great job on the boards despite giving up some height." Poolesville hung in there against the Flames as well behind the rebounding and shooting of Joey Cartwright but fell by the final score of 40-29. Cartwright hit for 11, Long went for double-digits with 10, Riggs had three, and Rocco, Eric Lee and Matt Hepburn also scored.
The PBA JV Boys played hard in their games against the Badgers and the Classic Blue but turnovers played a large role in what would turn out to be two losses. Against Classic Blue on 7/15, Poolesville outscored the Blue 16-13 in the second half but it wasn't enough to overcome a 18-point halftime deficit and the Falcons fell 37-21, Tim McIntyre and Ryan D'Amelio scored six points each in the loss, Jake Armstrong and Kevin Simmons hit for four points each, and Nathan Onderko also scored. On 7/20 against the Badgers, Poolesville lost by a final score of 28-22 despite 14 points from Joe Soltis. McIntyre (four points), Simmons and Justin Souder also scored in the loss.
Summer League 2010 Game Summaries Week 5
Varsity Boys Send St. E's Packing!
Fantastic RS Four Play Like Superheroes, Varsity Girls Fall in O.T., JV Girls Stay Hot, JV Boys Hold Off K-Town Cavs.The PBA Varsity Boys pushed out an early lead on St. Elizabeths and took a 19-10 advantage into the locker room at the half. St. E's tightened things up in the second half and forced the Falcons to win the game from the line. Poolesville responded by going 10 for 15 from the charity stripe and took home a 34-29 victory for their efforts. Zach Long went for double-digits and finished with 13 points in the win. Steven Morningstar manned the pivot and finished with nine points and nine rebounds. Guards Joey Cartwright and Corey Riggs finished with four points each. Vincent Posey, Logan Rocco, and Chris Novell also scored for Poolesville.
The PBA JV Girls defeated the Classics-Ball Skillz Thursday night 44-11. "We started off a little slow with a 5-4 lead after a few minutes of play, then the doors opened and the seas parted." commented Coach Chris Hall. By the half, the Lady Falcons had a commanding 23-6 lead. Coach Hall continued, "At the break, I challenged the girls to play smart, work the ball into the paint, look for open shots and to exceed the 40 point mark - a scoring territory they have never seen. We had 7 turnovers in the first half and I wanted the girls to play smarter. Oh yeah, I also lifted the ban on three pointers." With the WSSC-like restriction now lifted, the threes came raining down. The Lady Falcons shot 3 for 4 from the beyond the arch with Breanne Hall, Lauren Lightcap and Jolee Rains each going 1-1. With that kind of performance, maybe Coach Hall will let the Lady Falcons shoot outside a little more? We'll see! Breanne Hall lead all scores with 14 followed by Jami D'Amelio 10, Lauren Lightcap 9 and Jolee Rains 5. Taylor Behrens, Mollie Bodmer and Morgan Mullett also added a bucket to the effort. Just shy of her first double-double, Lauren co-led with Morgan to grab 10 rebounds. Breanne and Jessie stayed in the mix pulling six and four boards respectively. According to Assistant Coach Steve Lightcap, "My favorite part of their game is how they run the transition, these girls have that nailed down." Lauren and Breanne combined for six steals, three each, and Breanne dished out three assists. After the game, Coach Hall and Lightcap both concurred, "These girls are playing very well this summer and building confidence."
The PBA JV Girls defeated Damascus on Tuesday night with a 36-16 win. "These girls are en fuego!!!" commented assistant coach Steve Lightcap after the game. Coach Hall was also very pleased with their effort and after the game he was quoted saying, "We had seven our of nine players score tonight, our turnovers were very low, we had a respectable number of steals and assists - both of which out numbered our turnovers....Now that's a good night." Leading the Falcons in scoring were Jolee "Pebbles" Rains and Breanne Hall with nine points each. Jolee's nine was achieved with a bottom of the net draining three---"Way to go Jo" said Coach Hall. Also scoring were Jami D'Amelio with seven, Mollie Bodmer with four and Jessie Martinez with three. Morgan Mullett and Lauren Lightcap each added a bucket. Although Damascus had many inches of height over the Falcons, the girls controlled the paint. Lauren Lightcap ripped six boards followed by Morgan Mullet pulling away four. Also rebounding were Mollie, Jami and Jessie with three each. The Damascus coach came to the Poolesville bench at half time and said, "These girls are a pleasure to watch, the PBA program should be proud of them." (we are!)
"Alert the presses," said one. "I've seen a lot of basketball games, but I've never seen anything like that before," said another. The observations had come from two of the Poolesville fans who had just emerged from the Seneca Valley sauna / gymnasium, having watched the PBA Rising Stars Boys team play with lots of heart, but with only four players, against Damascus. The game had started out close, but when Damascus substituted for all five players on the court with about two minutes left in the game, it symbolized that the outcome was no longer in doubt. Pete Barry, Michael Collins, Michael McDonald and Tim McIntyre had been too much for Damascus to handle. When the final buzzer sounded, Poolesville had scored 33 and had limited Damascus to 22.
"Before the game started, I told the team that when they grow up, they'd be able to tell their kids about the time that they had played with only four players and still won the game," said Coach Steve Morgan. "They'll have that chance. They should be extremely proud of how they played. They played smart. They played well. But most importantly, they played with tons of heart. They hustled all the time. They dove on the floor for loose balls. They battled for rebounds. They played through their exhaustion. They were an inspiration to me, to Coach McIntyre, and to all of the Poolesville fans."
Damascus started the game playing half-court man-to-man, but with two players guarding Poolesville's primary ball-handler, Tim McIntyre. Despite the constant double-teaming, Tim handled the pressure, finding open teammates for good shot opportunities. Damascus maintained a small lead early in the game, but when Poolesville took the lead midway through the first half, Damascus switched to a full-court press. Michael Collins did a great job inbounding the ball against the press, finding passing lanes despite the numbers disadvantage. Once the ball was inbounded, Poolesville was off to the races, dribbling around and through traps, passing over, under, and around the defense, and converting lay-up chances, executing the 4-on-5 fast break to perfection. Pete Barry and Michael McDonald were frequently the ones converting those scoring chances. In the second half, Damascus occasionally tried a 2-3 zone, but Poolesville dissected that as well, leading Damascus to stay primarily with the press.
McDonald scored 14 points, Barry scored 11, Collins scored 6, and McIntyre scored 2. McIntyre had 4 of the 8 assists that were recorded. Although rebounds weren't recorded, each of the four players were probably in double-figures. Said Morgan, "Sometimes the stats sheet tells the story of a game, but not tonight. Tonight was all about heart."
In the PBA Varsity Girls game on Tuesday night against a team that had beaten them quite handedly in the first meeting, the Tigers jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead after hitting several outside shots to include two 3-pointers. Coach Carnahan implored the girls to be more aggressive on defense and they responded (and also hit a few shots themselves) and only trailed 15-12 at the half. The second half was played close with neither team really taking control and was tied at 23-23 with approximately 30 seconds to go and the Tigers in possession of the ball. With 10 seconds to go a Tiger player drove to the basket and was fouled. The Tiger player missed both shots and the ball was knocked out of bounds by them with 7 seconds to go. Poolesville inbounded, got the ball down court and had an open baseline jumper at the buzzer, that missed, sending the game into overtime. In overtime, the Tigers hit two quick shots and ended up winning 29-25. Afterwards, Coach Carnahan commented that the passing was better and that there were several times that quick sharp passes led to good scoring opportunities. "We still need to be more aggressive on defense and rebound better, but overall we played better than when we played them previously" she said. Anna Murgia led the team with ten points, Denise Larson added eight, Rachel Neville added four and Anna DeSoto added two. Molly Bodmer rebounded well getting nine rebounds and added a free throw.
In their second game of the week, the PBA Varsity Girls shot better but too many turnovers and a St. Mary's team that was red-hot from the field resulted in a loss for the Falcons. In a fast paced first half, St. Mary's pulled out to a 26-18 half-time lead. The Falcons scored the first five points of the second half, but St. Mary's pulled away for a victory behind a 3-point barrage. The Falcons guard tandem of Denise Larson (13 points, five for five from the free throw line) and Anna Murgia (12 points, eight for twelve from the free throw line) led the way with numerous drives into the St. Mary's defense resulting in either a layup or free throws. Rachel Neville scored two points and Mollie Bodmer added two free throws and Taylor Thomas and Allie Gruber added one free throw each to round out the scoring. Anna Desoto played well on defense getting five rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Ashley Adkins disrupted the St. Mary's defense resulting in several steals or turnovers. After the game, Coach Carnahan commented on how much improvement the team had made over the summer. She encouraged the girls to work on their basketball fundamentals in their driveways and was looking forward to coaching everyone again this fall/winter. Unfortunately, we had to say good-bye to Sam and Ashley Adkins as they are moving to Florida this summer and will not be able to continue on with this group as it grows and develops as a team.
The PBA JV Boys faced a very tall K-Town Cavs team on Tuesday night, but that did not stop the undersized Falcons from taking flight and controlling the boards and, when needed, landing and scrapping on the floor for loose balls. Poolesville held up a 14-11 halftime lead to win 26-22. The Falcons led through out the game but K-Town kept it close all game and never allowed the Falcons to relax. Kevin Simmons led all scores and rebounders in the game with 10 points in the paint and a ton of rebounds both on the offense and defense boards. Jackson Purdy shared the load on the boards also and scored 8 points. Ryan D'Amelio (five points) probably was the scrapiest player of the game by coming up with loose ball after loose ball. Tim MacIntyre and Jake Armstrong shared time running the point and breaking the press helping to keep the Falcons up all game long. Nathan Onderko finished strong with three points. Ryan Bannon had a strong night on the boards. Guest Coach Bill Cartwright was impressed with the way the team held their composure all game long. "Everytime K-Town crept up to try and take the lead this team would make a play and keep the lead," said Coach Cartwright. "What a nice job."
Summer League 2010 Game Summaries Week 4
JV Boys Go Four Deep, JV Girls Keep Rolling, Varsity Girls Go Down Shooting (and Missing!)
UPI - Gaithersburg High School, 2010
Amelia Earhart, D.B. Cooper, Jimmy Hoffa, the Lindberg baby. Missing. Never heard from again. That was not the case with the PBA JV Boys 4 man crew. They were heard from and played with determination even though they were a man down throughout the game,
"This summer has played a big of havoc on the team as we played our second four man contest in as many games. Basketball is a secondary sport in the summer and we've gotten hit with the perfect storm of other sports and summer vacations", said Micheals as he gazed into the stands looking for anyone that would fit into a 7th grade uniform. He continued, "I'm proud of the way the guys played. They represented Poolesville well in that they never gave up and almost had to be carried off the court in the end."
Particular effort was shown by the big man tandem of Kevin Simmons and Dylan Landis as they continually provided rebound after rebound to keep Damascus to just a few shots per possession. "If you are playing 4 on 5 and you keep the other team from getting more than one or two shots you are doing pretty well defensively. I thought Marty did a great job with the substitutions though out the game. We learned quite a bit about playing help defense as well."
Marty Micheals is in a contract year but he didn't provide the same spark as Andrew Bacas (8 points), Ryan Bannon (7), Kevin Simmons (6), or Dylan Landis (3). Next game is this Thursday and the young Falcons hope to avoid the missing man formation in this one.
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Gym was Hot, Falcons were Hotter
TASS - Gaithersburg High School 7/7/10The 20,543 (reported) fans at the Gaithersburg High School basketball plex were not denied a quality basketball game by the PBA JV Boys this evening. What started as a see saw match had the young Falcons up by 7 at the half and a thrilling 33-32 overtime win. The game started on Falcon bucket from the tip off and kept pace with the excitement from there. Coming out of halftime, Poolesville could not maintain their lead and at one point was down by five. A quick time out and the coaching genius of Marty Micheals (again, contract year), had the Falcons scrapping and their never say die attitude kept them in the game until the very end.
"We were up by at least seven in the middle of the second half and I wanted the boys to stop coming down the court and throwing up a quick shot. We talked about it in the huddle but we didn't execute exactly as planned", said Coach Micheals. This lapse in execution combined with an effective press from the Thunder provided what we call in the industry 'additional commercial opportunities'. With seven seconds left in the game and down by three, the Falcons executed a perfectly drawn up play (again, contract year) and Justin Souder went to the line after being fouled on a three point attempt. Calmly sinking all three foul shots (thank you Falcon camp), Poolesville settled down and prepared for overtime with the game tied at 32-32. The defense held the Thunder to zero points in overtime and time started to run out. With eleven seconds left, with the ball in the exact same sideline position, Poolesville executed a perfectly drawn up play (you get the picture) and Justin Souder again was fouled. Having to only make one of the two shots, he was instructed to miss the first shot in order to create drama and parent angst of having to play another overtime. (Did I mention the gym was hot?). He sank the second shot and sealed the game and the second victory of the summer season.
Leading the scoring in this thriller from, well, a hot gym, was Joe Soltis with 14. He was followed by Justin Souder (11), Kevin Simmons (2), Jake Armstrong (2), and Ryan Bannon (2).
"I was impressed with both Kevin and Dylan for getting on the boards. Dylan was Mr. Hustle and started to box out like we've worked on. Jake Armstrong played extremely tough D on their best shooter in overtime", said Coach Micheals. When asked for his opinion, Marty Micheals (everyone say it together) said, "Yep."
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In their second match-up this season, the PBA JV Girls won 24-10 over DeChantal. With only six players and the gym temps over 90 degrees, the Lady Falcons maintained their cool to pull off yet another win. "Jessie Martinez must have had her Wheaties for dinner, she played out of her mind." said Coach Hall. Jessie posted her first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Morgan Mullett showed confidence in her game with five points, a couple steals and rebounds and an assist. Mollie Bodmer added 10 rebounds and four points to the victory. Jolee Rains provided two buckets and five rebounds. Breanne Hall provided the ball handling needed to set-up the scoring for her other teammates, she dished out four assists and pulled five boards.
The PBA JV Girls continue their winning ways with a 23-16 victory over the Maryland Stars. The Lady Falcons started off slow and after 5 minutes the game was tied 4-4. Their full court pressure finally kicked in and they ended the first half with a 14-4 lead. Their aggressive effort didn't last into the second half for the Stars out scored the Falcons 9-12. "I'm glad we provided enough cushion after the first half because in the second we fell asleep." said Coach Hall. "Our defensive effort let down and we watched the other team go coast to coast without putting a body in front of them. After a time out mid way through the second half, I told the girls they needed to step-up and told them the team who wanted it more was going to win. I challenged them to think which one were they going to chose." continued Coach Hall. That pep talk was enough. Of the 12 steals on the night, nine came late in the second half and helped to ensure a win. Breanne Hall, returning after missing several weeks, lead the Falcons in defense and offense with four steals, six points and an assist and a rebound. Lauren Lightcap also had a tremendous outing, added two steals, four points and four rebounds. Mollie Bodmer, in her first game of the season (recovering from a broken arm) controlled the paint with eight boards, added four points and a steal. Jessi Martinez provided another very solid performance with five boards and five points. Allie Nevius, playing well this summer, adding another four points to her resume along with a steal and a rebound. Morgan Mullett, Jolee Rains, Taylor Behrens and Lia Ghozati also played solid defensive game.
The PBA Varsity Girls game against the Classics on Thursday night was a tale of two halves. In the first half the Falcons played well defensively and hit some shots to take a 13-4 halftime lead. In the second half, a combination of the Falcons poor shooting and turnovers against pressure defense from the Classics allowed the Classics to get back into the game and take the lead at 20-18 with a couple of minutes left in the game. Rachel Neville, who continued with her strong performance over the last couple of weeks, hit a jumper to tie the game at 20-20. The Falcons had a couple of possessions in which to re-take the lead, but turned the ball over. The Classics had the last possession of the game and hit a falling away, desperation 3-pointer with two seconds on the clock to win the game 23-20. Rachel Neville finished with nine points, hitting four of her six shots. Denise Larson added seven points and five rebounds and Molly Bodmer added four points. Taylor Thomas played good defense getting three steals and five rebounds.On a night when the PBA Varsity Girls couldn't buy a basket (or a foul) they played the Classics close in the first half trailing 16-10 at the break, but in the second half their shooting woes continued and the Classics hit their shots and pulled away to an easy victory. Anna Murgia and Denise Larson both were able to drive through the Classics defense, but the ball wouldn't fall. Anna led the team with nine points and Denise finished with seven. Rachel Neville scored one basket to round out the scoring. Mollie Bodmer hit the boards hard and led the team with eight rebounds.
Summer League 2010 Game Summaries Week 3
Rising Star Boys Put up Fight Against Dogs, Crush Terps
On Monday, the PBA Rising Star Boys fell behind from the tip, finished the first half with a 17-8 deficit and ended the game with a 31-23 loss to the Dawgs. "We had seven kids that made the game tonight and they fought really hard, in a really hot gym and just wore out under the circumstances," said Coach John Weber. "The key to this game was their press, we just didn’t handle it well. We tried to dribble through it and they swarmed the ball everywhere on the court, and we weren’t able to make the passes we needed to make. Tucker Ross did a really nice job on defense against their big man (probably 5’ 10” with some size) keeping the ball out of his hands and keeping him frustrated. I’ve also got to give Joe Brashear recognition for his effort on defense tonight, he was everywhere. Jake Drissel ended the game with a season high 13 points, followed by Tucker Ross with 4 and Joe Brashear, Michael McDonald and Michael Collins with 2 each."
The Rising Star Boys started their game against the Terps with some good anticipation on defense which turned into points on offense and thus keyed a 38-16 win for Poolesville. "This win was pretty cool since it was the lowest amount of point we allowed this year and the most we’ve scored – good combination," said Coach John Weber. "The other difference in the game was our shooting, in the 1st half we shot just over 40% which I’ll take any night." Michael Collins led the charge, shooting 5 for 8 from the field and ended with 11 points, while Michael McDonald and Cole Carmack contributed six each, Michael Morgan and Joe Brashear with four each, Jake Drissel hit for three and Pete Barry and Tucker Ross scored two each. Poolesville ended the game with 39 rebounds, with Cole Carmack, Tucker Ross, Mike McDonald, Michael Morgan, Cole McKenny and Jack Drissel each having five or more. "To quote my scorekeeper tonight, 'we look a whole lot less spastic tonight' and I have to agree," said Weber. "When we got a rebound on defense, we looked for the outlet and turned them into a transition opportunity instead of a automatic turnover---well done boys! Joe Brashear was a key player for us in transition and did a really nice job tonight calling for the outlet."The PBA JV Girls team continued their undefeated summer season with a 23-10 win over the Classics Ball Skills. Karyn Comfort in her last game of the summer led the Falcons with eight points, had four rebounds, five steals and an assist. Jami D'Amelio continues her great season with six points and five boards. Kristen Darragh filled the stat columns by recording four points, six rebounds, three steals and an assist. Also scoring for the Falcons were Taylor Behrens and Lauren Lightcap with a bucket each. Jessie Martinez and Erin Sparrow dominated the paint with eight and nine rebounds respectively. "I'm happy for a win but this team needs to focus on the small things - handling the ball, crisp passes, etc.... We had way too many turnovers and our energy level was down. I'm confident that with some practices we can step it up." said Coach Hall after the game.
Playing a Flames team that had beaten them by 20 points in the first game of the summer, the PBA Varsity Girlsshowed again how much they have improved this summer by playing close before falling 35-27. Too many turnovers and poor shooting allowed the Flames to jump out to a 24-13 halftime lead. In the second half, the Falcons steadily climbed back into the game, coming within a couple of baskets with a few minutes left, before the Flames pulled away and won 35-27. Everyone contributed during the game with all eight girls scoring and six of the eight scoring four points. Molly Bodmer played her first game of the summer and scored four points off of two offensive rebounds. Rachel Neville and Taylor Thomas each played well as they both hit two baskets in the middle of the Flames zone off of passes from Denise Larson (five assists).
Anna DeSoto, Denise Larson and Anna Murgia also scored four points. Allie Gruber scored a basket off an offensive rebound for the second game in a row. Kristen Darragh added a free throw and hauled down four rebounds.The PBA Varsity Girls rebounded from their worst game of the summer last week to post their best game of the summer last night in a 30-20 victory over St. Mary's. After the game, Coach Carnahan commented on the improvement that the girls have made already this summer. "The team we beat tonight, beat the Flames team that beat us by 20, which shows that we are getting better" she said. The first half started slowly and St. Mary's led 13-12 at the break. In the second half the Falcons outscored St. Mary's 17-8 for a 30-20 victory. Anna Murgia played an overall outstanding game disrupting St. Mary's offense defensively and leading the team with twelve points offensively as she drove through the St. Mary's defense for easy lay-ups. Denise Larson settled down in the second half scoring all eight of her points after halftime and leading the team in rebounds with six. Anna Desoto and Taylor Thomas contributed on the boards getting five and four rebounds respectively. Kristen Darragh added four points and led the team in steals. Allie Gruber had a nice basket off an offensive rebound and Rachel Neville played her best game of the summer adding four points.
The PBA JV Boys held a slim 14-12 lead over Darnestown on Tuesday night at the half with a balanced scoring attack with all 5 starters getting on the board and tough man to man defense. Poolesville came out flat to start the 2nd half and got down by 15, then regrouped the last three minutes of the game and went on a 7-0 run to close out the contest with a 33-25 loss to Darnestown. All seven of the available Falcons got in the score book led by Louis Potts with 8 points and 4 rebounds and Kevin Simmons with 6 points and 5 rebounds. "We ran the back door cuts to perfection tonight we just couldn't hit the shots," said Coach Bill Bannon.
Summer League 2010 Game Summaries Week 2
PBA Varsity Girls Get First Win in OT!
The PBA Varsity Girls earned their first win of the new season under Coach Carnahan, but it took overtime to get it. The Falcons jumped out to a 13-9 halftime lead. The Falcons went ice cold to open the second half and the Classics scored the first nine points to take an 18-13 lead. The defense stepped up and held the Classics scoreless as the Falcons scored the next seven points to take a 20-18 lead. The Classics, though hit a basket in the last minute off an offensive rebound to tie the game and send it into overtime. In overtime, the Falcons scored the first five points and held on for a 25-23 victory. The Falcons were led by Denise Larson (ten points, eight rebounds) and Anna Murgia with eight points. Anna DeSoto played well getting six rebounds, four blocked shots and adding four points, including a breakaway layup in overtime. DeSoto's final bucket cames as a result of a steal from a Classics player who fouled (with no call) a driving Taylor Thomas on the previous play. Kristen Darragh hit the boards well, getting eight rebounds to go along with her three points.
A night after their first victory, the PBA Varsity Girls were undone by poor shooting and turnovers as they lost to the Tigers. "We has some good looks early; one off an inbounds play and one from our offense, but the ball did not go in" said assistant Coach Larson "The girls continue to hustle on defense, but offensively we struggled". Anna Murgia and Denise Larson each scored 5 points, and Kristen Darragh added 3.
The PBA Varsity Boys Wednesday night game against the Pistons saw the Falcons short on a couple things--players and height---but what the Falcons were not short on was scrappy, hardnosed, desired-filled, and hard-working players. In the first half the game was close with the Falcons actually leading 15-14 but in the second half the boys had what's called "Falcon Camp hangover"----a little too much basketball in one day. The Pistons hit a couple key three pointers early in the second half that the Falcons were never able to recover from. The boys worked hard all game. Corey Riggs continued his strong play with good ball handling and seeing the open man and getting the ball to him. Ryan Shorts came up big tonight playing strong defense and pulling down some big rebounds. Joey Cartwright kept the offense alive with strong drives to the basket and was big both on the offense and defensive boards. Cartwright led all scorers with 17 followed by Corey Riggs with 6, Brandon Bush and Matt Hepburn also contributed with 2 points each.
The PBA JV Girls won in decisive fashion over DeChantal by a score of 33-3. "Although we were clearly the better team on the court tonight, I was more interested on how the girls played their game and overall, they did very well." said Coach Hall after the game. Jami D'Amelio played another stellar game. She had eight points, lead the team in rebounds(5), had an assist and no turnovers. Karyn Comfort lead the team in scoring with nine points and pulled down four boards. Also scoring for the Lady Falcons were Morgan Mullett and Taylor Behrends with four points each, while Kristen Darragh, Lauren Lightcap, Jessie Martinez and Allie Nevius each added a bucket.
In their second game of the week, the PBA JV Girls had their pesky press going early and defeated the Damascus Cougars by a final score of 28-8. "Through a solid full court press and good man-to-man defense, we controlled the tempo of the game," said Coach Chris Hall. "We played very well on defense and only allowed 2 points in the 1st half." Allie Nevius lead the team with eight points, followed by Jami D'Amelio with six, Lauren Lightcap with four, Karyn Comfort and Kristen Darragh with three and Morgan Mullett and Jolee Raines with a bucket each. "Our defense is clicking, now we just need these girls shooting hundreds of jumpers in their driveways (and at the PBA Camp). A team shooting percentage of 24% is not quite good enough to expect wins every time." added Coach Hall. In the paint, Jessie Martinez responded to a request to dominate the middle and ripped eight solid boards for the Lady Falcons. The guards did not want to be left out. With their speed and slicing moves to the basket, they collectively grabbed 12 boards. Taylor Behrens pulled five rebounds while Lauren Lightcap and Jami D'Amelio each grabbed three.
The PBA Rising Star Boys started the game against the Spartans in the hole and ended the half down 20-9. The full court press wasn't really working well in the 1st half and the boys really seemed tired from Falcon Camp. The Falcons worked hard the 2nd half and eventually went ahead 24-22 on two free throws from Brady Pearre with about 1 minute left. Poolesville just couldn't finish and ended the game with a loss, 28 to 25. "You've gotta give the boys credit, they didn't quit but we shot less than 23% from the field and missed 10 (5 of 15) free throws tonight and that was the difference in the game," said Coach John Weber. Ryan Haddaway lead all scorers with 5, followed by Cole Carmack, Tim McIntyre and Brady Pearre with 4 each, while Joe Brashear, Tucker Ross, Michael Collins and Jake Drissel each contributed 2. "Only 4 assists tonight so that's something we need to work on," said Weber.
in their second game of the week, the PBA RS Boys opened up the game with a 19-7 halftime lead over Damscus after shooting 9 for 27 from the field and 1 for 2 from the free throw line. With only 7 players present, the Falcons lost a little ground in the 2nd half and ended the game with a 35-31 win. "They worked really hard tonight but playing with only seven players on camp week was really hard on these guys," said Coach Weber. "We were down by two late in the 2nd half and had to rally for the four point victory. Of course, it's always nice to beat Damascus." Tim McIntyre lead all scorers with 12, followed by Michael McDonald with seven, Michael Collins and Jake Drissel with six each, and Pete Barry and Tucker Ross with a bucket a piece. "It was nice to get the assist total back to six this game with Pete Barry contribution 3 of them," said Weber. "We tallied almost 50 rebounds tonight with Michael McDonald, Michael Collins and Cole McKenny combining for 26 total!"
Summer League 2010 Game Summaries Week 1
PBA JV Boys Drive Past Kings to 1st Win
RS Girls 2nd Half Charge Melts Fireballs
RS Boys Fast Start Makes Jelly out of JammersUPI (Churchill HS, 6/17/10)
There is basketball season and there is baseball season. When playing basketball in baseball season it is sometimes hard to make the switch. The sound that the switch makes is somewhere between starting your car when it is already started and shifting gears without using a clutch. The PBA JV Boys team made a lot of the aforementioned noise on their way to a 41-28 victory over the Kings. The first half started in a very herky jerky way as the middling Falcons tried to remember what to do with the basketball when it was passed, shot, or dribbled. The games first two points were scored within a minute. The games second two points took four minutes longer. However, the Falcons had a half time lead of 16-13 and never looked back.
“Our team started very slow, but they played defense very well”, stated Assistant Coach Marty Micheals, “I think that by about the 11th game of the summer, we will have everything hitting on all cylinders”. Strewn car parts aside, the Falcon pit crew was led by Joe Soltis with 10 points. Changing tires and wiping windshields were newcomer Kevin Simmons (6), helped out by Ryan Bannon (5), Dylan Landis (5), Tim McIntyre (5), Jake Armstrong (2), Andrew Bacas (2), and Jackson Purdy (1). Next game is Monday the 21st, in between double headers. Anyone that brings a glove to the game gets free admission.
The PBA JV Girls opened their summer season with a 29-18 win by shooting down the Maryland Stars. "I was very pleased seeing seven of the ten girls score tonight. That's a good balanced attack." said Coach Hall in the parking lot after the game. Jessie Martinez lead the team with eight points and five rebounds. Lauren Lightcap provided an emotional spark by draining a three with seconds to go before the half. Lauren ended the game with five points, a couple steals and a rebound. Jamie D'Amelio played another solid game with six points and a couple steals. Also playing well for the Falcons were Karyn Comfort (4 points and 3 boards), Jolee Raines (3 points and a steal), Morgan Mullett (2 points, and a steal and rebound) and Breanne Hall (1 point, 2 steals, 2 boards and an assist). Erin Sparrow walked away tonight with three boards and a steal.
In their second game of the season, the PBA Varsity Girls had another learning opportunity against a more experienced team last night. Pressure defense by the Classics again led to too many turnovers by the Falcons as they lost 41-19. "We continue to rush too much against pressure defense which leads to turnovers" said Coach Larson. "However, the coaches were all very happy with the energy and
hustle that everyone put forth during the game". Denise Larson led the team in scoring with eight. Allie Gruber (two points) played well and was more aggressive on both offense and defense. Anna Murgia played hurt and scored three points. Taylor Thomas and Rachel Neville also scored a basket and Ashley Adkins and Anna DeSoto each hit a free throw. With only a few practices under their belt, the PBA Varsity Girls played their first game under Coach Carnahan against an experienced Maryland Flames team. The Flames quickly jumped out to a 19-0 lead with a pressing defense before Denise Larson hit a baseline jumper for the Falcons' first score. The rest of the game was played fairly close with a final score of 36-19. Coach Carnahan commented after the game that she saw some good things and some not so good things. She encouraged everyone to practice in their driveways, work hard and dedicate themselves to basketball. If they do that, each game will help the team improve. Kristen Darragh hit a couple of 3 pointers to lead the Falcons in scoring with 6 points and added 5 rebounds. Denise Larson had 4 points and 5 rebounds, Anna Desoto had 4 points and 7 rebounds and Anna Murgia had 2 points and 5 rebounds. Taylor Thomas added a basket and Nancy Jamison added a free throw to round out the scoring.The PBA Rising Star Girls kicked off their inaugural PBA game with an ominous beginning. In her game, rising 5th grader Erin Green suffered a cleanly broken arm on one of her first trips down the court---not good. The news didn't get better as it became clear the 6th Grade Rising Star Girls "rock star" recreation league reputation didn't mean anything to the Fireballs, who battled the Falcons evenly throughout the first half. When the Fireballs opened up a six-point lead to start the second half on a roll, things looked even worse.
At that point the Rising Star Girls picked it up a notch and decided they would press hard to get back into the game. That they did, and the pressure paid off. With ten minutes left Delaney Cecco (eight points total) hit a short jumper to bring Poolesville to within four. After a Siann Riggs steal off the press, Hailey Khalil (six points) drove to the bucket to close the gap to two. Bella Garner grabbed a nice rebound on the following possession, and after three strong passes it was back to Cecco for the score and the tie game. The Falcons weren't done yet as Khalil scored again and Riggs nailed a short jumper to push the junior Falcons to a four-point lead. The Fireballs fought back to tie, but Kristen Hepburn hit a huge shot to give Poolesville the lead and Julia Fisher hit the insurance bucket to give the Falcons a 20-17 win.
"We turned up the defense in the second half after their run and it made the difference," Coach Margaret Heimbach. "We showed a lot of energy on the press and that created some opportunities for us." Sammi Mullikin blocked five shots for Poolesville, Kaley Fisher had two blocks and a steal, Kate Heimbach ripped down five rebounds and Beckah Trainor finished with two rebounds and two steals.
The PBA Rising Star Boys are doing their best imitation of Coach John Weber's other teams by emphasizing hard-nosed defense and strong passing. Coach Weber could not have been too disappointed as the young Falcons raced out to 14-0 and 20-4 leads as they dismantled the Jammers by a final score of 32-23. Eight players out of ten ended up scoring for Poolesville with six out of 15 buckets coming off of assists. "We did a really nice job moving the ball against the Jammers man-to-man and finished well in the half with all but 2 of our buckets coming from inside the paint," said Weber. "We really didn't get into our other offense but we'll get into that later. I also expect us to shoot better. We only shot 27%---these guys are not afraid to shoot!"
Cole Carmack, Colin Fisher, Michael McDonald and Ryan Haddaway each scored six points for the Falcons, while Tim McIntyre and Michael Morgan each hit for a bucket and Brady Pearre and Michael Collins chipped in one point each. Joe Brashear and Pete Barry didn't make it into the scoring column, but each had an assist which to Coach Weber is just like putting points in the book. "This was a great team win," said Weber. "These guys are fun to watch!"
In their second game of the week, the RS Boys opened up a 16-4 half time lead with the last wo points coming from Jake Drissels buzzer-beater to end the 1st half. The Falcons ended the game with a 35-17 win over the Terrapins. Cole Carmack and Ryan Haddaway lead all scorers with 8 each, followed by Colin Fischer with 5, Pete Barry and Jake Drissel with 4 each, and Joe Brashear, Michael McDonald and Michael Collins each with 2. Tim McIntrye lead the team in steals with 5, while Cole McKenney and Carmack combined for 9 of our 21 rebounds. And once again for the 2nd straight game, 12 of the Falcon points came off assists with contributions from Brady Pearre, Michael Morgan, Tim McIntyre, Pete Barry and Ryan Haddaway. "We played man to man the entire and overall the boys did a really nice shutting the Terrapins down the entire game," said Weber. "I like how we started the game, Tucker Ross won the tip and we had the opportunity for 'tip to layup' play but the ball came off the backboard just a little too strong. Regardless of the outcome of the play, it was nice to see the boys execute like that and I'm sure we'll get it next time."
2009-10 PBA Winter League Game Summaries
PBA End-of-Season Awards Banquet Time!
From left: Mitchell Poe, along with his biggest fan Matt Poe as well as Kelsey and Cathy Carnahan and PBA Prez Bill Bannon, shows off the 2010 Dale Carnahan Ultimate Falcon Warrior Trophy which honors the Confidence, Courage, and Commitment of the annual 8th grade recipient. This motley crew were this year's PBA Falcon Award and Most Improved Player Award winners. President's Award Winners Andy Baker and Whitney Carmack hang with PBA President Bill Bannon. Award winners are listed under "PBA Player Info".
Game Summaries 3/13-14
Can You Say Championship? Yes!
PBA Varsity Boys Beat Crestwood in O.T. for MML "A" Tourney Title,
2nd Championship in Four Years for Coach Weber, 8th Graders
PBA Varsity Boys Trevor Stottlemyer and Hunter Pearre bring it against Mt. Airy in Mid-Maryland League "A" Tournament Semi-Final action at Brunswick HS. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
In a game that featured an astounding sixteen lead changes, the PBA Varsity Boys rallied from six points down with less than two minutes left in overtime to beat Crestwood, 65-63, and capture the 2009-2010 Mid-Maryland League "A" Tournament championship held at host Brunswick High School. Poolesville's Andy Baker scored 29 points, grabbed nine rebounds, passed for five assists and in doing so picked up the tournament MVP award. Baker was matched in effort, skill, and intensity by Crestwood's Chad Owens. Owens, who was described by Crestwood Coach Robert Ingram as his "point shooting power rebounding big man" finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Poolesville started the game on a roll and quickly jumped out to an eight-point lead, but Crestwood answered back quickly and by the end of the first quarter it was obvious the game was going to be a barn-burner. The Falcons managed to push out to a three-point halftime lead but that margin evaporated quickly in the second half and the game was close the rest of the way. With three minutes left in regulation, the Cavaliers led 52-50. The two evenly-matched teams traded turnovers caused by strong defense. After a Poolesville time-out, the Falcon's Craig Morton (five points) hit a clutch three-pointer to give Poolesville the lead. After a Crestwood miss, Baker hit a putback to give Poolesville a 55-52 advantage. Owens then drove for a lay-up to get the Cavs within one and on the next possession he passed to Anthony Naylor (10 points) for an easy bucket. With Crestwood leading by one, Baker missed a long three-pointer but grabbed his own rebound and was fouled. He hit one free throw to tie the game and regulation ended with both teams getting one contested shot off each.
Crestwood quickly scored to open overtime, then after a Poolesville turnover, the Cav's Minase Shiferaw (eight points, six rebounds) hit a short hook to push the Cavalier's lead to four. Poolesville missed a shot and Shiferaw made them pay again, this time with a transition lay-up that boosted Crestwood's lead to 62-56 with 1:40 left in overtime. Poolesville's Robbie Metz (five points) nailed a three to cut the lead in half, then the Falcon's Trevor Stottlemyer (11 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots) made the first of three outstanding plays to put Poolesville in front. Stottlemyer slid underneath an Owens drive to draw the offensive foul. Baker then took it to the hole to cut the Cav lead to one with forty-five seconds left. After a missed Crestwood shot, Stottlemyer received a pass on the baseline, took one step in and drained a ten-footer to give the Falcons their first lead in overtime and was fouled in the process. He hit the free throw to give Poolesville a 64-62 lead with 13 seconds left. Stottlemyer then drew another offensive foul, Baker was fouled on the Poolesville possession and he hit one free throw to give Poolesville a three-point lead with six seconds left. Owens had one more chance to pull the Cavaliers even. He was intentionally fouled with 2.1 seconds left. Owens hit the first, missed the second on purpose but a lane violation was called. Poolesville held the ball for the final second and claimed the win---their second Mid-Maryland "A" tournament championship in the past four years.
Crestwood's Coach Robert Ingram said after the game that "even though someone had to lose and I'm sorry it was us, I couldn't ask for a better effort." Ingram said "Our guys played a great game and Poolesville was just a little bit better tonight. We played a strong game with our hearts and minds. I'm very proud of our guys." Poolesville's Coach Weber said "That was the best championship game I've ever been a part of. When we were down by six I started to think about what a great season we've had. But our guys refused to lose. We got'er done. Great game against a great team." Poolesville's Mitchell Poe played a gutty game and finished with eight points. The interchangeable Falcon guard trio of Metz, Morton, and Hunter Pearre all scored five points each. Stottlemyer, Metz, and Baker scored three points each in the extra period. Diesen Gorham also scored for Poolesville. The two teams split during the regular season.
Mid-Maryland League Tournament Schedule----http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmbball/mmtour2010.html
RS Boys Make Last Seconds Count, Advance in Rising Star Playoffs
CCU - Shady Grove Hospital, Rockville, MD
Did we quit when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
March Madness showed up five days early on the Magruder hardcourt for the PBA Rising Star Boys in their first playoff game. The game started off with the young Falcons battling for control with the Bethesda Bison and coasting into a 13-11 deficit at the half. "Our energy was pretty low at the beginning of the game. I don't know if we had playoff pressure, or if the anticipation of playing in President Bannon's alma mater rattled us a little", said coach Micheals as he watched the nursing staff conduct his EKG. "We were slow on the ball, our man to man defense was pretty horrible, and I think we let in a few too many lay-ups."
The Falcon cagers parlayed their suspect first half performance into a 10-point deficit that carried through most of the second half. With a long range Bison shot, Poolesville found themselves down by 12 with seven minutes remaining. Baskets were traded until the three minute mark. At that point the score was 28-20 and gargling sounds could be heard as the fat lady warmed up in the next room. "We talked in the huddle throughout the game about being aggressive to the basket and getting either a lay-up or fouled", said assistant coach Marty Micheals learning that all signs of a heart attack to his father were negative. "Two things happened somewhat coincidentally that helped us", continued Micheals. "The first was that we got into the bonus, which allowed us to put points on the board without the clock running, and the second was that their big man fouled out".
The game continued as Poolesville used their early arrival into the bonus to put points on the board with a stopped clock. Joe Soltis and Justin Souder came up huge as they continued to drive on a soft Bison two three zone and got to the foul line. The Falcons never quit and started chipping away at the lead.
The Madness came down to this: The Falcons were down by five, four seconds left and a bit of a prayer to win. Justin Souder was fouled on a shot attempt. Justin, who had a decent night at the foul line, hit the two biggest shots of his short PBA career. "In the ensuing timeout, I told the guys that anything could happen in four seconds. If we got the ball deep, I would call a timeout to set something up, but if we got it short, try to hit the three to tie the game up and send it into OT", said Coach Micheals. Jake Armstrong heard the bell and answered. Big time. As scripted, the Bison tried to go deep, Armstrong used his football safety skills and performed the basketball version of a pick-six. Two dribbles and a launch. Queue the slow motion cam. Nothing. But. Net. The next sound was the deafening Poolesville crowd as Jake was almost carried off of the court. "We had to get the guys refocused for the overtime amid all the pandemonium. But what a great moment for Jake and the whole team. I asked for a steal and a three, as easy as Jake did it, I wished I would have asked for some money and a new car," said Micheals.
The overtime pretty much took care of itself with Joe Soltis going to the line twice and Ryan D'Amelio hitting an acrobatic shot in the lane to put the game out of the Bison's reach.
Micheals finished with "I thought the whole team contributed for this win. Reid Patton, playing in front of his grandparents gave us an outstanding, determined game. Dylan Landis gave us a real force underneath. I need to get him a bottle of Windex for the way that he was cleaning the boards. Ryan Bannon had a key drive and made the ensuing foul shots. Louis Potts provided his signature defense, and Andrew Bacas put one in from the side to loosen up the zone. Jackson Purdy had a few key rebounds. This game wasn't a traditional back and forth affair that great games are made of, but if you turned the TV off when we were losing by eight with three minutes to go, you missed it. And now you regret it because America's Funniest Videos just wasn't as good. The greatest thing about the guys, all twelve of them, is that they NEVER quit. I didn't hear anything on the bench other than what we wanted to do offensively and defensively."
The PBA RS Boys and Girls teams fell in playoff action during the weekend of March 20-21. Great first PBA seasons for both!
MASH Unit JV Boys Fall in MML "A" Tourney Quarter-Finals, RS Girls Get Ready for Playoffs
The PBA JV Boys lost to Linganore in quarter-finals of the Mid-Maryland League "A" Tournament. The Falcons were led by Steven Morningstar with 12 points, Zach Long with nine points and Ryan Shorts with five points.
The PBA Rising Star Girls closed out their debut season with a 4-6 record after a loss on Sunday to an undefeated HCYP AAU team. Coach Hall said after the game, "Our overall record was not our goal this year - building confidence in each girl through playing time was the focus. On the surface, a 4-6 record is not all the great, but when you look at the games, all of our losses except this last one were very close games, somewhere between 2 or 7 points. However, when we won, we won big (12 to 20 points). Our work over the summer and heading into next season will be to put it all together. Losing a game, 38-2, is a heart breaker, but that HCYP team is very talented and our girls did their best against a year-round travel team. That game is now behind us and we are focused on the tournament." continued Coach Hall. Scoring the only points for the Falcons was Karyn Comfort off an assist from Breanne Hall.
Game Summaries 3/6-7
Shorts Free Throw Shoots Down Cougars!
JV, Varsity Boys Sweep Catoctin to Close Out Regular Season, RS Girls Fall in O.T.
PBA Rising Star Girl Breanne Hall (using a lucky PBA basketball) lines up for a "can't miss" free throw while a member of the Storm finds herself surrounded by Falcons, including Allie Nevius and Erin Sparrow. Photos submitted by Mauricio Sanmartin.
Catoctin's JV Boys rung up the PBA JV Boys by 15 points in their last meeting earlier in the month, but this time the Falcons not only held their ground, but they beat Catocton's press and took down the Cougars by a final score of 41-40. Poolesville's Ryan Shorts hit the front end of a 1-and-1 with just three seconds left to give Poolesville the win. Shorts, with nine points total, scored five crucial points in the final period to help bring Poolesville the win. Falcon teammates Reid Patton (13 points) and Zach Long (eight points) helped keep the game close. Steven Morningstar returned from his broken ankle to score five points and grab six rebounds in a limited stint. Logan Rocco played "lock-down" defense on Catoctin's leading scorer who torched the Falcons for 20 points in their last contest but finished, thanks to Rocco's efforts, with a "goose egg" in this rematch.
The PBA Varsity Boys took on a gritty Catoctin team Sunday at Poolesville. Poolesville looked slow on offense in the first quarter, but led 18-11. The Cougars and the Falcons played to a draw in the second period with the teams holding each other to just four points each. With a number of substitutions and some key plays by Diesen Gorham (six points and two free throws) down the stretch, Poolesville picked up the 57-51 win. The Falcon's leading scorer, Andy Baker, paced Poolesville with 23 points and 12 rebounds, followed by a strong effort by Trevor Stottlemyer with 10 points and seven boards and guard Robbie Metz with eight points. Charlie Miller with finished with four points and Mitchell Poe and Craig Morton closed out the regular season with three points each. The Varsity Boys finished 13-5 and just missed the #1 seed for the Mid-Maryland League "A" Tournament.
The PBA RS Girls lost to the Storm in overtime 19-17. "Even after a week of practice doing nothing but shooting, we came out tonight and shot only 18%," said Coach Chris Hall after the game. "Not being able to convert and turning the ball over makes it difficult to win. I was pleased, however, to see everyone attempting to shoot but now we need them to go in." continued Coach Hall. Scoring for the young falcons were: Mollie Bodmer and Kristen Darragh with four, Lauren Lightcap and Morgan Mullett each with a basket, and Breanne Hall adding a point from the foul line. The Falcons walked away with a season-high 37 boards with Mollie leading the way with 10, Erin Sparrow (seven), Darragh (six), Karyn Comfort (four), and Hall (three). Jami D'Amelio, Allie Nevius and Lauren (two each) and Jolee Raines with one.
The PBA Rising Star Boys took care of business over the weekend by beating both Olney and the Bulldogs for the second time each this season. The young Falcons beat Olney 44-30 and seemed to have all facets of their game clicking. "We beat the team in second place," said Coach Marshall Micheals. "Our press worked very well and we ran our offense extremely well. The kids finally bought into the patient system that we've been preaching. No bad shots were put up all game and we usually had 5-10 a game. Excellent offense and defense." Coach Micheals was also pleased with the efforts of Dylan Landis. He said "Dylan had a coming out party tonight---he played very well." In their second game of the weekend, Poolesville beat the Bulldogs by a final score of 46-40. The RS Boys built a 16-point lead at one point and then settled in for the win. Justin Souder cut off a late Bulldog comeback by making a well-timed drive, getting fouled and then hitting the free throw to put the game out of reach. The double win weekend sealed up a second place finish in the Liberty division.
Game Summaries 2/25-26
Late PBA JV Girls Rally Not Enough, Playoffs Over!
Middletown, Boonsboro Close out JV, Varsity Girls' Seasons
Varsity Boys Press to Win at Brunswick, MASH Unit JV Boys Fight 'till EndThe PBA JV Girls lost on Friday night to Boonsboro, 22-16, in the quarterfinals of the Division I Mid-Maryland tournament, ending their season. Both teams had trouble scoring in the first half. Boonsboro led at the end of the first quarter, 4-1, with Poolesville's point coming on a free throw by Mollie Bodmer. Each team added two points in the second quarter, Poolesville's coming on a field goal by Anna Murgia off of an assist by Anna DeSoto. "Both teams were playing good defense," said Coach Steve Morgan, "but both teams were also having trouble putting the ball in the basket. Boonsboro plays a deliberate style of offense. Normally I don't want our defense to allow the other team to be so patient on offense, but they weren't scoring, so we stuck with a less aggressive defense. A drawback to that type of game is that there are fewer possessions in the game, which means that each girl has fewer opportunities to score, grab rebounds, make assists, get steals, etc." The third quarter was played in the same style as the first half, but Boonsboro made a few baskets right away to make the score 10-3. Poolesville gradually chipped away at the lead, eventually tying the game at 13 at the end of the third quarter. Breanne Hall made a jumper from the foul line early in the 4th quarter to make the score 15-13, giving Poolesville its first lead since 1-0. With just less than 6 minutes left in the game, Murgia added a free throw to give Poolesville its largest lead at 16-13. Unfortunately for Poolesville, it was the last point Poolesville would score. Meanwhile, Boonsboro made four 15-footers and a free throw to get the win. It was a one point game with two minutes left, and a three point game with less than a minute to go, but Poolesville stayed cold. "The lid went back on the basket. We had a lot of great scoring opportunities, particularly in the 4th quarter, but we missed a lot of shots from less than 5 feet away," said Morgan. "I thought we did a very good job of handling their full-court pressure. Allyson Convers was key to that. She could have had double-digit assists if we could have converted the scoring opportunities she presented. Defensively, I was very satisfied with our effort and execution. Jessie Martinez, Ashley Adkins, Taylor Thomas, Allie Gruber and Nancy Morgan all worked hard. Breanne Hall and Anna DeSoto both did a great job defensively." Murgia led the team with 5 points and 10 rebounds, and also had two steals and an assist. Bodmer had 3 points, 4 rebounds and a steal. Convers had 3 points, a rebound and a steal. DeSoto had 2 points and 6 rebounds, and led the team in steals, with 5, and blocks, with 3. Hall had 2 points, a rebound and a steal. Kristen Darragh added a free throw, a rebound, two steals, and, according to Morgan, "a great block from behind of a fast-break lay-up". Karyn Comfort added two rebounds. Gruber added a rebound.
"I thought we showed a lot of improvement over the course of the season," said Morgan. "We had to adjust to not having Denise Larson on the team, who was playing with the varsity. We needed people to step up, and they did. Early in the season we were unable to handle a full-court press, but by the end of the season, we were usually beating the pressure and turning it into scoring opportunities. In most games, we converted those opportunities. Overall, our ball-handling got much better. We did a better job of seeing the whole court and our decision making improved as well. The hard work that the girls put into practices paid off. They're a great bunch of girls. Coach Bodmer, Coach Larson and I love working with them. We hope that they continue to work on their game during the spring, and that they play some pick-up games, at PBA Open Gym Nights and on their own. We're already looking forward to the summer season."
The PBA Varsity Girls gave it all they had but they fell short to Middletown in first round Mid-Maryland League playoff action. Both teams were slow to start filling up the bucket and the first half ended with the Lady Knights leading by a score of just 10-5. Poolesville's shooting didn't respond after the halftime bell and their season came to a screeching halt a short time later. " That was a tough loss to end the season," said Coach Laura Carmack. "Middletown and Poolesville have been fun rivalries. We won on their court this year by two and they won on our court by seven. Last year we beat them in the first round of the playoffs by one point. Coach Chittenden asked the Middletown coaches before the game if we wanted to flip a coin to see who would win and they laughed. We played good defense but couldn't keep it up in the 2nd half and our shots were not falling - we had 3 shots they must have gone in and come right out. It just wasn't our night. Hats off to Middletown who played the better game." Coach Carmack added, "It was a tough way to end the season and sad for all the girls. We have been working with them for three years and we are sorry to see it end. We look forward to the end of the season banquet where we can speak about each of the girls at that time.
The bench just keeps getting shorter but the PBA JV Boys are standing taller. On Sunday, with Joey Cartwright and Steven Morningstar out with ankle injuries, and with Bobby Pike out with the stomach flu, the MASH unit known as JV Boys rolled into Brunswick with only six healthy players ready to take on the Brunswick 12. Brunswick got out to an early lead after the first quarter 10 to 5 and it looked like they were just going to run away with the game with their deeper bench, but as usual the "never say die" JV boys fought back to lead at half time 18-17. In the third quarter lighting struck again and not the good type. As unbelievable as it may sound, Reid Patton goes down with the teams third ankle injury of the season and was not able to continue, leaving the JV Boys with only five players and four of them with three fouls. Seeing the depleted Poolesville bench, Brunswick went into full attack mode pressing full court and continually subbing in fresh bodies wearing down the JV Boys. In the 4th quarter the JV Boys were down to four on the court due to one player fouling out. Four on Five was just too much even for this scrappy bunch. Poolesville eventually lost 51-39. After the game Coach Cartwright said "This was a real team effort today with every player picked up their game. We fought all the way to the end. It’s just a shame that injuries are stealing wins but they are not stealing the fight out of this team. What a great bunch of players. They just do not know how to give up."
The high-powered PBA Varsity Boy offense started off their game against Brunswick on the slow track and foud themselves trailing at the end of the first quarter by a baseball score---6-3. Coach John Weber was impressed by his teams' patience but it even started to wear thin on the veteran coach. "We held the ball soo long against their 2-3 zone that it almost drove me nuts," said Weber. The Varsity Boys turned it around in the 2nd and then effectively shut down the Railroaders in the final period behind a full-court press to take home a 35-29 win. "We played pretty good defense but lacked ball movement against their zone most of the game," said Weber. "I thought Dieson (Gorham) had a good game today, putting a little spark in the offense with two big assists in the 2nd quarter and a couple of important rebounds. Andy (Baker) led the team in assists with five and the majority of them were transition baskets to Hunter Pearre for the lay-up. Kyle Brown pulled down a couple of important rebounds and had a nice block (even though the refs didn't agree). Andy and Trevor (Stottlemyer) pulled down 15 rebounds combined as the team tallied 24 for the game. I really liked how Chris Thompson and Connor Hall did a nice job on defense at the point, Charlie Miller kept the middle clean, Craig Morton had a couple of nice steals and Mitchell Poe took the ball to the hoop." Baker finished with 15 points, Pearre had eleven, Poe hit for six and Robbie Metz scored three points.
Up and Under, Over and Out
CHDT – Blake High School – 2/28/10
A very quick Up-and-Under basketball team made life difficult for the PBA Rising Star Boyson Sunday. With both teams assured of making the playoffs, this game was about Poolesville delivering a payback for the blow-out loss the first time these teams locked horns. After nearly five minutes of scoreless play, due to tough defense and a general lack of offense on both sides, the UaU team jumped out to a 9-7 lead. The Falcons answered the bell in the second half and briefly took the lead but fell by a final score of 28-22. Joe Soltis led all Falcon scorers with 7, followed by Justin Souder and Ryan D'Amelio with four points each and Dylan Landis, Alex Dahlen, and Andrew Bacas with two points each.
The PBA Rising Star Girls were stung by the Hornets on Sunday and lost 23-18. "Converting shots into points is our Achilles heel this year," said Coach Chris Hall. "We had the open looks and took appropriate shots but only shot 10.6%. We would take a good shot and it would not fall, then the Hornets would come down the court and take a shot with a hand in their face and it would fall for them. It was just one of those nights." The Falcons did came away with 21 steals and 27 boards on the night but that effort could not be converted into points. Mollie Bodmer lead the Falcons with a double-double; 11 points and 10 rebounds. Also scoring were; Karyn Comfort, Kristen Darragh and Jesse Martinez each with a bucket and Breanne Hall adding one from the charity line.
Game Summaries 2/22
Boonsboro Part 2, Close But No Cigar(s)!
JV, Varsity Girls Fall in Regular Season FinalsThe PBA Varsity Girls pushed Boonsboro hard all night and just missed picking up a nice revenge win against the Lady Warriors. For all of their efforts, a five-point Poolesville loss (39-34) was a disappointment but the effort and hard work had a nice ring to it. "Our girls really brought it tonight," said Coach Laura Carmack. "We had them frustrated and on the run. We even made them drop their box-in-one. The third quarter cost us or else we would have had a big away-game win." Denise Larson led Poolesville with 11 points. Rosie Barry finished with nine, Whitney Carmack hit for eight, Sarah Kenneweg scored four points and MacKenzie Fields also scored. Rebekah Dill hauled down four rebounds and Julia Potts came off the bench strong. The Varsity Girls next game is a playoff opener on Thursday night against Middletown. Poolesville split their regular season contests---winning by two on the road and losing by seven at home.
The PBA JV Girls lost at Boonsboro, 27-20, on Monday night. "It just wasn't our night," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We started slow, we had health issues, we got into very early foul trouble, and we were outplayed for much of the game. We still had a chance to sneak out of Boonsboro with the win, but we couldn't quite complete the comeback." Less than 90 seconds into the game, one Poolesville starter was on the bench with 2 fouls. Three minutes into the game, two starters were on the bench with 2 fouls. "We can't afford to get into foul trouble like that," said Morgan. Poolesville was down 10-2 at the end of the first quarter. The rest of the game was played evenly. Poolesville was down 15-9 at halftime and 23-14 at the end of three quarters. Poolesville cut the lead to 25-20 with three minutes remaining, but couldn't get any more shots to fall. "The main positive that I saw in that game was that we made quite a few free throws." Anna Murgia led the team with 8 points, including 6-8 from the foul line. Anna DeSoto scored 4 points. Karyn Comfort (2 for 2), Ashley Adkins and Breanne Hall each made two free throws, and Kristen Darragh added a field goal. The JV Girls get Boonsboro again on Friday night in the first round of the D1 Mid-Maryland League Playoffs.
Game Summaries 2/20-21
Barry Steals, Drives Varsity Girls to Win Over West Frederick!
Rosie Barry of the PBA Varsity Girls scored the last five points of the Falcons 35-32 win over West Frederick on Sunday. Poolesville trailed at the half by three but brought on the pressure to open the second half and quickly skirted to a five point lead. The rest of the game was hard fought with Barry making the difference down the stretch, including a steal and a lay-up to seal the win. Whitney Carmack led Poolesville with 13 points, Barry finished with 12, Denise Larson hit for four points, and Sarah Kenneweg, Julia Potts and Rebekah Dill all also scored on the win. The PBA Varsity Girls ran into a buzz-saw in the first half of their match-up against Boonsboro on Saturday at PHS and Coach Laura Carmack challenged her players to turn it around---despite being down by 18 at the half. The Varsity Girls played the Lady Warriors evenly the rest of the way with Boonsboro winning 40-22. "We did everything better," said Carmack. "We moved the ball, pressured better on defense and took better shots." Carmack hit for 10 points in the loss. Larson chipped in four points.
The PBA JV Girls won their last home game of the season on Sunday with a 32-30 nail biter over West Frederick. Poolesville was down 6-5 at the end of the first quarter and then West Frederick went on an 8-0 to start the second quarter. West Frederick led 20-12 at halftime. The third quarter belonged to Poolesville, which ended with Poolesville leading 25-22. Poolesville maintained a small lead throughout the fourth quarter until West Frederick tied it at 30 with less than two minutes left. Karyn Comfort then made a lay-up with an assist from Anna Murgia with less than a minute remaining, and Poolesville held on for the victory. "It was a great comeback," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We shouldn't have dug ourselves such a hole to climb out of, but we started playing with more intensity, we rebounded better, and we handled defensive pressure much better. Karyn Comfort had a fantastic second half, in which she scored all 10 of her points." Comfort also grabbed 5 rebounds. Mollie Bodmer scored 7 points and was the team leader in rebounds, with 8, and blocks, with 4. Anna Murgia scored 7 points and led the team with 5 steals. Allyson Convers scored 4 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and collected 4 steals. Anna DeSoto scored 2 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Ashley Adkins scored 2 points. The PBA JV Girls lost a heartbreaker to Boonsboro, 25-23, at home on Saturday. Poolesville took advantage of Boonsboro's slow start and led 8-2 at the end of the first quarter and 14-6 at halftime. Poolesville led 21-14 at the end of the third quarter, but then struggled offensively in the fourth quarter. Boonsboro scored the last 9 points of the game. "We picked a bad time for our shooting to go cold," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We also didn't do a good job handling defensive pressure late in the game. On the bright side, Breanne (Hall) and Anna DeSoto each played really well." Anna Murgia led Poolesville with 11 points and also led the team with 5 steals. DeSoto scored 4 points and led the team with 8 rebounds. Hall scored 4 points on 4-6 shooting from the foul line. Allie Gruber and Jessie Martinez each scored 2 points.
In their second match-up of the season against St Jude, Poolesville's Rising Star Girls came to play and walked away with a 20-8 win. The young Falcons maintained a one-two punch; they pressured the ball all night and dominated the boards. Mollie Bodmer (nine rebounds), Jessie Martinez (seven) and Breanne Hall (five) controlled the boards and helped push the Falcons to a season-high 35 rebounds. "The girls played a great defense all night," said Coach Chris Hall. "They maintained full court pressure the entire game and played a good man-to-man. In the second half we asked the girls to focus on boxing-out and I think the stats showed the effort," said Coach Hall after the game. Scoring for the Rising Star Girls went like this: Bodmer with eight points, Jami D'Amelio (six), Karyn Comfort (four) and Hall (two).
An evenly-played second half was not enough for Poolesville to overcome a tough first half as the JV Boy Falcons fell at home to Ballenger Creek by a final score of 49-32. Poolesville was paced by Zach Long. He hit for 14 points. Joey Cartwright scored seven points for the Falcons and Logan Rocco chipped in five points. Bobby Pike also scored a bucket, as did Reid Patton.
Ballenger Creek's Varsity Boys dominated the PBA Varsity Boys early and ended the first period holding a 11-4 advantage. The Falcons took over from there, outscoring the Bulldogs 14-2 in the second period behind nine points from Andy Baker (14 points total) and strong rebounding from Trevor Stottlemyer. Ballenger Creek responded in the second half by out rebounding Poolesville and then buried the Falcons behind strong inside scoring and timely outside shooting. With seconds left to play, a long Poolesville three-pointer clanked off the rim and Ballenger Creek's Varsity Boys took home a 36-33 win. Varsity Boy Robbie Metz hit for nine points, Stottlemyer hit for four points (to go along with 11 rebounds), Mitchell Poe scored three points, and Hunter Pearre and Craig Morton also scored.
Game Summaries 2/18
JV, Varsity Boys Sweep Mt. Airy
Long, Cartwright Lead Falcons to JV WinIn a very close game for the final three-quarters, the PBA JV Boys beat Mt. Airy's JV Boys by a final score of 40-25. The Falcons gained an early advantage behind the hot shooting of Zach Long (19 points) and Joey Cartwright (11 points). Mt. Airy picked up scoring from Silas Kelly (five points) and Tanner Elmore (four points).
The PBA Varsity Boys took it strong to the basket and hit their free throws (80% from the line) on their way to a 55-39 win over Mt. Airy's Varsity Boys. The Falcon's Andy Baker hit for his customary 18 points with Craig Morton chipping in 11 and Trevor Stottlemyer scoring seven. Mt. Airy got a nice double-figure effort from Carson Scharf with 12 points. Teammates Ben Nardo and Rencio Lacerna also hit for six points each in the loss.
Game Summaries 2/15
PBA Varsity Boys Hold Off Knights
PBA Varsity Boy Trevor Stottlemyer goes up strong to score over Walkersville on Sunday. PBA JV Boy Ryan Shorts fights for a rebound against the Lions. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
MacKenzie Fields muscles her way to the hoop against Middletown on Monday while PBA JV Girl Allie Gruber looks for a clean shot. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom atjcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA Varsity Boys broke open a close game to beat Middletown's Varsity Boys by a final score of 55-48. At one point late in the fourth quarter, Poolesville held a commanding eight-point lead. But no lead appears to be safe against the Knights as they hit two three's and a collected a couple of muscled-in inside buckets by Bradley Rinehart (13 points) to pull within three with the ball in their hands late. Poolesville managed to hold on thanks to a steal by Andy Baker (18 points) and some clutch free throw shooting. "We did a nice job from the free-throw line tonight," said Coach John Weber. "We took the ball to the hoop and they were forced to foul. Mitchell Poe did a great of being aggressive around the basket----a real blue collar effort. Diesen Gorham really worked hard in the paint to slow down their big guys. Chris Thompson showed me why he belongs on the court and Kyle Brown also did a nice job against their inside game. We had seven scorers---that always helps us win." In addition to Baker's scoring, Poolesville picked up points from Trevor Stottlemyer (10 points, including a clutch rebound and put-back at the end of the game), Hunter Pearre (nine), Poe (eight) and Craig Morton (six). The team went 24-for-36 from the free throw line.
Middletown's JV Boys wasted no time after returning from a 10-day break from Mid-Maryland League basketball. They plowed their way to a 17-4 lead and used their height and depth to beat the PBA JV Boys by a final score of 40-18. Ryan Shorts scored five points to lead Poolesville. Zach Long chipped in four points for the Falcons. Joe Cartwright hit for three points and Logan Rocco, Ryan Bush and Eric Lee also scored and recorded at least two steals or rebounds each.
The PBA JV Girls fell to the visitors from Middletown, 48-20, on Monday afternoon. Middletown led 10-5 after one quarter, 24-11 at halftime, 35-19 after three quarters, and 36-20 midway through the fourth quarter before ending the game on a 12-0 run. "I knew we'd need to play well to beat them, and we didn't play well," said Coach Steve Morgan. "Middletown played really good defense throughout the game. We have shot poorly both times that we have played them, and that is due in part to their defense. On the bright side, Mollie Bodmer had a very good all-around game, playing excellent overall defense to go along with leading the team in points and block shots, and co-leading the team in rebounds. Breanne Hall also played well both offensively and defensively." Bodmer scored 8 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. Anna Murgia scored 6 points and was team co-leader with 4 steals. Hall co-led the team with 5 rebounds, scored 2 points, and had 3 steals. Kristen Darragh scored 2 points and co-led the team with 4 steals. Karyn Comfort scored 2 points as well.
The PBA Varsity Girls fell to Middletown by a final score of 39-32. Denise Larson played her best game of the year against the Lady Knights. Larson finished with 11 points, including going 9 for 9 from the free throw line. Whitney Carmack finished with nine points, Rosie Barry hit for six, Sarah Kenneweg scored four points and MacKenzie Fields had a bucket.
Game Summaries 2/14
PBA JV Girls Prevent Sweep
The PBA JV Girls opened up an early lead and then held on for a 37-31 victory against Ballenger Creek on Sunday. Poolesville led 9-0 at the end of the first quarter, 21-9 at halftime, and 27-9 with three minutes left in the third quarter before letting Ballenger Creek back into the game. The score was 29-21 at the end of the third quarter. "At times we played very well, and at times it was ugly," said Coach Steve Morgan. "Two players who stood out were Anna Murgia and Jessie Martinez. Anna did a very good job handling defensive pressure and creating scoring opportunities for us, and she also did a good job getting steals and forcing turnovers. Jessie did a good job shooting, passing and rebounding." Murgia led the team with 10 points and also led the team with five steals. Kristen Darragh scored eight points, including making both of her free throws. Mollie Bodmer scored seven points and was team co-leader in rebounds with eight. Martinez scored six points. Anna DeSoto scored two points and was team co-leader in rebounds with eight. Breanne Hall and Karyn Comfort each scored two points.
The PBA Varsity Girls knew a tough task awaited them against Ballenger Creek----the combination of the Lady Bulldog's strong inside game plus their strategy of bottling up the Falcons guards worked well in their first contest this year. Poolesville did a nice job of negating both directions, plus used some pressure of their own during the first half and trailed by just three at the mid-point of the game. Ballenger Creek's guards starting hitting in the second half, Poolesville had no answer, and the end result was a 38-25 Lady Bulldog win. Rosie Barry led Poolesville with nine points and several steals. Whitney Carmack had to deal with a box-in-one defense and still managed seven points and five steals. Olivia McAleer scored two points on a nice outside shot and grabbed three boards. The Varsity Girls inside trio of Denise Larson (four points), Rebekah Dill (two points) and Mackenzie Fields held B.C.'s top scorer to just 12 points. Julia Potts and Jessie Maloney played tough "d" and Rebekah Chittenden was scrappy under the boards.
After two weeks off from Mid-Maryland action, both the PBA JV Boys and Walkersville's JV Boys predictably started off strong on defense and a 5-5 tie at the end of the first quarter was no real surprise. The ball started dropping for the Lions after that first quarter, and while neither team set the world on fire, Walkersville built a lead, kept the defense strong and ended up besting the Falcons by a final score of 33-18. Poolesville was led by Zach Long with eight points and Joey Cartwright with six points. Reid Patton and Bobby Pike also scored for the Falcons.
Walkersville's Varsity Boys successfully pulled off another win by getting the other team to play their game. This time the victim was the PBA Varsity Boys (again) as the Lions kept it close, forced the Falcons to keep it conservative, played tough team defense and beat the home team by a final score of 40-38. No team led by more than five points throughout the contest. Andy Baker finished with 16 and Hunter Pearre hit for eight points for the Falcons. Mitchell Poe and Trevor Stottlemyer scored six points each and Craig Morton also scored. Baker and Stottlemyer combined for 26 rebounds. "We did a better job on the boards against Walkersville this time," said Coach John Weber, "but we missed way too many close shots and free throws, plus an 0 for 12 beyond the three-point arc is not going to help you win either. We did a nice job on defense and in the end, despite our shooting problems, just a couple of small mistakes kept us from winning the game."
Game Summaries 1/27-31
Springfield Takes Two From JV, Varsity Girls
Rest of Schedule Wiped Out, Reschedules To ComeIn a fast-paced, high-scoring affair, the PBA JV Girls fell to Springfield, 51-46, in Williamsport on Sunday. Poolesville had a small lead for most of the first quarter, but a bucket just before the buzzer gave Springfield a 12-11 lead at the end of one quarter. Poolesville suffered a bad stretch offensively through most of the second quarter before Kristen Darragh hit a baseline shot just before halftime to close the gap to 19-16. The second half was filled with offense, as neither team could stop the other. Springfield maintained a small lead throughout the third quarter, which ended with the score 34-32. Poolesville finally tied the score at 40, and had leads of 43-41 and 45-43 before going cold the last three minutes of the game. Springfield shot 7-for-8 from the line in the fourth quarter, including 4-for-4 in the last minute to seal the win. "That was an exciting game to watch," said Coach Steve Morgan. "Offensively, that was the best we have ever shot the ball. Kristen and Mollie (Bodmer) both shot the ball really well. Mollie was 5-for-6 from the field. Anna Murgia made 9 free throws, including seven in a row at one point. We set some great picks and we had a lot of really good assists. Yet, we also had far too many unforced turnovers. Our biggest problems were our defense and our inability to rebound. Normally, defense is our strong suit, but not today. Springfield had a lot to do with that, as they shot well and rebounded well." Murgia led the team with 17 points, with Darragh (12 points) and Bodmer (10 points) also in double figures. Anna DeSoto (3 points), Karyn Comfort (2 points) and Ashley Adkins (2 points) completed the scoring. Darragh led the team with three assists. DeSoto led the team in steals with four, and in rebounds with seven. Comfort added six rebounds.
The PBA Varsity Girls came out strong against Springfield as Whitney Carmack, Mackenzie Fields and Rosie Barry quickly scoring the first six points of the game on well played offensive plays. The other end of the court wasn't as pretty for the Falcons as they just as quickly got into foul trouble----seven of Springfield's first nine points came from the free throw line. Poolesville started to figure it out in the second half, but by then it was too late as Springfield ended up beating the Falcons by a final score of 37-28. Barry finished with 10 points, as did Carmack. Denise Larson scored four, Olivia McAleer hit for two, and Fields closed out the scoring with her bucket. Rebekah Dill played tough defense and had a few open shots but could not connect down low. Rebekah Chittenden came off of the bench and tried to connect a few times from the corner. Julia Potts played #2 spot all night and handled the ball well alongside Carmack and Barry.
Walkersville Spells Agony of De-Feet for JV, Varsity Boys
The PBA Varsity Boys started out their game against Walkersville on Wednesday night with a nine point first quarter lead and somehow let it slip into an eight-point loss 42-34. "We simply didn't move without the ball and tried to rely on outside shooting," said Coach John Weber. "In the first quarter we hit our shots and in the last three quarters we didn't and that was our demise. Walkersville is tough, but we played right into their hands." Despite sitting for most of the second half while in foul trouble, Andy Baker led all scorers with 20, followed by Trevor Stottlemyer with 10, and Hunter Pearre with three. Mitchell Poe also scored. Poe led the team with four of the team nine assists while Stottlemyer pulled down nine rebounds.
The PBA JV Boys mounted a furious comeback against Walkersville in the opener on Wednesday night. They cut Walkersville's 10-point lead behind 16 fourth quarter points and trailed by just three late in the game. With Steven Morningstar driving for a lay-up to pull the Falcons within one, Poolesville appeared to be poised for an exciting finish. The game went very quickly downhill at that moment as Morningstar broke his ankle on the play and the Falcons could get no closer. Final score---Walkersville wins 42-35. Morningstar, in his last action of the season, finished with 18 points. Zach Long hit for 11 points and Logan Rocco also hit for six.. "This team never gives up," said Coach Steve Morningstar. "Everyone one of our guys gives us 120% every game. Coach Cartwright and myself could not be prouder of this group. We've played everyone tough and we're just going to have to dig in here."
Game Summaries 1/22-24
PBA Varsity Boys Re-Find Groove Against Catoctin, MSD
PBA JV, Varsity Girls Do Splits Against CatoctinThe PBA Varsity Boys controlled the tip for a lay-up and never looked back in defeating MSD on Sunday by a final score of 43-16. Poolesville combined for 12 assists with Andy Baker leading the way with six while Connor Hall and Diesen Gorham also tallied two assists each. Everyone contributed to this victory as all nine players scored. Baker finished with 10, Trevor Stottlemyer had eight, Gorham hit for seven, Robbie Metz scored six, Mitchell Poe had four, and Hunter Pearre hit for three. Kyle Brown, Connor Hall, and Chris Thompson also scored in the win. Brown was Poolesville's leading rebounder. He controlled the boards and finished with nine rebounds.
Against Catoctin on Saturday night, the PBA Varsity Boys had their transition game going early and finished with 17 points in the first quarter. The rest of the game was played at a similar pace and the Falcons rolled over the Cougars by a final score of 63-39. "We controlled the tempo of the game the entire time," said Coach John Weber. "The steal to turnover ratio was about 1 to 1 and we need to do a better job at that but overall this was one of the better games we've played this year. We ended the game with 10 team assists with Andy Baker leading the team with the majority of the assists happening in transition. We played better on defense than we've played recently by allowing only 2 points in the 1st quarter. The boys put strong pressure on the ball and anticipated well and the combination resulted in steals and transition." Robbie Metz and Hunter Pearre lead the team with 13 points each, followed by Mitchell Poe with 11, Trevor Stottlemyer and Andy Baker with nine each, Diesen Gorham with four, and Chris Thompson and Kyle Brown with a bucket each. Poolesville went 8 for 10 from the free throw line and hit their first eight from the charity stripe, including Pearre going four-for-four. "It was nice to see us start and finish the game strong," said Weber.
Scoring early and often and utilizing a smothering full court pressure against MSD on Sunday, the PBA JV Boys found themselves leading at halftime by a comfortable margin of 28-10. Those 28 points would prove to be all they would need as the Falcons would go on to defeat the Orioles by a final score of 49-25. After the game Coach Morningstar was heard saying how happy he was that everybody stepped up and contributed in the win. Leading scorers for the Falcons were Joey Cartwright and Steven Morningstar with nine points each followed by Zach Long with eight points, Ryan Shorts with seven points, Logan Rocco with five points, Brandon Bush with four points, Eric Lee with three points and Reid Patton and Bobby Pike with two points each.
The PBA JV Boys lost a heartbreaker to Catoctin on Saturday night in overtime by a final score of 61-54. Poolesville led for most of the game, but in the second half Catoctin went "en fuego" from behind the three-point arc---the Cougars nailed seven three-pointers in the second half. Even after the three-point barrage started to cool, the Falcons still clung to a two-point lead with time running down. With less then a minute to go, Poolesville turned over the ball giving the red-hot Catoctin offense a chance for the win. The Cougars scored with 11 seconds left to put the game into overtime. The Falcons, who had found themselves in foul trouble early in the game, could not keep up with Catoctin in the extra period and went on to lose by seven. Poolesville's Zach Long did all he could to help the Falcons bring home the win---he finished with 24 points. Steven Morningstar hit for 15 points, Reid Patton scored six points, Joey Cartwright finished with five points and Logan Rocco chipped in four points.
The PBA JV Girls defeated Catoctin, 27-15, in Thurmont on Friday evening. Poolesville led 17-7 at halftime and never looked back. "Allyson Convers played a great game tonight," according to Coach Steve Morgan. "Allyson always plays great defense, but tonight she had a lot of great passes and she led our team in rebounding. She demonstrated that you don't have to be tall to rebound well if you get good positioning, are quick to the ball, anticipate well, and hustle. Nancy Morgan also did a really good job. She drew a charge, set a lot of great picks, and kept diving on the floor to force jump balls." Anna Murgia just missed a double-double as she led the team with 13 points and had nine rebounds. Murgia also had four steals. Anna DeSoto had six points, including making both of her free throw attempts, eight rebounds, and two blocks. Mollie Bodmer had four points and eleven rebounds. Taylor Thomas had four points and five rebounds. Breanne Hall had five rebounds and three steals. Convers, along with her team-leading 12 rebounds, also had four steals.
In a cross-division match-up, Catoctin's Varsity Girls defended its home court by defeating the PBA Varsity Girls by a final score of 35-30. Both teams started slow, as Poolesville controlled the pace of the game in the first quarter with its deliberate ball control offense, preventing the Cougars from getting into any kind of running game. The first quarter ended with a 4 to 3 score in favor of Poolesville. Catoctin was able to pick up the pace in the second quarter and opened up a six point half-time lead. Coming out in the second half, Poolesville mounted a nice comeback that got its start with two-steals-turned-into-lay-ups by Whitney Carmack right off the bat. Rebekah Dill also did a nice job at center in Poolesville's 2-1-2 offense. She fed Denise Larson for two easy buckets. The result was a 23-20 Poolesville lead at the end of the third period. The fourth quarter saw both teams trading leads with the game up for grabs. Catoctin hit some clutch shots in the end to take the win. "Denise had a great second half. Her defensive rebounding kept us in the game," said Coach Laura Carmack. "Rosie Barry continued to drive the ball and get fouled. Mackenzie Fields helped us on our offensive rebounding and had a few put-backs. I thought Sarah Kenneweg and Julia Potts did a great job running the offense. Jessie Maloney almost hit a last second shot to end the half but came up short. Rebekah Chittenden played tough defense on the 3-2 and she forced a key turnover for us." Poolesville was led in scoring by Barry with 11 points, including an amazing 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Carmack scored seven points for the Falcons and Larson added six points in the losing effort.
Rising Star Hornets Sting Falcons
TASS - Germantown Community Center - 1/24/10
You buy the boat. You buy the tackle. You buy the reels, rods, and bait. One of you is in front driving, the other is pouring out chum in the back. What do you get for all of your work? A tall tale about the one that got away. So goes the next installment of the PBA Rising Star Boys. After jumping out to a seven point lead early in the game, the young Falcons couldn't maintain their lead or the game and fell to the Damascus Hornets 36-32. "We played good enough just to lose this game", said Coach Marshall Micheals as he eyed the photographers looking for a picture of the big catch. "Our main problems are getting back on defense to prevent the easy buckets and sticking with our man on defense. I didn't think that their press bothered us at all, as a matter of fact, I think that we were able to put some pressure on them to cause some turnovers." Woulda, shoulda, coulda, don't count in the scorebook, but points by Joe Soltis (13), Jake Armstrong (six), Justin Souder (four), Reid Patton (three), and Tim McIntyre, Andrew Bacas, and Blake Hinkson (two points each) certainly do.
After giving up the first two points of the game, the Falcon defense played a little better and jumped to an 11-4 lead. From there, foul trouble and a running Damascus team moved the halftime score to 19-14. Late in the fourth quarter, Poolesville, down by four points, was able to storm back and tie the game. But it wasn't enough as Damascus was able to salt away the victory with two late foul shots. "I think that we will beat that team when we play them again", said the soft spoken assistant, Marty Micheals. "The foul trouble in the beginning messed a bit with our substitution patterns and we really need to play more aggressively. The usual crowd of Blake Hinton, Dylan Landis, and Ryan D'Amelio gave us solid play, while Jackson Purdy offered some defensive spark."
The next game starts the second cycle through league play so fans with the red passes, red passes only please, have the priority seating. Next up, St. Bernadettes.
Rising Star Girls Defeat Clarksburg in Front of "Home" Crowd
With the gym a rocking from the Rising Star Boys in attendance to cheer on the Lady Falcons, the PBA Rising Star Girls did not disappoint as they defeated Clarksburg by a final score of 32-12. Opening the game with a full court press, Poolesville jumped to a quick 8-0 lead. With Poolesville showing different defenses, the Coyotes were kept out of sync all night. "Our shooting of 33% on the night was a great improvement," said Poolesville Coach Chris Hall. "It's not where I want them to be at this point in the season, however, it is something to build on. I'm more than delighted to see everyone scoring tonight. We asked them before the game to always look for the shot first, pass second." Said Hall after the game. Mollie Bodmer led the Falcons with eight points followed by Jami D'Amelio and Jessie Martinez with six each. Breanne Hall, Lauren Lightcap, Morgan Mullet, Allie Nevius, Jolee Raines and Erin Sparrow each added a bucket.
The RS Girls opened their double-header weekend with a 12-5 loss to Bethesda. Yes folks, that score is not a typo. A total of 13 shots were taken all night for the Falcons. Mollie Bodmer and Jami D'Amelio led Poolesville with just two points each. Morgan Mullet hit a foul shot to add the final point for the Falcons. After the game, Coach Hall was quoted saying, "We used all our time-outs to try and fire-up these girls and asked them to shoot. Nothing seemed to work. Even the parents were encouraging offense---OK--they were yelling 'Shoot The Ball!!!' from the bleachers but nothing seemed to work. There were positives coming from this game, including the fact that we held the other team to only 12 points."
Game Summaries 1/18
PBA JV Boys, Girls Take Thrillers!
Varsity Boys Suffer First Loss of Season
PBA Varsity Boy Craig Morton drives past a Linganore defender. PBA Varsity Girl Denise Larson Shows off her "ups" Against a taller Monocacy defender. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA JV Boy Zach Long goes airborne against Linganore. PBA Rising Star Justin Souder eludes a Bulldog en route to the bucket. PBA JV Girl shoots over a Monocacy defender in the Falcons win on Sunday. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA JV Girls won an overtime thriller against Monocacy, 37-33, on Monday, getting the PBA quadruple-header off to a tremendous start. Kristen Darragh hit a 3-pointer late in regulation to send the game into overtime and then Poolesville outscored Monocacy 5-1 in the extra period. "Anybody who didn't enjoy watching that game just doesn't like basketball. What an exciting game to be a part of," said Coach Steve Morgan. Poolesville opened the game with an 8-2 lead, but lost the lead quickly as Monocacy led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter. Monocacy led 22-18 at halftime, and 28-21 at the end of the third quarter, before Poolesville started their comeback. "Our girls thrive under pressure," according to Morgan. "Kristen's 3 was very clutch. Anna Murgia drew a charge late in overtime when we had a two point lead and Monocacy was driving for a lay-up. Rather than go for the steal, Anna made the gutsy (and correct) decision to establish great defensive position and draw the charge. In the last 30 seconds of the game, while holding on to a two point lead, Jessie Martinez got open down low. When she was passed the ball, she caught the ball cleanly and calmly sank the shot. Nerves of steel." Darragh led the team with 14 points. Mollie Bodmer scored 8 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field, and also grabbed 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Murgia scored 7 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, had 3 assists and collected 3 steals. Martinez had 4 points. Anna DeSoto scored 2 points , led the team with 9 rebounds and blocked 2 shots. Karyn Comfort scored 2 points and led the team with 3 blocked shots.
The PBA JV Boys stormed back from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Linganore's JV Boys by a final score of 49-48. In a see-saw battle, Poolesville built an early lead behind the scoring of Steven Morningstar (11 points for the game). Logan Rocco (eight points), Chris Pike (two points), Brandon Lee (two points) and Brandon Bush (two key rebounds) doing the dirty work on the boards. The Falcons held their advantage until the opening tap in the second half. Linganore turned in around by blowing out Poolesville in the third, 24-10, with Poolesville only holding on on the strength of Ryan Shorts five points (and cool socks) in the quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Falcon comeback got rolling. Joey Cartwright (eight points) hit two three's, Zach Long (nine points total, seven in the fourth) got hot, and Reid Patton (four points total) hit a critical free throw to tie things up late. With the game on the line, Long hit a free throw, and with 5.7 seconds left Morningstar hit what would prove to be the game-winning bucket. Linganore's Thomas Lang (son of PHS Coach Tom Lang) played a tremendous game and just missed a free throw to put the game into overtime. The win puts the JV Boys back up to the .500 mark on the season.
Monocacy's Varsity Girls used their press and created turnovers and fouls to open up an early ten-point lead over the PBA Varsity Girls. The rest of the contest was evenly played the rest of the way, but the double-digit margin held up for the remainder of the game in the Mustang's 36-24 win over the Falcons. Whitney Carmack drove and shot her way to 12 points for the Falcons. Teammate Rosie Barry scored four points in the loss. Jessie Maloney, Sarah Kenneweg, and Rebekah Dill each scored a bucket. Olivia McAleer and Denise Larson also scored. "We fell apart in the beginning with turnovers and foul trouble," said Coach Laura Carmack, "but we settled down nicely in the second half---I think we outscored them by two. Mackenzie Fields did a nice job on defense against their big girl and Julia Potts worked hard for us out front."
The PBA Varsity Boys suffered their first loss of the season as Linganore "let it rain" with NINE three-point bombs finding the bottom of the net in their 56-54 win over the Falcons. "We could not stop them on defense and we played with no sense of urgency" said Coach John Weber. Andy Baker staked the Falcons to an early lead with 12 points in the first quarter. Baker finished with 30 points to lead both teams. Hunter Pearre hit for 11 points, including a clutch three-pointer to tie things up late. Craig Morton scored five points, Trevor Stottlemyer scored four points and Diesen Gorham and Mitchell Poe both hit for a bucket.
Rising Star Boys Cook Up a Split over Weekend
UPI – Seneca Valley High School – 1/20/10 Cooking is like basketball, it should be entered with abandon or not at all.
---with apologies to Harriet Van HorneWhen mixing the ingredients for a sixth grade basketball game and stuffing them into the crock pot, one of two things can happen. You can end up on the porch with your house ablaze, like Tim Harris wondering what. just. happened. Or the opposite is true. Culinary delights can emit forth and cause grown men to weep and angels to sing. Saturday and Sunday’s games provided both ends of the spectrum for the PBA Rising Star Boys.
In the Saturday game the Poolesville crew brought an easy bake oven while Run and Shoot brought a flame thrower. “They definitely came to play and we didn’t”, said Coach Marshall Micheals adjusting his scorched chef’s hat while rubbing his eyes trying to get the smoke out. The kitchen blazing behind him. “I think that we lacked intensity, we didn’t get back on defense, didn’t run the offense and half the time we didn’t know who our man was”.
After keeping up with Run and Shoot for the first few entrees, it was 27-12 at halftime and every man for himself in the end at a final score of 46-29. Poolesville was never close after the initial lighting of the grill. Fire marshal results are still pending. Jake Armstrong led the flambe with 10 points, followed by his fellow cooking show guests, Reid Patton (9) Joe Soltis (6), Ryan Bannon (2), and Andrew Bacas (2). “For the 11 seconds that we did play well, I really liked Ryan D’Amelio’s defensive positioning. Alex Dahlen rebounded well and Blake Hinson gave us some spark on defense”, continued Micheals as "Burnin’ Down the House" played in the background.
In Sunday’s match-up with the Bulldogs, greater things could not have come from any mortal crock pot. “I have not seen this team play better man-to-man defense all year”, said Micheals as he took notes from Emeril, Julia Childs, and Bobby Flay all at once. BAM. Great defense. BAM. Offensive execution. BAM. Points on turnovers after the press. Micheals continued, “I felt like this was our most complete game to date and am excited that the boys are starting to get it”.
After seeing the Bulldog’s score the first two points, Poolesville came charging back with pressure defense, a press that finally tallied some points and never looked back. Leading 26-17 at the half, the young Falcons held the Bulldogs to 12 second half points to finish the scoring at 39-29. The Bulldogs sampled eight courses of Falcon scoring as Joe Soltis (17), Jake Armstrong (5), Andrew Bacas (4), Dylan Landis (4), Louis Potts (3), Reid Patton (3), Justin Souder (2), and Ryan D’Amelio (2) all contributed.
The next game is Sunday against high school rival Damascus. Fans looking to tailgate should arrive 2 hours early.
Game Summaries 1/16-17
Varsity Boys, Girls Pick Up Saturday Wins
Senior PBA Boys Stay Unbeaten, RS Girls Split
PBA JV Girl Kristen Darragh looks to score against Windsor Knolls. Teammate Breanne Hall makes an aerobatic save against the Lady Hawks. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom atjcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA Varsity Boys stayed unbeaten by outlasting Mt. Airy on Saturday by a final score of 64-52. Andy Baker led all scorers with 28 points. Trevor Stottlemyer had nine, Craig Morton had seven, big men Charlie Miller and Diesen Gorham had four points each and Kyle Brown, Mitchell Poe, Hunter Pearre, Robbie Metz, Chris Thompson and Zach Khalil also scored. "Not our best game," said Coach John Weber, "but I'll take the win. We didn't play our typical game and our defense wasn't there. We had way too many turnovers, which resulted in us being outscored 17-11 in the third quarter. A little too much 'me ball out there today."
The PBA Varsity Girls got off to a quick start at Windsor Knolls on Saturday. Rosie Barry had it working as the tough Falcon rebounding quadrant of Mackenzie Fields, Rebekah Dill, Denise Larson and Olivia McAleer would typically grab a rebound, pass to Whitney Carmack who would then pass it off to a streaking Barry for a lay-up. Barry finished with a game-high 16 points, including two free throws that came as a result of a technical foul on the Hawks coach. The Poolesville press, combined with tough man-to-man defense kept Windsor Knolls at arm's length and a Falcon 30-23 win was the result---which was the same margin of victory the last time the two teams matched up. Carmack finished with six points and a number of steals, including several where the feisty point guard would come up from behind on her opponents and whack the ball out of their hands for a quick turnaround. Denise Larson was tough on the offensive boards and added six points, including four of the points as a result of great passes from Barry. Fields added two points underneath as well. "The girls played tough man to man defense in the second half," said Coach Laura Carmack. "Julia Potts, Jessie Maloney and Sarah Kenneweg were hard to beat and Rebekah Dill did a great job against their biggest girl down low."
The PBA JV Girls fell to undefeated Windsor Knolls, 36-12, on Saturday. Poolesville kept it close early, trailing 6-4 at the end of the first quarter, but a poor second quarter resulted in a 19-6 halftime deficit. "Windsor Knolls is really tough," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We needed to have our A-game to stand a chance, and we didn't have our A-game today. Hopefully we'll get back on track with a win at home on Monday." Anna Murgia led the team with 6 points. Ashley Adkins scored 4, and Kristen Darragh converted two free throws.
The PBA Rising Star Girls lost a close one to St Jude on Saturday by a score of 17-13. "Shooting was our down fall tonight," said Coach Chris Lee. "The team shot just five for 40 and with stats like that, it's hard to imaging walking away with a win. Playing at 8:30 PM after these girls have already played another game makes it tough to remain focused." Karyn Comfort led with the Falcon effort with seven points followed by Breanne Hall, Lauren Lightcap, and Jessie Martinez each with a bucket. Although the Falcons grabbed 32 boards, not many were converted into points. Talking about next weeks practice, Coach Hall was quoted saying, "We'll continue working on boxing out, foot work and other drills to improve our positioning for scoring."
Back in action on Sunday for their second game of the weekend, the young Lady Falcons came to play. The RS Girls walked away with a 23-9 win over the MD Hoopsters. Poolesville's ball pressure was the key to victory, with every Poolesville player grabbing at least one steal on the night. Mollie Bodmer (who was injured on Saturday), led the way with six points. Lauren Lightcap had four points, while Jami D'Amelio, Kristen Darragh, Jessie Martinez, Morgan Mullet, Allie Nevius and Erin Sparrow each chipped in a bucket. "The girls were looking to score. My favorite play was Morgan Mullet taking a shot, following it to grab her rebound and putting it back up for a bucket." said Coach Hall after the game.
Game Summaries 1/14
Not Pretty In Walkersville
PBA JV, Varsity Girls Battle Exams, Lady LionsThe PBA JV Girls lost at Walkersville on Thursday night 30-20, after falling behind 20-8 at halftime. "I was really proud of our girls tonight," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We were missing four of our players due to exams, which meant that those who were at the game were going to play more minutes than usual and some would have to fill new roles. We started slowly, but we continued to battle. Nobody exhibited that more than Mollie (Bodmer). She was working hard under the boards throughout the game, and then her shot started to fall in the second half. She wasn't alone in her efforts. Anna DeSoto and Karyn Comfort did a good job blocking shots and fighting for rebounds. I didn't always like our execution, particularly early in the game, but I loved our effort. My favorite offense play of the game was when Allyson Convers used a great head fake to get Walkersville's shot blocker to fly by before converting a shot." Bodmer led the team in rebounds with 12, and DeSoto was a close second with 11. Bodmer also led the team with 8 points. DeSoto and Comfort each scored 4, and Convers and Breanne Hall each scored a field goal.
The PBA Varsity Girls, missing several players as well, dropped their game against Walkersville. Poolesville's first half was well-played, and with the small exception of the ball not going in the hoop as often as they would have liked, the Falcons held their own against the Lady Lions. The second half was not as close as Poolesville's lack of depth played out into a Walkersville win. "We did a nice job against their starters in the fourth period but we ran out of gas," said Coach Laura Carmack. Denise Larson led Poolesville with seven points, Rosie Barry scored four points, and Olivia McAleer gave a strong defensive effort against Walkersville's "bigs" and hit for three points in the loss.
Game Summaries 1/9-10
PBA Varsity Squads Take Two at Middletown
Boys Dominate In O.T., Barry Hits Game-Winner for GirlsIn a great divisional battle on Sunday, the PBA Varsity Boys traveled to Middletown---one of the more challenging locations in the Mid-Maryland League to play----and came home with a 65-61 overtime win. Poolesville again started off slow and trailed 12-5 early on. A 22-11 run took care in the second quarter took care of the short-lived Middletown lead. Both teams battled extremely hard the rest of the way with Middletown tying it up at 55 with nine seconds in regulation. The Falcons won the toss and outscored the home team 10-6 in overtime to claim the win. Andy Baker (10 points in the 2nd quarter) led all scorers with 25 points. Hunter Pearre (11 points) scored five points in the extra period. Mitchell Poe (13 points) and Trevor Stottlemyer (nine points) went three-for-four from the charity stripe in O.T. Craig Morton hit a couple of key buckets and finished with seven points. "In the second period our defense really kicked it up a notch, turned steals into transition and then into fast break points," said Coach John Weber. "It's fun to watch these guys when they're executing like that. Our important stats from this game are once again 15 assists (Baker with 7) and almost twice as many steals as turnovers. When almost half your points come off assists and you're responsible with the ball when it's your possession, it allows you to be competitive against good teams like Middletown."
Against Oakdale on Saturday, the sleepy Falcons again took a while to get rolling, but once they did it was all over for Oakdale and the PBA Varsity Boys rolled to a 48-29 win over the Eagles. The third quarter was the difference-maker this time with Poolesville outscoring Oakdale 18-11 and seven Falcons chipping in points in the quarter. Craig Morton led all scorers with 15 points. Baker followed up with 12 points, Poe hit for six, Robbie Metz had five, Pearre and Stottlemyer had four each and Zach Khalil had a bucket. "As a team we ended the game with 15 assists with Hunter and Andy combining for 7," said Coach Weber. "We got some big rebounds today from Kyle Brown and Diesen Gorham and a couple of assists from Connor Hall and Chris Thompson. It was a nice team effort, although we ended the game with two times the number of turnovers to steals, which we can't do and expect to win regularly."
The two-win weekend for the Varsity Boys left them alone atop the Antietam Division with a 6-0 overall record on the year.
The PBA JV Boys played well, fought hard and stayed close on Sunday against Middletown, but unfortunately that wasn't enough as the Falcons fell to the Knights by a final score of 46-31. The JV Boys opened the game with strong guard play from Joey Cartwright and Logan Rocco with crisp passes into the team's big man Steven Morningstar and with strong dribble penetration kicking the ball back out to Zack Long and Morningstar for good looks all game. Things settled down a bit in the second quarter with both teams playing solid defense and getting some offensive production leading to a halftime score of 29-24 Middletown. Morningstar presented big problems throughout the first half with his outside shooting touch, his aggressive drives to the basket, and his tenacious rebounding against taller Middletown players. The flow of the second half changed in Middletown's favor, and they managed to extend their lead slightly with some good defensive adjustments that held Poolesville to three points total for the third quarter. Middletown was able to put the game away in the fourth with composed play and tremendous free throw shooting. Success at the charity stripe was the name of the game for both teams. Poolesville scored 13 of their 31 points from the foul line hitting on 70 % of their free throws with Middletown scoring 22 of their 47 points also from the foul line hitting on 75% of their free throws. Coming off the bench for Poolesville saw Ryan Shorts, Bobby Pike and Eric Lee contributing big minutes on the defense end and holding Middletown at bay when on the court. Reid Patton once again emerged as a strong force on the boards scrapping for every missed shot. After the game Coach Morningstar was heard saying how proud he was of all the players for their hard Work and Hustle on the court today. Steven Morningstar led Poolesville with a game high 20 points. The Falcons also got a nice effort from Zach Long, who knocked down seven points.
On Saturday the PBA JV Boys faced Oakdale down two players with only seven at the game. The JV Boys played a hard fought game against Oakdale facing full court pressure all game long. Even with Oakdale's deeper bench they could not wear down the Falcons who played their hearts out---bending at times but never breaking against Oakdale's relentless pressure. Oakdale's deeper bench and pressure ended up being too much in the end and Poolesville fell 53-47. "The kids that were here today gave it all they had," said Coach Bill Cartwright. "When we tied them up late I thought we were going to win the game. Our guys played with great energy." According to the Oakdale book, Zach Long hit for 20 points, Morningstar finished with 18 and Joey Cartwright and Logan Rocco also scored.
In another close and low-scoring game for the PBA Varsity Girls, Poolesville dug in against Middletown and came out on top once again by a final score of 26-24. The Falcons were tied at 16-all when the Lady Knights decided to go man-to-man. Middletown scored the next six points from their big girl down low and proceeded to shut out Poolesville for the balance of the third period. In the fourth quarter, Poolesville solved Middletown's heavy pressure "D", came out strong and went on a run. Sarah Kenneweg hit two free throws to get it going; Whitney Carmack stole the ball on the press for a quick bucket and Rosie Barry drove for another deuce to tie up the game. Middletown then had a chance to go ahead but came up short on a shot, which returned the ball to the Falcons with little time left. In the final seconds, Rosie Barry drove again for a left handed lay-up to push the Falcons ahead by two. The Lady Knights had five seconds to tie it up but they threw it into the Poolesville press and the game was over. Julia Potts was high scorer with 8 points (she was the offside guard open and made her shots on the elbow); Barry added six points, Carmack and Kenneweg added four points each, and Rebekah Dill and Denise Larsen added two each. Mackenzie Fields played great defense and was the team-high rebounder. Jessie Maloney and Olivia McAleer played tough interior defense. Rebekah Chittenden turned in some quality minutes after being out for almost two weeks.
The PBA JV Girls lost at Middletown, 30-15, on Sunday. Middletown led 9-4 after one quarter and 16-7 at halftime. Poolesville's best quarter was the third, which ended with the score 22-14. "We showed considerable improvement in several areas, but we just couldn't put the ball in the basket," said Coach Steve Morgan. "Except for a few lapses, I thought we played good defense. Except for making our shots, I thought our offense was pretty good too. We had the shot opportunities, but we didn't capitalize. Individually, Anna Murgia stood out, particularly with her foul shooting. Breanne Hall also played very well, hustling for rebounds, steals and loose balls." Murgia led the team with 11 points. Kristen Darragh and Jessie Martinez each added a field goal.
PBA Rising Stars Win First Games Against Walt Williams, Storm
AP - Germantown Community Centre - 1/10/10
With the gym buzzing from the prospect of the PBA Rising Star Boys facing the Walt Williams led Olney Warriors, security was tight and the autograph hounds were out in force. The disappointment of the 'Wizard' not coaching the team (wrong Olney team) was quickly replaced by the buzz of a Poolesville win, 23-22."I'm sure that we got such a huge crowd because of Walt, but we didn't disappoint", said assistant coach Marty Micheals as he eyed the crowd wondering why there weren't more OU Bobcat fans in attendance. "Our press was working, we gained some valuable turnovers. But, the big stat of the game was the 7-24 performance at the charity stripe. We've got to get better at the freebees."
Olney raced out to a 10-2 lead until Poolesville was able to settle down and play Falcon basketball. The young middle-schoolers clawed their way back into a 12-12 halftime tie and then through a tough press, and timely turnovers, sealed the game with a Jake Armstrong foul shot. Only 14 ticks were left on the clock.
"I told the guys two things in the huddle at the end", said Coach Micheals. "The first was that we were going to win the game, and second, someone was going home a hero. Jake made his foul shot, put the finishing touch on the game, and garnered his hero status. Parents watching the game have requested a defibrillator so I'll have to check with Bannon to see if that is in the budget."
Joe Soltis continued to lead the charge with eight points, followed by Justin Souder (five), and Jake Armstrong (four). Andrew Bacas, Ryan D'Amelio had two each and Tim McIntyre had his first two points of his long future PBA career on a drive and pull up shot. Next on tap for the Falcons is Run-N-Shoot and yes, Virginia, there has been an Elvis sighting.
The PBA Rising Star Girls came home on Sunday with a 21-12 win over the Storm. Opening the game with pressure defense contributed to the Falcons running up an 11-0 first half lead. In the second half, Poolesville settled into a 2-3 zone defense with an occasional half-court jump to keep the Storm's guards honest. Poolesville guard Allie Nevius went down hard with a head injury and the Lady Falcons did their best trying to keep their minds on the game. Not knowing her status was difficult and the Storm scored eight quick points. However, the Falcons lead generated in the early stages of the game proved to be insurmountable for the Storm and it appears Nevius will be OK. A balanced attack was the game plan for the night and the Lady Falcons followed the script perfectly: Breanne Hall lead all scores with 5, and Mollie Bodmer, Karyn Comfort, Kristen Darragh and Lauren Lightcap each added 4. The team pulled 31 rebounds; Comfort led the way with seven, Bodmer had six, and Jessie Martinez and Jolee Raines each had four. Kristen Darragh and Breanne Hall each had three rebounds while Jami D'Amelio, Lauren Lightcap, Morgan Mullet and Erin Sparrow each either grabbed a board or made a steal.
Game Summaries 1/04/2010
Vikings Sent Home With Clipped Horns
Falcons Take Three of Four Against St. Johns
PBA Varsity Girl Julia Potts shoots over her taller St. Johns defender, Varsity Boy Hunter Pearre goes up for two, Karyn Comfort uses her height to snag a rebound over the Lady Vikings (and teammate Anna Murgia). Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom atjcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA JV Boy Steven Morningstar drives to the bucket. The table (David Larson, former PBA-star Karissa "Special K" Harris, and current PBA'er Ryan Bannon) keeps things straight at PHS. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA JV Girls started off the new year with a 29-19 home victory over St. John's on Sunday. Poolesville led 8-3 after the first quarter, 16-13 at halftime, and 25-17 after three quarters. "I was really happy that we had eight players score," said Coach Steve Morgan. "Anna Murgia and Anna DeSoto both had really good games. Anna Murgia did a great job attacking the basket. Anna DeSoto did a great job attacking the offensive glass." Murgia led the team with 10 points and also led the team with five steals and three assists. DeSoto led the team with 10 rebounds to go along with her eight points. Taylor Thomas scored three points. Ashley Adkins, Allyson Convers and Kristen Darragh each scored a field goal. Breanne Hall added a free throw, as did Karyn Comfort, who also grabbed five rebounds.
The PBA Varsity Girls fought off a tough St. Johns squad in a game where neither team led by more than two points, including the Falcon's 26-24 final margin of victory. St. Johns used their height advantage and Poolesville responded with physical play (including plenty of fouls). In the end, a clutch Denise Larson (eight points) jump shot tied the game and a short Sarah Kenneweg jumper proved to be the winner. Strong defensive play by Rebekah Dill helped seal the win for the Falcons. Whitney Carmack led Poolesville with 10 points, Larson had eight, and Dill and Kenneweg (returning from a wrist injury) hit for four points each. "They were taller but I felt we were stronger," said Coach Laura Carmack. "Rosie Barry was real physical today as was Denise and Mackenzie Fields."
The PBA Varsity Boys stomped on the accelerator pedal early and often against St. Johns. The Falcons opened up a 18-6 first quarter advantage and extended the lead to 35-14 at halftime. "Starting the game with lots of intensity was something we talked about before the game and I was very happy with how we played tonight," said Coach John Weber after Poolesville polished off the Vikings by a final score of 66-41. "We had 10 of 11 players score tonight mostly because we had 9 of 11 with one or more assists (17 total for the team)," said Weber. Andy Baker led the way in both categories with five assists and 15 points. Diesen Gorham finished with a PBA career-high 12 points, Robbie Metz scored nine, Mitchell Poe had eight, Trevor Stottlemyer finished with six, Charlie Miller hit for five, and Craig Morton and Kyle Brown each finished with four points. Hunter Pearre and Chris Thompson also scored. Poolesville ended the game with twice as many steals (led by Craig Morton) as turnovers. "Those type of stats will really help us win games," said Weber.
The PBA JV Boys finished off their game against St. Johns on a roll by outscoring the Vikings 13-9 in the final period using a mix of backcourt pressing and aggressive defense. The first three quarters were not as pretty as St. Johns out-gunned the Falcons to beat the home-team by a final score of 42-22. Steven Morningstar led Poolesville with 12 points. Zach Long and Joey Cartwright hit for four points each. Ryan Shorts hit two big free throws as Poolesville shifted the momentum their way in the 3rd quarter.
Rising Star Girls, Boys Open Seasons with Close Losses
The PBA Rising Star Girls started off flat but kept the Bethesda Bruins close and trailed by just a point at the half. Shooting only 3 for 12 in the second half and a let-down on defense cost the Falcons the game as they fell to Bethesda by a final score of 20-15. Jami D'Amelio and Kristen Darragh lead the Lady Falcons with four points each. Mollie Bodmer followed with three points and Breanne Hall and Karyn Comfort each added a bucket. On the boards, Hall, Darragh, and Bodmer each had five rebounds, Jessie Martinez grabbed three and D'Amelio, Comfort, Lauren Lightcap and Morgan Mullet each had two. There were sparks of defense on the night with Hall snagging three steals and Erin Sparrow heisting another. After the game, Coach Hall was quoted as saying, "Practice this week should interesting. The girls will be challenged and I hope they step-up. Intensity will be our focus."
AP – Blair High School 1/3/10 -- Each new season of PBA brings out that ‘new car smell’ in every team. Unfortunately, over the Christmas break, the PBA Rising Star Boys took the car and rammed it into both a tree and a fire hydrant. After getting the car back for this weekend, and promising to ‘drive safe’, the team did much better. It’s always good to get that first wreck out of the way. St. Bernadette's was the opponent and Poolesville got the pole position by racing to a 15-13 half time lead. After some steady rebounding provided by Dylan Landis and Joe Soltis, Poolesville was able to maintain the lead late into the second half. Unfortunately, after a few turnovers on the press break, St. Bernadette's was able to take the lead with 2:45 and never relinquished it----St. B's won by a final score of 32-29 . “We still don’t have much of a press at this point. This team is, what we say in the industry, lumbering”, said Coach Marshall Micheals as he watched the pit crew carefully tune up the engine that drives this rendition of the Rising Star Falcons. “We’ll come up with something in practice this week that will allow us to put more pressure on our opponent, and go from there”. The Falcons were green-flagged by Reid Patton with six points, followed on the circuit by Ryan D’Amelio (four), Justin Souder (five), and Jackson Purdy, Jake Armstrong, and Andrew Bacas with four points each. Joe Soltis, who had the best pre-season tournament for the Rising Star Boys, also hit for five points for the young Falcons.
The next game is this Sunday and tickets are still available.
Poolesville High School Holiday Tournament Information------------
The Poolesville High School Varsity Boys overcame a 12-point first half to pull within one-point late in the game in their first round holiday tournament game. The Falcons could not get over the hump and fell to #5 Springbrook by a final score of 46-42. Poolesville lost to St. Stephens/St. Agnes in the consolation game. Brendan McFall led all scorers with 26 points.
The Poolesville High School Varsity Girls spotted Quince Orchard a 12-point lead in the third quarter but came back to tie it up in regulation and win it in overtime in the girls high school edition of the Sugarloaf Shootout. Lindsay Poss hit for 18 points and Kelly Hughes nailed three critical three-pointers to bring home the win. Poolesville lost to Northwest in the championship game on Tuesday night..
Rising Star Holiday Tournament Information
PBA Rising Star Boys Holiday Tournament---------
Game 1----Monday (12/28) Poolesville lost to Olney Warriors
Game 2----Tuesday (12/29) Poolesville beat the Olney Hustle 29-28
Game 3----Tuesday (12/29) Poolesville lost to Clarksburg---Tournament is over.PBA Rising Star Girls Holiday Tournament---------
Game 1----PBA RS Girls lose to WHC Comets 21-18
Game 2----PBA RS Girls beat MD Lady Hoopsters 33-32
Game 3----Tuesday (12/29) Semi-Final Playoff--- Poolesville lost to Olney---Tournament is over.
Game Summaries 12/26-27
Darnestown Wins Shootout
Varsity Boys Fail to Reach Finals. Last Game Falcon Win Over Hawks Too Little, Too Late
RS Girls Play Close, Split First Two Games of MCRD Tourney
PBA Varsity Boy Andy Baker flies past two Darnestown defenders, a Rising Star Girl Jami D'Amelio goes high to snag a rebound, Varsity Boy Robbie Metz twists and turns for two. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom atjcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA Varsity Boys rode a strong 4th quarter effort to make a nice comeback and beat Windsor Knolls, 43-35, in their 5th Annual Sugarloaf Shootout final game, but the effort and the win ended up being too little, too late and the Falcons did not reach the tournament championship game. Darnestown ended up coming back to beat a surprisingly game Walkersville squad 39-31 in the tournament championship. Poolesville fell to Thomas Johnson (by a score of 43-36) and Darnestown (56-51) to gather the two losses that would keep them out of the finals. All Sugarloaf Shootout results can be found under "Tournaments".
Rising Star Girls Split to Open MOCO Rising Star tournament.
The PBA Rising Star Girls fought hard but fell in their first holiday tournament game, 21-18, to a very talented and tall WHC Comet squad. Poolesville started out slow, came out of the 2nd half on fire but ended up a little short. Kristen Darragh led the Falcons with four points followed by Breanne Hall and Lauren Lightcap with 3 each. Jami D'Amelio, Jessie Martinez and Jolee Raines each added a bucket. Mollie Bodmer had a great defensive game with 9 rebounds and 2 steals.
In the second game, the Lady Falcons walked away with a 33-32 win over the MD Lady Hoopsters. Breanne Hall hit the front end of a 1 and 1 to give the Falcons a three-point lead. Although the Lady Hoopsters scored and bucket with seconds to go, the clutch free throw sealed the deal. Kristen Darragh led the Poolesville effort with 10 points followed by Mollie Bodmer with eight. Breanne Hall and Jami D'Amelio added four points each and Allie Nevius, Jessie Martinez and Lauren Lightcap each added a bucket. Jolee Raines had a phenomenal game with four steals as a result of her outstanding full court press defense. Controlling the boards for the Falcons were Mollie with six rebounds and Darragh and Morgan Mullet with four points each. The Rising Star Girls play in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Game Summaries 12/17
PBA Boys Sweep 'Creek!
Stottlemyer Shooting, Great Team Passing Key Varsity WinPBA Varsity Boy Trevor Stottlemyer was the model of consistency on Thursday night---he scored exactly four points in each quarter. Stottlemyer's 16 points. along with 17 team assists, added up to a 44-34 win at Ballenger Creek. The Bulldogs kept things close all night, but the Falcons went five for six from the line down the stretch to seal the win. Andy Baker hit for 13 points and combined with Mitchell Poe (six points) for 10 of the Poolesville assists. "I thought the boys played a very good game tonight---they passed well, shot well and adjusted on defense to bring home the win," said Coach John Weber. "We also hit the boards hard tonight with 25 total for the team, led by Craig (Morton) and Andy. Even our guards got into rebounding with Chris Thompson, Robbie Metz and Hunter Pearre each pulling down 2 each. What I liked about these rebounds is they were hustle rebounds, where they just flat out beat the other players to the spot." Morton hit for five points and Metz and Pearre scored two points each.
The Varsity Boys record at the holiday break stands at 3-0. They will face three very tough opponents---Thomas Johnson, Darnestown, and Windsor Knolls----at the upcoming "Sugarloaf Shootout" held at PHS on 12/26-27. Look under "Tournaments" for more info.
JV Boys Mount Big Comeback, Ride Free Throws to Win
The PBA JV Boys---down by 10 deep into the third quarter---hit their free throws down the stretch to come from behind to beat Ballenger Creek by a final score of 41-40. Steven Morningstar was the major culprit from the line. He hit 10 of 12 from the charity stripe (and scored 13 points total) to lead the Falcons to the win. Logan Rocco had his best game as a PBA'er. He scored 11 points and hit three 3-pointers to keep Poolesville in the game. Joey Cartwright was the third Poolesville player in double-figures. He finished with 10 points. Eric Lee put the icing on the cake by controlling the game ending rebound with Ballenger Creek trying to score the go-ahead basket. Reid Patton hit for four points (all from the free throw line) and Ryan Shorts also scored for Poolesville.
Game Summaries 12/13
Baker Torches Crestwood in Varsity Boys Win!
Varsity Girls Shut Down Windsor Knolls
The PBA Varsity Boy's Chris Thompson leaves a Crestwood defender in his wake. JV Girl Anna Murgia peers around the corner in a drive against Windsor Knolls. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA Varsity Girl Rosie Barry proves that Falcons fly higher than Hawks in her drive against Windsor Knolls. Eric Lee of the JV Boys zeros in on the bucket with Zach Long positioning himself for the rebound. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom atjcphotoclub@aol.com.
Poolesville's top scorer Andy Baker managed just a lonely bucket in the second quarter, but he more than made up for it by passing for three assists in that same quarter---a stat just about any player could be happy with. The rest of the game was a different story, however, as Baker burned Crestwood by hitting for an additional 29 points to push thePBA Varsity Boys to a 60-49 over the visiting Cavaliers. Baker's unbelievable 31-point performance included an assault courtesy of the full range of weapons at his disposal----hard drives, twists, scoops, floaters and yes---the inevitable three-point "dagger"---which he managed to jab into the belly of the Cavaliers whenever they threatened. Coach Weber said "I thought we did a lot of things right today as a team. Trevor (Stottlemyer---nine points, six rebounds) was a force on the boards and Mitchell Poe (12 points) went hard to the bucket for us. Did I mention the Baker kid? That boy can shoot! He makes me a better coach." Poolesville broke open a two-point advantage at the half to pick up the win. Craig Morton hit for four points as did Chris Thompson. Thompson's clutch four all came from the free throw line as Crestwood fouled late to try and get back into the game.
Every quarter was closely contested, but the Crestwood JV Boys made the most of their opportunities (and their deeper bench) by holding off the PBA JV Boys by a final score of 46-33. Zach Long managed to hit for 19 for the Falcons despite battling foul trouble all night. Joey Cartwright hit for double figures again for the Falcons and finished with 10 points. Logan Rocco scored four points to complete the Poolesville scoring. "The guys played their hearts out tonight," said Coach Bill Cartwright. "In the end, we just ran out of gas. I'm proud of our effort. Eric Lee, Ryan Shorts, and Bobby Pike gave us some good quality minutes tonight. Brandon Bush mixed it up inside well for us as did Reid Patton."
The PBA Varsity Girls got off to a fast start against Windsor Knolls on Sunday---something Coach Sandy Chittenden has been looking for. "For once we jumped on somebody," said Coach Chittenden. "Rosie Barry (6 points, 2 assists) had a great first quarter. Even though they came back, we pretty much shut them down once we stopped leaving their shooter open . We did a nice job of controlling the clock in the fourth quarter too." The Varsity Girls won every quarter and polished off the Hawks with a 27-20 home win. Barry finished with nine points. Sarah Kenneweg and Julia Potts handled the point guard duties masterfully and finished with five points each. Denise Larson and Rebekah Dill both finished with four points. Mackenzie Fields blocked two shots and grabbed four rebounds. Jessie Maloney had two assists and two steals.
The PBA JV Girls lost to Windsor Knolls, 45-20, in their home game on Sunday. Poolesville's anemic first half shooting was a major contributor to an 8-2 deficit at the end of the first quarter and a 20-4 score at halftime. Poolesville's play improved in the third quarter, closing the gap to 27-16 after three quarters. "I was happy with how we played in the third quarter," said Coach Steve Morgan. "Our shots started to fall and our defense improved. We just can't play the way we did in the first half and expect to win, particularly against really good teams such as Windsor Knolls. Anna Murgia had a really good second half, as did Kristen Darragh. Anna DeSoto did a good job defensively throughout the game, deflecting passes and blocking shots. Allyson Convers played great defense, particularly in the third quarter." Murgia led the team with 11 points. Darragh scored six and Jessie Martinez added three.
Game Summaries 12/6
PBA Boys Derail Brunswick
Rivals No Match for Poolesville JV, VarsityThe PBA JV Boys built a seven-point 1st quarter lead over Brunswick and kept it that way the rest of the game in a 35-24 home win over the Railroaders. Falcon guard Joey Cartwright shot five for six from the field, but all five buckets were three-pointers and the shooting guard finished with 15 points. Teammate Zach Long played a strong game in the paint and scored 13 points to help lead Poolesvillle to the win. Reid Patton scored five points and grabbed eight rebounds, Brandon Bush, Ryan Shorts, Bobby Pike, and Eric Lee all had at least one steal and a couple of rebounds, and Logan Rocco hit for two and had three steals. "Beating Brunswick always feels good," said Coach Bill Cartwright.
The PBA Varsity Boys played a close second half in their game against Brunswick at PHS on Sunday. Unfortunately the first half was a bigger factor in determining the final score as the Falcons sent the Railroaders packing by opening up a 16-4 margin at the half. The final score of 38-22 looked closer than it was as Poolesville dominated a team that challeneged them twice last year. Mitchell Poe (12 points) and Craig Morton (10) were the double-digit scorers for the homestanding Falcons. Andy Baker, with no 4th quarter minutes due to the impending margin of victory, finished with nine points and then the dreaded "666" with six each of rebounds, assists, and steals. Trevor Stottlemyer scored just four points but was a big factor on the boards with eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Robbie Metz also got into the act with three points and three steals. "Our guys are usually too nice but this game they stayed on them for all 28 minutes," said Coach John Weber. "12 assists is always a nice stat as well."
JV, Varsity Girls Run Over by Walkersville
The PBA JV Girls lost their home opener to Walkersville by the score of 31-14 on Sunday, dropping their record to 1-1 on the season. Walkersville's defense was effective early, creating steals and blocking shots. Poolesville's inability to make easy shots contributed to the problems, as Walkersville had a 15-2 lead at halftime. Poolesville's only bucket in the first half came from Allyson Convers, with an assist from Anna Murgia. "We missed a lot of shots that we should have made in the first half, which affected our confidence," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We committed too many turnovers, particularly in the first half, but a made basket here or there would have helped." The second half went better, as Poolesville closed the gap to 24-12 with 3 minutes left in the game. Murgia scored 8 of those points, with the other two coming from Allie Gruber. Convers scored Poolesville's last basket, on an assist from Jessie Martinez. "We played better in the second half," continued Morgan. "We continued to show a lot of hustle throughout the game, which is a good sign. Most of Anna's points were the end result of her playing tenacious defense. Allie was working hard on defense. I was glad to see her get her basket. Ashley Adkins was showing a lot of hustle, creating jump balls and diving on the floor for loose balls. Jessie had a really nice assist near the end of the game. Throughout the game, we actually did a lot of good things. Unfortunately, we almost always followed it up with something bad. We'll try to correct those bad things in practice."
Walkersville's Varsity Girls squad showed why they are the team to beat this year by creating turnovers and turning them into buckets all game long in their 39-19 win over the PBA Varsity Girls. Whitney Carmack scored eight points for Poolesville and Rosie Barry (four steals) and Denise Larson (four rebounds) also scored six points each for the Falcons. Olivia McAleer made the most of her time on the court and finished with five boards.
Thanksgiving Weekend Game Summaries
PBA JV Boys Capture Tournament Crown!
Five Straight Wins Pace Falcons
to St. Micheals Holiday Championship
The PBA JV Boys, along with coaches Steve Morningstar and Bill Cartwright, hold up the winning bracket sheet which shows Poolesville starting in the upper left-hand corner and ending in the lower right-hand corner---always a good thing when it comes to "bracketology"! The JV Boys beat Mid-Maryland League rival Glenwood 47-40 in overtime to nail down the championship. Congrats to the guys for a great long weekend of basketball!
The PBA JV Boys Basketball team went into the St. Michaels Thanksgiving Basketball Tip Off Tournament hoping to continue to improve as they have over the last 6 months and play some competitive basketball. What ended up happening was a five-game undefeated run to a championship!
Starting early Friday morning and finishing up late on Sunday night, the JV Falcons won five straight games in the St. Michaels Thanksgiving Tip Off Tournament and brought home the Championship trophy. Along the way they beat the Olney Hustle, St. Marks Academy, the Columbia Ravens as well as Mid-Maryland rival, the Glenwood Cobras, two times in a row to secure an undefeated run and the Championship.
The team was led all weekend by the scoring, rebounding, and defensive dominance of Steven Morningstar, Zack Long and Cody Mauri. However, the championship was won overall by a total team effort on both ends of the court. Having played four different teams and five games in three days and having to adjust to numerous different game strategies, the young Falcons adapted and adjusted to everything Coach Morningstar and Coach Cartwright threw at them, but more importantly the toughness, intensity and desire that every player played with was by far the deciding factor in their special championship effort.
The intensity was incredible as each game unfolded and the chance to win a championship got closer and closer. Each player on the team contributed to each win. Every player on the team scored and the team hit a total of 16 three pointers from seven different players in the first two games. There were outstanding individual efforts in each contest, from Reid Patton, Chris Novel and Brandon Bush's solid defensive efforts ,rebounding and timely scoring, to Joey Cartwright's scoring and big three-pointers, to the constant pressure defense of Logan Rocco and the unselfish play and scoring of Dominick Prete and Bobby Pike, it truly was a total team effort.
Having won two games on Friday to advance to the winners bracket on Saturday, Poolesville then beat a tough Columbia Ravens team to set up a Sunday showdown with the so called "best team in the tournament"---the Glenwood Cobras. In the first game versus the Cobras on Sunday afternoon, the JV Falcons had to overcome a relentless full court press from start to finish from the Cobras which resulted in a 10-point halftime deficit for the Falcons. Poolesville threw down a tough match up zone in the second half and some timely baskets and pressure free throws in the last two minutes allowed the Falcons to hang on for a five-point win, which then set up the championship vs. the same Glenwood Cobras. The Sunday night championship game was another intense and well-played game that again found the JV Boys down double-digits in the first half to the hard-charging Cobras. By halftime, Poolesville fought back as they had all tournament to take a one-point lead with a ball hawking defense, some outstanding offensive play and a total domination on the boards. The Falcons then pushed their lead to eight with four minutes to play. The tenacious Cobras fought back and tied the game with two minutes to play, and with a Falcon shot going in and out at the buzzer, the championship game would need overtime to be decided.
In overtime, Poolesville again played, as Coach Steve said, "as aggressive of a defense as you could play without being arrested, literally." The boys from Poolesville held the high scoring Cobras scoreless in the overtime period and once again finished off the game with some pressure free throws in the last minute of overtime to win the tournament championship. Coach Morningstar said after the championship game, "It was a total team effort all weekend. Coach Bill and I just wanted to come into the tournament and help our players continue to get better, but once they got rolling it really was an awesome experience to be a part of. We have a young group that works hard and is never outplayed , win or lose, when it comes to heart, toughness and desire. This weekend they also grew when it came to the x's and o's of the game and also through a lot of hard work over the last six months. It really is nice to see it pay off with a championship. We couldn't be prouder of a group of young men then we are of this group. They accept every challenge we throw at them with enthusiasm and they really, really deserved to win it all".
For the JV Boys there is still a lot of hard work ahead and a ton to improve on, but tipping off the season with a championship is something they can all be very proud of. Poolesville's PBA Boys teams start Mid-Maryland play this upcoming Sunday at PHS vs. rival Brunswick.
JV, Varsity Girls Split Against Ballenger Creek in Season Openers
The PBA JV Girls opened up their season with a 35-24 victory at Ballenger Creek. The game was much closer than the final score suggests, as the game was tied at 18 at halftime. Ballenger Creek led 24-22 at the end of three quarters, before Poolesville outscored the hosts 13-0 in the final quarter. "I was really happy with how we played today," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We passed the ball better than we ever have before, both with our entry passes and our interior passes. We took good shots. We handled defensive pressure. We went through stretches in which we struggled with our shots, but we kept our composure and didn't force things. We played our best in crunch time."
Karyn Comfort led the team with 11 points, including 7 in the final quarter. Mollie Bodmer scored 8 points and added 6 rebounds. Anna Murgia scored 7 points and led the team with 12 rebounds. Kristen Darragh scored 7 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Anna DeSoto scored 2 points. Allyson Convers led the team with 4 steals and had 7 rebounds.
The PBA Varsity Girls opened up an early lead 21-9 lead against Ballenger Creek but a Lady Bulldog box-in-one press on Falcon point guard Whitney Carmack put a hex on the Poolesville attack. The visitors never fully recovered and Ballenger Creek marched off with a 48-33 win over the Falcons. Carmack finished with 16 points, Mackenzie Fields finished with eight points and Denise Larson and Rosie Barry added four points each. Olivia McAleer and Jessie Maloney came off the bench and made strong contributions while Julia Potts and Sarah Kenneweg took some of the ball-handling pressure off of Carmack. As a team, the Falcons went 8-for-10 from the free throw line to help stay in the game.
Mid-Maryland Boys League Tournament Info
Tournament Brackets can be found at http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmbball/mmtour2011.html
PBA Varsity Boys MML "A" Tournament Schedule------------
Poolesville (#7 seed, 6-12 overall record) lost to Linganore (#2 seed, 10-8) by a final score of 42-27 in quarterfinal action on Saturday (3/5) at 7:30 PM at St. Johns High School in Frederick. The Falcons played hard all season and look forward to high school ball this spring.PBA JV Boys MML "A" Tournament Schedule------------
Poolesville (#7 seed, 5-13 overall record) lost to Ballenger Creek (#2 seed, 14-4) by a final score of 48-26 in quarterfinal action on Saturday (3/5) at 1:30 PM at St. Johns High School in Frederick. Congrats to the JV Boys for a strong finish to the regular season.Boys and Girls Rising Star League Tournament Info
PBA Rising Star Girls Tournament Schedule------------
Poolesville (11-0, 1st Place Chesapeake Division) beat the TSB Cool Beans on Saturday night in their regular season final and then again on Sunday (2/27) in their playoff opener. See below for game summaries.
The Rising Star Girls fell to the Lady Bulldogs 40-11 in the 6th Grade Rising Star Quarterfinals on Sunday (3/6) at 12:10 PM at Walter Johnson High School. They finish their first PBA season with a 11-1 record. Nice job girls!PBA Rising Star Boys Tournament Schedule------------
Poolesville beat the Thunder 35-32 in their regular season final, then lost to Damascus 63-31 in their first (and only) playoff game. Their season ends with a regular season record of 8-2 and high hopes for their inaugural season next year in the competitive Mid Maryland League. See below for game summaries.Mid-Maryland Girls League Tournament Info
PBA JV Girls Tournament Info------------
Poolesville lost to Windsor Knolls 26-23 in overtime and their season is over. See below for game summary. Congrats to the girls and Coach Chris Hall for a strong first year in the Mid-Maryland League and we're looking for big things from you next year!PBA Varsity Girls Tournament Info-----------
Poolesville lost to Walkersville 29-27 in first round play and their season is over. See below for the Game Summary. Thanks for a great three years to the girls and congrats to Coaches Cathy Carnahan, Gina Grubb, and David Larson for their successes and hard work on behalf of the team and the PBA!
2009 PBA Summer League Game Summaries
Week of July 13th
Rising Star Girls Close Out With Win Over Hoopsters!
The PBA Rising Star Girls won Friday night to close out their debut season with a winning record 6-4. The Lady Falcons defeated the Maryland Hoopsters 28-25. Mollie Bodmer lead the Falcons to their victory with an outstanding performance by posting the teams first double-double. Mollie had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals. Also scoring for the Falcons were, Jami D'Amelio with 6, Lauren Lightcap with 3 and Delaney Cecco, Jessie Martinez, Morgan Mullett & Allie Nevius adding a bucket. The team posted a record setting 30 rebounds. In addition to Mollie's 10 boards were; Breanne Hall & Jessie Martinez(5), Lauren Lightcap(3), Jami D'Amelio & Jolee Raines(2) and Morgan, Hannah Wills and Kayla Zinsser with one. Continuing with their pesky defense, Lauren Lightcap lead the team with 8 steals followed by; Mollie(4), Jolee(3), Jami, Jessie & Allie(2) and Delaney, Breanne, Morgan and Brianna Roche each with a steal. "Tonight I really wanted a win and these girls put on a performance. In the second half I asked the girls to implement a trapping 2-3 defense - something we never practiced - and they did better than I expected. I'm excited about what the Winter holds in store for us. We will have over two months of practice before our first winter game and based on what we have seen this Summer, the future looks bright." commented coach Hall after the game.
Da JV Girls Defensively Dominate and De-Claw DeChantel
The PBA JV Girls defeated DeChantal with a dominating defensive performance for a 22-6 win on Monday night. Anna Murgia supplied the offense in the first half with nice drives to the basket resulting in several “and ones”. She finished the half with 10 points leading the team to a 12-4 halftime lead. In the second half, Anna DeSoto and Denise Larson led the defense creating steals and resulting in several fast break lay-ups. Coach Larson commented after the game on everyone’s aggressiveness on defense which kept DeChantal off balance the whole game. A couple of key starters got in foul trouble, but the others stepped up and maintained the defensive intensity. Kaye Peden contributed with defensive pressure and Mollie Bodmer had an impressive block. Offensively, most everyone had chances to score, but the shots didn‘t fall. “We still need work on our offense and rebounding, but everyone got good minutes tonight and really hustled on defense and everyone contributed to this overall team win” said Coach Larson. Murgia finished with 10 points, Larson had 8 and DeSoto had 4.
The PBA JV Girls lost their season finale to the Classics, 27-9, to finish the summer season with a record of 7 wins and 3 losses. Anna DeSoto got Poolesville off to a good start by nailing a long field goal in the opening minute, but the lead was short-lived, and it was Poolesville's only lead of the game. Poolesville managed to stay close early, as it was 10-6 with about 6 minutes left in the first half. It was 14-6 at halftime. According to Coach Steve Morgan, "If we are at full strength, we have a legitimate chance of beating the Classics, as evidenced by our 1 point loss to them earlier in the summer, but with the combination of injuries, illnesses and absences due to vacation, we didn't have the necessary firepower to hang with them. They finished the summer undefeated." Poolesville's other first half baskets came from Anna Murgia (off of a nice pass from Denise Larson) and Mollie Bodmer. In the second half, Murgia had a great pass to Taylor Thomas for a field goal, and Rachel Neville added a free throw. Poolesville did a good job blocking shots throughout the game, led by DeSoto with 3, and others from Murgia, Larson, Thomas, Allie Gruber and Breanne Hall, but Poolesville got dominated on the boards. Bodmer led the team in rebounding. Murgia led the team with 8 steals. "The girls should be proud of their second place finish," said Morgan. "First place should always be the goal, but we're trying to accomplish many things, and winning is only one of them. We want each player to develop their individual skills and to gain a greater understanding of the game. We also want them to increase their love of the game, so that they will work on their game on their own during the off-season. If the girls work hard in the off-season, we have a good chance of having a successful season this winter in the Mid-Maryland league."
Varsity Boys do the "Splits" in Last Week of Season
The PBA Varsity Boys got off to a slow start against Clarksburg on Monday night. So slow, in fact, that Coach John Weber thought his boys skipped warm-ups. Despite the tough beginning, Poolesville stayed close until the final minute before falling to their cross-town rival by a final score of 32-26. Trevor Stottlemyer led the Falcons with 13 points, Charlie Miller had nine and MItchell Poe rounded out the three-man scoring with four points. “We had too many turnovers, not enough steals and didn’t finish under the basket," said Coach John Weber. "We had as many turnovers as we had points with everyone contributing to that stat and you can’t win games playing that way. There was one point in the game I thought, have these guys ever seen a bounce pass and, yes, we do work on them in practice. On a positive note, I thought that Charlie played one of the best games I’ve seen him play. On top of the points, he led all rebounders with 7 and with his height, that’s what we need.” Miller, Stottlemyer and Matt Schramm combined for 15 rebounds.
The second half of the week brought much improvement as the Varsity Boys got it going early and often to avenge an earlier season loss to the Colesville Comets by a final score of 59-52. Andy Baker led all scorers with 25, followed by Stottlemyer with 17, Hunter Pearre with eight, Craig Morton with four, Poe with 3 and Connor Hall with two. Fifteen of the Falcon points came off 3-pointers. "I'm more than OK with the three-pointers," said Coach Weber, "but against these guys we could have had lay-ups all night if we’d have just run the offense and that would have been better than just OK. I’ve got to give the boys credit, we were down by four points with less than three minutes to go and we clawed our way out of the hole and eventually won the game by hitting free throws. The nice thing is we hit them when they really counted and when we were tired. Charlie fouled out in the middle of the 2nd half but played aggressively every minute he played which I like and is something I’d like to see from everyone." The Varsity Boys finished the summer league season with a 5-5 record.
Varsity Girls lose final
The PBA Varsity Girls lost their final game of the season, 38-28, to the taller and more experienced Classics. The Falcons played them even in the second half (16-all) but couldn't overcome a 22-12 first half deficit due to a substantial size difference. The Classics center (#33) was taller than Coach Chittenden. Poolesville came out in the 2nd half playing man-to-man, shut the Classics down, and were within five points with over three minutes left but could not close the gap further. Denise Larson had a great game of rebounding pulling in nine rebounds with scoring four points. While the Falcon inside attack was hampered by the big girls offensively, the Poolesville guards made up the difference in scoring with Whitney Carmack pulling in 14 points and grabbing 5 steals, Rosie Barry following with six points and seven rebounds, and Rebekah Chittenden and Ana Murgia fnished with two points each on great outside shots. Sarah Kenneweg helped out with 5 rebounds and 1 steal. "All in all, we had a good summer season with a record of 4-6. A couple of those losses were real close games," said Coach Laura Carmack. "What made this summer a good learning experience was that we really tried to get the ball to our girls down low and when they were covered, our guards would pick up offensively. We moved the ball better this summer and we improved defensively as well."
Rising Star Girls Edge Cougars
The Rising Star Girls defeated the Cougars Monday night with a 20-18 victory raising their record to 5-4. This was their second match-up and this Cougar squad was much stronger then the group they faced back in June but prevailed none-the-less. The Falcons started off with a bang and by midway through the first half, the score quickly grow to 6-0 in favor of the Falcons. However, the latter part of the first half was just the opposite, the Falcons went on cruise control. At the half, the score was 8-8. The second half was not much better and with three minutes to go in the game, the Cougars led 18-16. Implementing a full court press the Falcons were able to cause havoc and tie the game with just 2 minutes left. With just over one minute to go, Jami D'Amelio hit a jumper from just inside the foul line to put the Falcons ahead 20-18. "Jami's offense was outstanding tonight. She added six points in the second half and was there when we needed someone to score." commented Coach Hall after the game. Jami led all scores for the Falcons with 9 followed by Jessie Martinez with 5. Delaney Cecco, Breanne Hall, and Jolee Raines each added a bucket. As the leader of the pesky defense squad, Breanne Hall took the ball from the Cougars four times with several at critical times. Delaney, Allie "Jinkies, Does someone have my glasses" Nevius, and Kayla Zinsser each had 3, Jessie and Jolee Raines(2) with Jami and Morgan Mullett added a steal each. The Falcons set a record with 28 rebounds. Jessie ripped down 10, Jami 5, Breanne & Delaney 3, Brianna Roche 2. Also rebounding for the Falcons were Maria Callear, Morgan, Allie, Jolee and Kayla with one each.
Week of July 6th
PBA JV Girls Sink Aqua Mystics
The PBA JV Girls improved their record to 6-2 with a 25-12 victory over the Aqua Mystics on Friday. "Overall, I was very happy with how we played tonight," said Coach Steve Morgan. "Except for sloppy play at the beginning of the game, we handled the ball well and we passed well. Our defense was very effective, and for most of the game, it was dominating." After falling behind early, 4-2, Poolesville went on a 13-0 run to take a 15-4 lead late in the first half. The lead was 17-8 at halftime. "Adele Spinder really picked up her game defensively," continued Morgan. "She had 4 rebounds and 3 steals, and is starting to show the aggressiveness we are wanting from her. Kaye Peden is starting to show that aggressiveness as well. For most of the game, our interior defense was outstanding. Mollie Bodmer, Rachel Neville and Anna DeSoto took turns blocking shots, grabbing rebounds and stealing passes near the lane. Kristen Darragh, Taylor Thomas, Breanne Hall, Anna Murgia and Denise Larson all did an excellent job handling their full-court press. Breanne had one memorable coast-to-coast lay-up through traffic which she converted, and Denise threaded the needle with a great pass through traffic to Breanne on another fast break opportunity, which she made. Anna Murgia and Denise both shot their free throws well, combining to make 7 of them." DeSoto led the team with 6 rebounds, followed closely by Bodmer, who had 5. Bodmer led the team with 3 blocks. Murgia led the team with 5 steals, and Darragh had 4. Larson scored 9, Murgia had 8, and Hall and Darragh each scored 4.
The PBA Rising Star Girls give it their all in the second half but came up short to a tough Flames team and lost 21-13. "After discussions between the coaches, our game plan was not necessarily a win defined by points but a win where all girls gained experience against a talented Flames team. Although we came up short, we accomplished our goal and these girls are better for it." said coach Hall after the game. After being down 17-4 at the half, the lady falcons took time to discuss how to break a full court press. Hall added, "Effectively breaking a full court press has been our achilleas heal. Many of these girls have never experienced this kind of pressure and this summer has been a great primer for the future." During the second half, Kristen Darragh came to life. Kristen had seven steals and five points on the night to gave the Lady Falcons a 9-4 run in the second but it was not enough to close the gap. Also scoring for the falcons were Jami D'Amelio (4) and Kayla Zinsser adding a bucket. Kayla Zinsser and Lauren Lightcap did a good job on the boards with five and four respectively, while Kristen pulled down three and Mollie Bodmer and Breanne Hall each grabbed two. "Their scrappy defense is definitely a strength and just about every player had a steal tonight," added Hall. Overall, the team took the ball away 23 times. In addition to Kristen's 7 were; Allie Nevius(3), Millie, Jami, Lauren, and Jolee Raines with (2) and Delaney Cecco, Breanne Hall, Jessie Martinez, Morgan Mullett and Kayla also contributed one on the night.
The PBA Varsity Boys held a 4 point halftime lead against the Vipers and let it turn into a 4 point loss, 44 to 40. Trevor Stottlemyer led all scorers with 16 while Hunter Pearre contributed 13, Mitchell Poe scored 6 and Kyle Brown had 4. "We really controlled the game up until the last 8 minutes when we just couldn’t hit like we did the 1st 20 minutes of the game," said Coach John Weber. "Mitchell controlled the point, Trevor and Hunter kept us in the game shooting, Chris Thompson, Connor Hall and Kyle played tough defense while Matt Schramm pulled down some big rebounds for us, but in the end we just ran out of gas. Even though it was a loss there were some good things that happened. Hunter shoot the ball better than I’ve ever seen him shoot. Trevor picked up his game on the offensive end of the court. Kyle and Chris played intense defense making the Vipers earn everything. Matt and Connor gave us some quality minutes off the bench."
Beat Us Once, Shame On Us. Beat Us Twice…NOT Going to Happen!
PBA Rising Star Boys Gain Revenge Win Against Rebs, Varsity Girls Take Down The ClassicsAnn and Nancy Wilson would be proud of the Rising Star Boys in their 24-22 victory this past Wednesday. The young Falcons moved the ball as a surgeon would move a scalpel against the Runnin’ Rebs, vindicating their earlier 19-15 loss this season. Poolesville bypassed their usual play, and worked together like a new valve helping to suture up their summer season and give their Winter season a strong beat. “This game showed that they are getting it”, said Coach Micheals as he took off his surgical gown and directed the head nurse to close. “The ball movement was the best I’ve seen all year, the passing was the best, the help side defense, everything was exceptional compared to where we were at the beginning of the season. I love the fact that we played this kind of game on the last game of the season. If we play like this next year, this team will be tough to beat.”
Indeed, Poolesville came to play as they took the lead 2-0 on a jumper from Ryan Bannon and the usual coronary’s saved for Coach Micheals were nowhere to be found. “Our defense really helped in this game. It was like the guys were stuck on the inside of the other teams breastplate. Where ever they went, we followed”, continued Micheals, “But don’t feel sorry for the Rebs, they are resting comfortably at home in their summer of chill and we’ll see them in the Winter.
Leading the surgical team was Joe Soltis with (7), providing extra anesthesia were Jackson Purdy (4), Ryan D’Amelio (4), Andrew Bacas (3), Ryan Bannon (2), Justin Souder (2), and Blake Hinkson (2).
This wraps up the 4-6 season for the Falcons, but a commemorative DVD is being released to all PBA authorized outlets
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The PBA Varsity Girls pulled out a big 31-28 win tonight against a Classics team that beat the Falcons by 10 the last time they played. Poolesville came out strong and led at half-time 13-10. The Varsity Girls made some adjustments in their offense in the 2nd half and went on a scoring spree----at one point forging a nine-point lead. Denise Larson had another double-double by scoring 12 of her 16 points in the second half along with 10 rebounds for the game. "When we adjusted our offense and got the ball down low to her and MacKenzie Fields (who also scored 4 points), the game turned in our direction," said Coach Laura Carmack. Rosie Barry had a big game all around scoring six points, grabbing six rebounds, adding three steals, four assists and one block. Whitney Carmack followed with three points, 1 blocked shot and a few rebounds. Sarah Kenneweg played a great game as well shooting 50% from the foul line to add two points and added four rebounds and one assist. Ana Murgia served as "sixth man" and played tough defense and got two steals.
Summer Vacation Cut Short as Rising Star Boys Lose to The Holy Cross Hawks
A summer season can be similar to a summer vacation. It starts with the anticipation of seeing America while riding in the back of the station wagon and eating a staple of hot dogs and sodas, but typically ends up with an indescribable smell from the back of the car. That smell for the PBA Rising Star Boys is the string of close losses after fighting their way back into the games. “The guys were down by 14 with 12 minutes left in the game”, said Coach Marshall Micheals while listening to the oldies and threatening to ‘turn the car around right now unless you two stop arguing, “and we tied late, but just couldn’t get over the hump to win it”. With 55 seconds left the Falcons tied the game at 33-33, but the second half of a free throw put the Hawks up by one and even though Poolesville had a long possession at the end of the game, they couldn’t get a shot off to win it. Final score--Poolesville loses 34-33. The Falcons trailed 17-13 at the half.
Leading the chants of ‘are we there yet’ was Joe Soltis with 14. Followed by Justin Souter (8), Ryan D’Amelio (6), Andrew Bacas (3), and Nathan Onderko (2).
“We were freelancing a little bit in the beginning of the game and not really doing much offensively. However, once we had a chat about our lack of direction, we performed much better. The guys are starting to see the plays that are available out of the offense. Defensively, we had some very nice stops from various guys. Ryan Bannon and Blake Hinson provided help defense when needed and Jackson Purdy did a good job on the boards”, Coach Micheals rambled on still eyeing the goings on in the back seat.
The Falcons continue down the holiday road with one more game remaining on Wednesday and hope to avenge and earlier season loss against the Runnin’ Rebels.
RS Girls Scrap, Lose
The battle hardened Rising Star Girls went toe-to-toe with a Classics team this past Wednesday night but ended up with a 12-7 loss. With all players getting a chance to rumble, the Lady Falcons fought hard and kept a seasoned Classics team to only 12 points. Thoughts from Coach Hall after the game, "I asked each girl before the game to fight for every loose ball, control the boards with all everyone boxing out and never let the other team shoot in the paint. They reacted...Mollie Bodmer and Breanne Hall had a tremendous defensive game. When there was a loose ball, Breanne and Mollie were usually the first on the floor from our team. In addition, Allie Nevius also stepped up and played with intensity for the Falcons. Although not a statistic we maintain, our team might have set a record for the number of tie-ups or jump balls tonight." Posting a team high of 26 rebounds, Mollie controlled the boards with 8 followed closely by Breanne with 6. Also rebounding were Jessie Martinez(3), Delaney Cecco, Kristen Darragh, Lauren Lightcap, and Kayla Zinsser each with 2, and Allie Nevius with one. "Our defensive effort was outstanding tonight, holding a Classic team to only 12 points is wonderful, however, we need to do a better job executing our offensive game. Someone forgot to take the lid off the bucket before the game started causing our team to shoot only 9% - something we'll keep working on for the Winter. " said Coach Hall about the team's seven points. Breanne Hall lead the Falcons offense with 3 points followed by Delaney and Kristen each adding a bucket.
JV Girls Improve to 5-2
The PBA JV Girls opened up a 12-3 lead at halftime and coasted to a 21-15 victory over DeChantal on Monday night, improving their summer league record to 5-2. "We had great effort, as always," said Coach Steve Morgan. "Our defense was very good for the most part. we had a few lapses as a result of me experimenting with having a few girls play different positions, but overall, the girls adjusted to their new roles well. Our scoring was down in part due to the different player rotation I used, but the main reason was that we had so many shots roll around the rim and fall off. The shot selection was pretty good. We just have to shoot better." Kristen Darragh led the team with 6 steals, followed closely by Anna Murgia with 5, Denise Larson with 4, and most everyone else with a few. "Kristen, Anna Murgia, Breanne (Hall) and Nancy (Morgan) all did a good job applying pressure on their guards, coming up with steals, forcing turnovers and creating havoc. Mollie (Bodmer), Rachel (Neville), Anna (DeSoto) and Denise all did a good job blocking shots and getting rebounds. Anna Murgia deserves special mention as she led the team in rebounds (with 7) from the guard position." Murgia and Larson led the team with 6 points each, followed by Neville with 4, Darragh with 3, and Hall added two free throws to complete the scoring.
On Tuesday night, the PBA Varsity Girls beat the Panthers by a final score of 32-17. Poolesville got out to a 19-4 lead in the first half. Rosie Barry and Denise Larson each went double-double on rebounds and points. Barry was high scorer with 13 points and 14 rebounds and Denise powered through with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Whitney Carmack added 5 points, 6 steals,
3 assists and Rebekah Dill added 2 points and 5 rebounds. Ana Murgia played tough defense adding another steal to the stats. "The Panthers played a tough defense on us and made us work hard," said Coach Laura Carmack. "We had trouble bringing the ball up the court". Rebekah Chittenden had a good game charging to the basket and rebounding as well.The PBA JV Boys gave Urbana, last year's Rising Star league champion, all they could handle before losing to the Hawks on Tuesday night. "Even though this has been a tough season," said Coach Bill Cartwright, "Coach Steve (Morningstar) and I both think our guys have improved each game. We will be ready for the winter Mid-Maryland League season."
Week of June 29th
PBA Varsity Boys Beat Damascus in 3 OT's!
The PBA Varsity Boys went toe-to-toe against Damascus in a classic summer league match-up last Friday night. Both teams had inconsistent starts and the first half ended with Damascus holding a four-point lead. In the 2nd half, Poolesville didn’t really get fired up until the last couple of minutes when the VB's turned a 6-point deficit and forced overtime on a last second shot by Andy Baker. Baker also hit a 3 pointer to tie the game at the end of the 1st overtime period to keep the game alive for Poolesville. It finally took three overtimes but the Falcons ended up victorious by a final margin of 56-54. During the stretch runs of each overtime, Chris Thompson had a big lay-up and finish, Mitchell Poe hit 2 clutch free throws, the defense stepped up, the team rebounded strongly and Baker finished either from the outside and down the middle. The win was a true team effort. Baker led all scorers with 28, followed by Trevor Stottlemyer with 8, Hunter Pearre and Charlie Miller with 6 each, Poe with 4, and Thompson and Craig Morton with 2 each. "All I can say is that the boys kept this one interesting, never gave up and pulled a game out of the loss column and came away with a win," said Coach John Weber. "For summer league, Damascus is the new Brunswick, they’re really fun to beat. We had our traditional slow 1st half and really just didn’t take many shots, had too many turnovers, and we let them score in the paint. Our guys did a nice job of turning it around in the second half."
Rising Star Boys Fall to Damascus---A Haiku:
Damascus is good
Poolesville suffers bad defeat
Wailing in the streetsThirty seven to twenty
Was the final score total
Falcons do not waiverPatton leads with six
Cannot overcome Hornets
Need to make free throwsSouder chips in four
Bacas provides one layup
Ryan D. hits twoArmstrong adds to score
His foot seems to be better
Hits three twos, not moreFalcons play with guts
But cannot overtake lead
Too many lost balls"Team was difficult
I know we can play better
We will work harder",So said Coach Micheals
As he surveyed damage site
"We will get better"JV Girls Shoot Down Stars, Fall to Classics
The PBA JV Girls opened up an early 12-0 lead and coasted to a 24-6 victory over the Maryland Stars on Monday night, improving their record to 4-1. "Even though we ratcheted down our defense, we still overwhelmed them defensively," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We dominated every aspect of the game." Allie Gruber led the team with 7 rebounds, Denise Larson had 5, Samantha Adkins and Anna Murgia had 4 each, with additional rebounds from Anna DeSoto, Kristen Darragh, Mollie Bodmer and Adele Spinder. The leaders in steals were Murgia with 6, Darragh with 4, and Gruber and DeSoto with 3 each. Murgia led the team with 6 points, DeSoto, Larson and Darragh scored 4 each, and Spinder, Adkins and Taylor Thomas scored 2 each.
The JV Girls fell to the Classics, 28-20, on Wednesday night. After taking a very early 2-1 lead, the Poolesville girls fell behind, 9-2, and spent the rest of the evening trying to recover. "They took advantage of our defensive mistakes," said Coach Steve Morgan. "They also took advantage of their height advantage. We have to do a better job boxing out." After closing the gap to 9-5, the halftime score was 14-6. "We aren't going to beat good teams if we score only 6 points in a half," continued Morgan. "Our offense got a little bit better in the second half, but except for a few brief moments, it never really clicked. The Classics had a lot to do with that." Poolesville closed the gap to 16-11 early in the second half, but couldn't get any closer. After the Classics stretched the lead to 10 at 26-16, the group of Anna Murgia, Kristen Darragh, Taylor Thomas, Nancy Jamison and Adele Spinder cut the lead to 26-20 with a minute left. "That group played with a lot of heart," said Morgan. Poolesville tried a couple of desperation 3's in the last 30 seconds, but one hit the front of the rim and the other rolled around and fell out. A basket by the Classics made the final score 28-20. "Allie Gruber did another good job defensively, leading our team with 6 steals." Mollie Bodmer led the team with 6 points, followed by Darragh and Anna DeSoto with 4 each, and Denise Larson and Murgia scored 3 each.
The PBA Rising Stars Girls beat the Maryland Hoopsters 20-16 on Monday night. Kristen Darragh had 8 points & 5 steals. Lauren Lightcap had 4 points & 4 rebounds. Jami D'Amelio & Molly Bodmer had 3 points each and Morgan Mullett had a bucket.
The Phoenix is RisingWith Coach Micheals on sabbatical in Arizona, President Bannon stepped in to coach the 6th Grade Rising Stars Boysteam against the always tough Darnestown squad. Doing his best Phil Jackson impression and smudging the locker room with sage to rid the evil spirits of the three-game losing streak, the Falcons came out victorious 32-27. The Fabulous Forum Falcon's were led by the "Kobe"-like performances of Jake Armstrong and Reid Patton with 6 points each and the "Paul Gasol" inside game of Joe Soltis with 12 points. Andrew Bacus controlled the pace of the game with a solid "Derek Fischer" like performance---two points and a number of assists. "We have a lot of talented individuals on this team, and this group has a lot of potential, but there is much work to be done before we can compete for championships," said Jackson/Bannon.
After trailing 15 to 21 at half time and falling behind by as many as 12 points in the second half the PBA RS Boys made a spirited comeback and cut a deficit to three with 30 seconds left in the game. The comeback came up short though, as the Falcons ran out of gas and fell to a surprisingly tough DeChantal Panthers team on Friday night by a score of 35-29. Poolesville was led by the defensive efforts of Nathan Onderko, who also contributed five points, and the strong rebounding of Dylan Landis (10 boards). "The effort was definitely there, but when you turn the ball over as many times as we did and you shoot 4 for 12 at the free throw line it hard to come away with a victory," said Coach Bill Bannon. The boys made it close at the end, though. Andrew Bacus, six points, Joe Soltis, eight points, Jake Armstrong, three points and Reid Patton, three points all contributed to the efforts. "This is a tough week on the younger boys---PBA Camp all day and then playing in the hot county gyms at night," said Bannon. "They just didn't have enough in reserve to complete the comeback."
The PBA Varsity Girls lost 38-28 to the Lady Panthers but it was a well fought game. Mackenzie Fields, Rosie Barry and Denise Larson had their work cut out for them when the Lady Panthers showed up with their ringer---a girl who was taller than Coach Chittenden. The Falcons held her to just three points. Fields and Barry played tough defense and pulled down nine rebounds. Larson contributed an extra four rebounds as well. Rebekah Dill hung in against her in the first half as well. The Falcons' Olivia McAleer was pulled up to the top on offense and she did a good job and the Varsity Girls led 14-13 at halftime. In the second half, we had a lot of fast breaks and Whitney Carmack had 3 assists down low to help Denise Larsen score 10 points. Larson did a great job finishing against the Lady Panthers. She was taken down hard by the big girl as well but got right up. The rest of the team contributed four points each from Carmack, Sarah Kenneweg, Barry and Fields. Ana Murgia played a great game of defense and had a great drive against their man to man to score a bucket.
In their second game of the week, the Varsity Girls fell hard to a Holy Redeemer squad they lost by only four to early in the season. A heavy week of Falcon Camp was a probably contributor. Carmack and Larson contributed six points each. Murgia, Barry, and Kenneweg also scored for the Falcons.
Also feeling the affects of the Falcon Camp, the PBA JV Boys lost to the Maryland Flames on Thursday night. The Falcons hung tough for the first 10 minutes but Flames size, speed, and non-wearly legs proved to be the difference.
Week of June 22nd
Magic 8 Balls, Tarot Cards, and Clairvoyance
As predictable as the sun rising in the east or Marion Barry getting re-elected, the Rising Star Boys lost ‘the game’ of the summer. “In every summer season there is always a game like this one”, said Coach Marshall Micheals, wearing his Johnny Carson “Carnac the Magnificent” hat and holding an envelope in front of his head. “The guys came out slow, lethargic, didn’t know who they had on defense, didn’t know how to run the offense, and generally put up the one bad performance of the summer. This happens every year, usually the day that school gets out.”
Dogs were barking in the streets outside the gym predicting the loss to the Thunder 39-26. Poolesville got off to a reasonable start bringing the halftime score to 20-12 on the last second shot of Justin Souder. However, fate was too hard to fight off as the defensive performance could not keep the young Falcons in the game. “This is one of the games that you use as a learning experience. The guys now know that they have to bring their best games to the gym, even during the summer. They are learning that a select league is becoming more about mental preparation than just running around trying to score baskets,” said Micheals. “We’ll be just fine, I still like what I see out of this team.” Leading the fortune telling was Jake Armstrong with 12, followed by his fellow mystics Justin Souder (8), Nathan Onderko (4), Louis Potts (2) and Ryan D’Amelio (2).
The PBA Varsity Boys fell to the Colesville Comets on Monday night. "We were missing 9 of 13 boys and enlisted the services of Steven Morningstar and Nic Fisher as backup," said Coach Weber. "In honesty, Steven was the spark plug for the night and led all scorers with 6. Zach Khalil contributed 4 while Matt Schramm and Justin Lee each tallied 2 and Nic Fisher had 1." In their second game of the week, the Varsity Boys lost to the Saints. Chris Thompson lead all scores with 6, followed by Matt Schramm with 4, with Zach Khalil, Diesom Gorham and Justin Lee each contributing 2.
RS Girls Shoot Down Stars (Part 2)
The PBA Rising Star Girls continue their winning ways. They won their second and final match-up against the Stars with a 24-9 victory. According to Coach Chris Hall, "Defense has been a strength for these ladies. I hope they continue this effort as we head into tougher match-ups next week." With defense in mind, the Lady Falcons controlled the boards with a team high 24 rebounds. Mollie Bodmer ripped down seven (averaging 6.7 per game), followed by Jessie Martinez and Morgan Mullett with three, Marina Callear, Allie Nevius and Kayla Zinsser with two and Delaney Cecco, Lauren Lightcap with Brianna Roche each contributing one. Continuing their pesky defense, the team racked up 24 steals on the night. Leading the effort was Bodmer with five (averaging 5.3 per game), Kristen Darragh and Breanne Hall with four each, Jamie D'Amelio with three steals and Lightcap, Martinez, and Nevius with two each. With this much defense, their offensive game has not really suffered but could improve. Shooting only 30% for the season and averaging 25 points a game is, however, not bad. Darragh led Poolesville with a season high of eight, B. Roche and Zinsser had four each and Bodmer (averaging 6.0 per game), Callear, D'Amelia and Lightcap each chipped in a bucket. "These girls will be tested over the next five games, we face two Classic teams and a Flames team. Let the fun begin!" said Coach Hall.
The RS Girls facing a scrappy, talented and sharp shooting Classics team in their second game of the week and lost 40-23. Like deer in head lights, the Lady Falcons only scored 9 in the first half then managed the pressure a little better in the second scoring 14. According to Coach Hall, "Our ball handlers struggled with the unrelenting pressure and the #2 & #3 guards were not moving into the open passing lanes to provide relief. Once we broke their front line defense we were able to utilize our size advantage." Leading all scores was Breanne Hall(9), followed by Mollie Bodmer(6), Kristen Darragh(4) and Allie Nevius and Kayla Zinsser each adding a bucket. Bodmer continues to dominate the boards and ripped down 8 for the Falcons. Also working the boards were D'Amelio(5), Nevius(4), Hall(3), Darragh(2) and Lauren Lightcap(1). "This was an excellent learning opportunity and experience for these girls. They had it too easy so far this summer and I was happy to see several girls step up and not shy away from the pressure. I was proud to see them fight all the way to the final buzzer." said Coach Hall after the game.
The PBA Rising Star Girls were not ready for what the Power had to offer and lost 37-11 on Friday night . Scoring 9 in the first half and 2 in the second was not enough against a seasoned travel team. Kristen Darragh (7) and Mollie Bodmer(4) lead all scores for the Lady Falcons. "Playing a team like this was a great experience and will help us as we grow." Rebounding for the Falcons were: Kristen(7), Mollie(6), Jami D'Amelio(2) and Morgan Mullett, Allie Nevius, Brianna Roche & Kayla Zinsser each with one board. Although not as dominant with steals as in prior games, the Ladies did produce 10 steals on the night. Leading the team in steals were Mollie(5) and Kristen(3). Also contributing were Breanne Hall and Jolee Raines each with one. "I'm proud of these girls and with each game the young Falcons are learning it's a team effort that produces good outcomes," said Coach Hall
PBA JV Girls Swim Past Aqua Mystics, Move to 3-1
The PBA JV Girls improved their summer league record to 3-1 with a 26-12 victory over the Aqua Mystics on Monday night. "We beat a good team tonight," said Coach Steve Morgan of the Aqua Mystics, who were in the same division as the PBA girls last winter. "Both teams play good defense, which is part of the reason why both teams struggled when shooting the ball. They were also in foul trouble, which limited their point production." Poolesville had a 12-2 lead at halftime. "Rachel Neville did a really good job rebounding, but my favorite play from her tonight was when she broke their full-court press by dribbling the length of the court under pressure and converting the lay-up. Anna Murgia did a great job handling defensive pressure and running our offense. Kristen Darragh shot the ball really well in the second half. Denise Larson had another great all-around game." Poolesville was missing several players due to illness and vacations, but those who were there were filling the stat sheet. Neville led the team with 9 rebounds, Murgia added 7, Mollie Bodmer had 5, and there were others from Larson, Allie Gruber, Darragh, Taylor Thomas and Adele Spinder. Darragh led the team with 6 steals, Murgia added 5, Larson added 4, and there were others from Breanne Hall, Neville, Bodmer and Kaye Peden. Larson led the team with 4 blocks, and there were others by Neville, Murgia and Hall. Larson led the team in scoring with 10, Darragh scored 8, and Murgia and Neville each scored 4.
The PBA JV Boys played a spirited game against Olney on Monday night. They kept the score close all night but fell just short in the end. Defensively the JV boys hounded Olney all night and never gave up an easy basket. Offensively the offense is starting to run smoother as the JV Boys started getting better looks at the basket. After losing a close one two nights, before the JV Boys faced the same opponent in Olney. Once again the JV boys fought hard keeping the score under a 15 point margin all game long until the final seconds. With 3:23 left in the game and down by 12, Poolesville went into a full court man pressure, causing turnover over turnover and resulting in points for the Falcons. With seconds left in the game, the JV Boys were down by one point when they were fouled attempting a three-pointer for the win. The Falcons hit the hardest of all free throws (the first one) to tie the game but did not convert the last two. With the game in overtime, Olney proved to be a little stronger holding on to win. Without a doubt the most exciting game for the JV Boys of this season.
Week of June 15th
Up, Down, and Lay Off That Cotton Candy!
The Ohio Players said it, “You give me that funny feeling in my tummy”, and the PBA Rising Star Boys acted it out in their 19-15 loss to the Running Rebels, continuing their roller coaster win-one/lose-one cycle. “The score doesn’t show it, but we had one of our better offensive outings this year”, said Coach Marshall Micheals as he made sure that lap belts were low and tight around the waist. “We didn’t finish a lot of our shots, the Poolesville lay-up curse is alive and well with this group, but all of our shots were in the very high percentage category which is what you like to see”. Another patented defensive halftime score of 8-6 (Rebels) acted as a precursor to the Falcon loss.
Only three players were tall enough to ride the ride as Dylan Landis had 7, Joe Soltis had 6, and Jake Armstrong finished with 2. However, keeping any team to 19 points means that the defense was working. The aggressive nature of Poolesville was evident from the tip off as the press kept the Running Rebels in check most of the game. Jackson Purdy and Joe Soltis were big on the boards all game, keeping the Rebels to one offensive shot most of the game. Louis Potts provided his usual spark but fouled out at the end of the game.
“I still like what I see with this team, they are scrappy and will do the little things that need to be done to win. The shots weren’t falling, but that will take care of itself with all the practice that these guys are going to do over the summer," finished Micheals.
Varsity Boys Split Week
Like the first two games of this summer, The PBA Varsity Boys came out flat (like the boys were at their class picnic or something) and spotted the opposition eight points at the beginning of the game. The Falcons couldn’t buy a basket and finally Chris Thompson got one to fall about midway through the half. As a result, Poolesville shot about 23% in the 1st half and ended the half down 21 to 14. The good news is that the Falcons came out on an 8-0 run to start the 2nd half. It was like night and day---the Varsity Boys played a little defense, converted turnovers, hit shots and just looked alive. Andy Baker led all scorers with 16 points, followed closely by Trevor Stottlemyer with 12 and Mitchell Poe with eight. Craig Morton scored five points, and Kyle Brown and Chris Thompson finished with two each. "I like the fact that Justin Lee, Trevor and Andy had assists for us tonight, most in the 2nd half which resulted in us taking charge of the game," said Coach John Weber. "One thing that I’m seeing is a little more intensity on defense, particularly with the guards, I really like that, and hope everyone picks up their level of effort on that side of the court." The Varsity Boys came away with a 45-38 win.
In their second game of the week---this time against Clarksburg---the Varsity Boys were out-hustled and just simply outplayed. "For all the good things that I've seen this summer, this looked a lot like the winter effort on defense," said Coach Weber. "From a coaching perspective if we had gone to a zone we may have won the game or at least closed the gap, but we didn't change and here's where I may have to reconsider my approach." The Varsity Boys actually started on a good note by going up 6-0, but the game ended on a sour note---a 47-36 loss to the Coyotes. Baker and Stottlemyer led all scores with 15 and 10 points respectively, while Poe and Morton each contributed four, Matt Schramm had three and Charlie Miller finished with two. As a team, the Varsity Boys ended the game with 26 rebounds (with 15 of them coming from Stottlemyer and Baker) but Clarksburg probably had 10-15 more rebounds as a team---Poolesville didn't box out and it showed in the stats.
Falcons Down DeChantal
The PBA JV Girls coasted to a 30-14 victory over DeChantal on Wednesday. After starting slowly, the Poolesville girls turned a 4-4 game into a 16-6 halftime lead and stretched it to 26-10 midway through the second half. "We're playing really well right now, especially with our passing," said Coach Steve Morgan. "Anna Murgia played a great game, shooting well, running the offense and playing tenacious defense. Rachel Neville did a great job with interior defense, blocking shots, grabbing rebounds and forcing turnovers. Anna DeSoto continues to play really good defense and handle the ball well," according to Morgan. Murgia led the team with 11 points and had 3 steals. Denise Larson scored 8 points, blocked 3 shots, had 5 rebounds and had 2 steals. Kristen Darragh had 6 points and 3 steals. Neville scored 3 points, blocked 2 shots, had 5 rebounds and had 2 steals. Breanne Hall had 3 steals. Mollie Bodmer had 2 blocks, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Breanne Hall had 3 steals, and DeSoto added 2 points and 2 steals.
The PBA JV Boys dropped the second game of the season to last year's Rising Star Christmas Tournament Champion Urbana Hawks by a final score of 35-32 on Tuesday night. While a loss still stings, the Falcons lost to the Hawks last season by 25 points, so marked improvement were the words of the night for Poolesville. "The offense ran more smooth and the defense is getting stronger," said Coach Bill Cartwright. "Playing in this higher division is doing us a lot of good." The JV Boys faced another tough opponent in Damascus in their 3rd game of the season. The Falcons played a spirited game against a larger, faster stronger team. With each of their losses this season, the JV Boys have played hard and improved in all aspects of the game.
PBA Varsity Girls Double-up Classics, Lose to Flames
The PBA Varsity Girls beat the Classics on Monday night by a final score of 29-15. Rosie Barry was the high scorer with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals; Julia Potts finished with 6 points. 6 rebounds; Whitney Carmack chipped in 5 points, 7 rebounds 2 steals; Sarah Kenneweg did her share with 3 pts, 4 rebounds; Rebekah Chittenden hit a 3-pointer off an inbounds play and finished with 4 rebounds. Denise Larson grabbed 5 rebounds and scored 2 points. MacKenzie Fields finished with 8 rebounds and 2 points. "We played a great game with lots of rebounds, lots of great passes and plenty of fast breaks," said Coach Laura Carmack. In their second game of the week, the Varsity Girls lost to the Flames. "Our guards had a hard time breaking through the press tonight and getting to the open man and then it just got worse from there," said Coach Carmack. "On a positive note, we had one of our best rebounding games by Denise Larson with 9 rebounds and 2 points. MacKenzie and Rebekah Chittenden combined for 10 rebounds and Olivia McAleer and Whitney followed with 4 each. We lost 18-9. Potts was the high scorer with 4, Carmack with 3 and Larson with 2. We actually finally got some good passes down low and fast breaks but we didn't make our key shots when we needed to and the other team did. We also had at least 30 jump balls and our team was only called for 1 foul (ed. note---pretty amazing). Murgia contributed tough, scrappy defense."
Poolesville Graduates With Victory Over T-Wolves!
With grandparents in the stands fresh off the Poolesville Elementary and Monocacy 5th grade graduation ceremonies, the now officially 6th graders played cross-town rivals…Poolesville. Pomp and circumstance was laced with scoring and defense to provide the PBA Rising Star Boys a 43-13 win over the Timberwolves. Leading 23-6 at the half, the Falcons never looked back as their pressure defense and timely rebounding provided the win.
“Of course you like to win the games against your friends, but there are a lot of things that we still need to work on”, said Coach Marshall Micheals as he was getting fitted for his cap and gown. “I did see some bright spots out there. Our offense is starting to take a bit of structure rather than the one pass one shot system that we had been running in previous games. Defensively, we were in better position for the help defense coming from the weak side. Louis (Potts) always gives us a spark on defense and I liked the way that Justin (Souder) and Andrew (Bacas) were trying to take control of the offense. This is a smart team, as evidenced by all of the straight A recipients at the ceremony today, so they should pick things up just fine.”
Jackson Purdy gave the commencement speech with 12 points. Getting special honor roll recognition were Reid Patton (9), Kirk Williams (5), Joe Soltis (5), Ryan D’Amelio (2), Louis Potts (2), Ryan Bannon (2), Jake Armstrong (2), Blake Hinkson (3), and Justin Souder (2).
Hats were thrown into the air and photos with uncooperative siblings were taken as the final buzzer sounded casting the young Falcons into the uncertain future of Middle School with a 2-1 record.
PBA JV Girls Shoot Down Stars!
The PBA JV Girls opened up an 18-2 lead and cruised to a 35-15 victory over the Maryland Stars on Monday night. "It was a total team effort," according to Coach Steve Morgan. "We overwhelmed them with defensive pressure. We dominated the boards. We blocked shots. We passed well. We shot well. It was good to see." Seven PBA girls scored, led by Kristen Darragh with 10. Anna DeSoto and Denise Larson scored 6 each. Rachel Neville and Anna Murgia scored 4 each, Breanne Hall added 3, and Mollie Bodmer added 2. "Everyone contributed," said Morgan. "Kaye Peden came up with several steals. Adele Spinder blocked a few shots. Allie Gruber played aggressively on offense, complementing her usual suffocating defense. Taylor Thomas demonstrated good ball handling skills, including a great spin dribble. Nancy Jamison showed great court vision with several of her passes. Rachel and Anna (DeSoto) dominated inside. Kristen, Breanne and Anna (Murgia) stole the ball with ease. It was a great job all-around, but the part I was happiest about was our passing. We were unselfish. We were finding open teammates. Let's hope the improvement continues."
The PBA Rising Star 6th Grade Girls continued their winning ways in their initial PBA season with a decisive 22-4 win over the Cougars. Coach Chris Hall attributed their performance to a well balanced attack. Hall said "These girls were tenacious on defense and very unselfish on offense." The Lady Falcons started the game with a full court press and after two very quick baskets, the dogs were called off. Although no press was implemented for the rest of the game, the Lady Falcons matched their first game performance with an incredible 35 steals. Every player contributed with a steal. Leading the way was; Mollie Bodmer(7), Breanne Hall(5) and Lauren Lightcap(5). The Lady Falcon guards tallied 12 assists and scoring was nicely distributed. Although they could have scored, Jamie D'Amelio dished off 3, Breanne Hall and Morgan Mullett each had 2 and Delaney Cecco, Lauren Lightcap and Hannah Wills each had one assist. As for scoring, Mollie Bodmer, Kristen Darragh and Jessi Martinez contributed 4 points, Delaney Cecco, Jami D'Amelio, Breanne Hall, Allie Nevius and Kayla Zinsser added a bucket. With only two games under their belts, the young Falcons are averaging: 35 steals, 25 points, 21 rebounds and 9 assists per game - oh, they are only 10 years old.
Week of June 8th
Rising Star Girls Open up PBA Campaign with Win!
The PBA Rising Star 6th Grade Girls opened their initial PBA season with a 29-14 win over the Maryland Stars. Leading the way for the Falcons was Mollie Bodmer (12), followed by Jami D'Amelio (4) and Kayla Zinsser(4). Chipping in a bucket was Marina Callear, Lauren Lightcap, Morgan Mullett and Jolee Raines. Breanne Hall hit 1 for 2 from the charity line. Coach Chris Hall commented on the aggressiveness of the youngest group of Lady Falcons, "The team accounted for an incredible 35 steals, D'Amelio, Darragh, Hall and Raines each had five steals, Bodmer had 4 and Delaney Cecco took away 3. That is how you control a game." Every player had at least one steal on the night. Adding to the list; Allie Nevius and Zinsser had 2, while Callear, Lightcap, Jessie Martinez, and Mullett each had one. After the first half the score was 13 -10, a little too close for Coach Hall. He commented, "At halftime we talked about backside help defense and better use of our transition game and I think it worked." Did it work? Yes, the Stars fell in the second half after only scoring 4 points.
PBA Varsity Boys Take Down St. E's and Damascus!
The PBA Varsity Boys opened their season on Monday night with a 41-38 victory over St. Elizabeth. Andy Baker hit for 28 to start the season strong while Craig Morton (4), Hunter Pearre (3), Trevor Stottlemyer (2), Mitchell Poe (2), and Kyle Brown (2) also contribute points for the Falcons. "We started out slow this evening but finished strong for a well deserved victory," said Coach John Weber. "We ended the game with more steals than turnovers which is always a good thing and was probably the difference in the game. Defensively, I’ll give the boys a C+. We played man to man the entire game and gave them too may points in the paint but even with that said, I liked what I saw tonight on defense. I thought we did a better job of moving our feet on defense as a team with Chris Thompson, Pearre, Poe and Baker leading the way."
After a slow start (down 6 to 0), the PBA Varsity Boys picked up their second win of the young season with a 45-39 victory over Damascus. Stottlemyer lead the way in scoring with 19, followed by Charlie Miller with 11, Poe with 5, Pearre with 4 while Connor Hall, Zach Khallil and Justin Lee each contributed a bucket. Stottlemyer and Dieson Gorham combined for 10 rebounds while the defense was ignited by the intense play of Matt Schramm, Thompson, Pearre and Poe. "Everybody contributed to this victory, either in the book, on the boards or on defense, it was a really fun game to coach and watch," said Weber. Charlie Miller played probably the most confident game on the offensive side of the court I've ever seen him play, which was great!"
PBA Rising Star Boys Host Launch Party!
The latest and (hopefully) greatest rendition of the PBA Rising Star Boys had their first game of the summer and got off to a good start on Monday night by beating the Nachos 40-35. Seven players ended up in the scoring column providing Poolesville the offense that they needed to cover a shaky defensive effort. “This was our first game together and we are beginning the process of learning who we are and what we can do”, said Coach Marshall Micheals after the game. “Keep one hand on your wallet at all times when you enter the gym with this team on the floor”, he continued, “this is a very aggressive team and I was surprised that some of the opposition wasn’t undressed while our guys were going after the ball”.
Joe Soltis led the charge with 11, his running mate Reid Patton had 10, with Andrew Bacas (6), Nathan Onderko (5), Justin Souder (2), Jackson Purdy (4) and Blake Hinkson (2) rounded out the scoring. Louis Potts teamed with Ryan D’Amelio and Ryan Bannon to provide pressure in the press to cause turnovers and general chaos for the Nachos.
“These guys are raw talent and I like the fact that we can go deep into the bench in order to keep the energy level high. We didn’t run our offense well, our defense was porous, and we didn’t get a single inbound play off, but we definitely will get it together over the next few games and the winter. This team won tonight on hustle alone and you can’t coach that”, said Micheals as he Twittered about the launch. The next game is this Wednesday and tickets are still available at all Ticketron outlets.
RS Boys Lose, But Still Have Their Pride
In game two of the summer concert season, The PBA Rising Star Boys dropped potentially the lowest scoring basketball game in summer rec history to the Bethesda Pride. Starting out as a defensive struggle, the first half score was 7-5. In the second half Poolesville tied the game once but the Pride held on to a 27-24 victory.
“After they scored that first touchdown on us, we got the field goal and the safety”, said Coach Micheals as he worked with the road crew to perform the sound check. “I don’t think that we scored our second point until one minute left in the first half. After that, we picked it up pretty well on defense, but our offense struggled. We are trying to play a little more structured offensively and the boys are still adapting to that style.” Even though no bottles, cans, or recording devices were allowed, Poolesville used everything else to play pretty decent defense.
“I saw a lot more activity on defense, especially the help side. One of the hardest things for the guys to learn is that they are covering the ball first, then their man. I saw improvement from our first game and that is always good”, said Micheals.
The lawn was full and the beach balls were bouncing in the stands as Poolesville was led by Andrew Bacas’ 8 points. Setting the lighting and stage was Joe Soltis with 5, Jackson Purdy (4), Justin Souder (3), Blake Hinkson (2), and Ryan Bannon (2). Poolesville, like Jackson Browne once said, will ‘stay a little bit longer’.
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Picking up where they left off last season, the PBA Varsity Girls got hung up in another nail-biter in their opener on Tuesday night against Holy Redeemer. With the score was tied 11-11 at halftime, the Varsity Girls then pulled ahead in the 2nd half only to have a few turnovers and allow the Redeemers back in. The Falcons ended up losing by a final score of 33-29. It was 29-29 with 1:43 left on the clock. Holy Redeemer scored to make it 31-29. Poolesville had 13 seconds to bring the ball up. Whitney Carmack sent the ball down the court to Julia Potts, who passed it back to Carmack which ended up resulting in a turnover, a breakaway, and a score. "We need to have our big girls scoring," said Asst. Coach Laura Carmack. "We had several opportunities on put-backs and on several fast breaks where the guards got the ball down low off their press and we just couldn't score. We've told our forward and centers---especially MacKenzie Fields and Rebekah Dill----to shoot, shoot, shoot at home....once we get that part of the game in better shape - we can win any game. Both girls fought hard on the boards as did Denise Larson. I thought Sarah Kenneweg and Anna Murgia played great, scrappy defense. Rebekah Chittenden had a great full court run only to get fouled--with no call--at the end." Carmack led all scorers with 15 points, Rosie Barry came up strong with nine points. Potts hit for four points (including a jumper from the corner to start the game) and Fields also scored.
In their second game of the week, the Varsity Girls won big, 38-10, with 75% of the team scoring. Julia Potts led the win with 9 rebounds, six points and Denise Larson led with 2 blocked shots as well as 8 points and 5 rebounds. Sarah Kenneweg had some key fast breaks where she finished with "2," and she had also had some nice passes on the inside. Whitney Carmack led the scoring with 11, Larson with 8 points, Kenneweg with 7, Potts with 6, Mackenzie with 4 and Rebekkah Dill with 2pts. Chittenden and Murgia played scrappy defense, as always. "The team was able to work their man to man defense and had several key passes to the inside to help our big girls score," said Coach Laura Carmack.
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The PBA JV Girls lost a heartbreaker against the Classics, 18-17, on Wednesday to start their summer season. Poolesville started slowly, falling behind 14-6 with about two minutes left in the first half. "It looked like we had opening night jitters throughout the game, but especially in the first half," according to Coach Steve Morgan. Poolesville closed the gap to 14-10 at halftime, and took a brief lead, 16-15, early in the second half, before the Classics regained the lead, 18-16. Poolesville managed only one free throw the rest of the way. "We did a lot of things well for our first game of the season," said Morgan. "For most of the game, we played good defense. Denise Larson, Rachel Neville (with eight) and Mollie Bodmer (with five) did a good job rebounding. Anna DeSoto did a good job applying defensive pressure, disrupting their offense and also blocking several shots. Taylor Thomas and Samantha Adkins did a good job handling the ball under defensive pressure. The thing we didn't do well was shoot the ball. For the most part, we had good shot selection. We just couldn't put the ball in the basket." Larson had an impressive double-double, with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Anna Murgia scored three points and also had four steals.
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The PBA JV Boys opened their summer season with a loss. The loss though was not any indication of how the team played. The teamed played with real intensity and with enthusiasm never giving up to a much taller opponent. The team looks to rebound in their next game.
PBA 2008-2009 Winter League Game Results
PBA End-Of-Season Awards Banquet
2008-09 Season Officially Over!
Open Gym Nights Have Started, Summer League Tryouts in May
Kelsey Carnahan hoists the trophy named after her beloved brother as this year's "Dale Carnahan Falcon Warrior" award winner. The PBA End-of-Season Award Winners are as follows (from left to right): Front row bottom step---Whitney Carmack, Julia Potts, Hunter Pearre, Mitchell Poe, Reid Patton, and Steven Morningstar. Middle Row---Denise Larson and Anna DeSoto. Top Row-----Kelsey Carnahan, Brian Dillon, PBA President Bill Bannon, Kelly Hughes, Allie Greene, Andy Baker, and Tony Clements. A complete list of award winners can be found under "PBA Player Info".
They might look friendly in the photo on the left, but everyone knows the Varsity Girls are a tough bunch!
Coach Marshall Micheals (Varsity Boys on left) and Coach John Weber (JV Boys on right) give the lowdown on their seasons and players.
Coach Steve Morgan (Rising Star Girls on left) and Coach Sandy Chittenden (JV Girls on right) both have big plans for their teams this summer and beyond!
Coach Steve Morningstar is hoping for some "growth" from his team over the next couple of years. The PBA crowd was 200 strong for a night of good eating, testimony, applause, and tears. What a year it was.
PBA Tournament Info
PBA Rising Star Girls (6th Rising Star Patriot Division, 9-3 overall)
Poolesville (# 1 seed) beat the Longshots (Potomac Div. #5 seed) in East Regional quarterfinal action on Sunday by a final score of 24-20.
The RS Girls lost to the WHC Comets in overtime in the MOCO 6th grade Regional Semi-finals on Saturday (3/7). Their season is now over.
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rectmpl.asp?url=/content/rec/sports/basketball/risingstarbasketball/risingstarschedules.aspPBA JV Boys (Mid-Maryland League "AA" Tournament, 5-5 Division, 13-7 overall)
Poolesville (# 3 seed) beat Mt. Airy (#6 seed, 8-10) by a score of 55-42 in quarterfinal action.
The JV Boys lost in the semi-finals to Folly Quarters (#2 seed, 14-4) by a score of 57-31. Their season is now over.
The eventual JV Mid-Maryland League "AA" Tournament Champion was Glenwood (who beat F.Q. 60-44 in the finals).
http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmbball/mmtour2009.html
http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmbball/mmstandtour.htmlPBA Varsity Boys (Mid-Maryland League "AA" Tournament, 2-8 Division, 8-11 overall)
Poolesville (# 6 seed) lost to Glenwood (#3 seed, 11-7) in quarterfinal action. Their season is now over.
The eventual Varsity Mid-Maryland League "AA" Tournament Champion was Brunswick (who beat Glenwood 50-46 in the finals).
http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmbball/mmtour2009.html
http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmbball/mmstandtour.htmlPBA JV Girls (Mid-Maryland League D-1, 8-6 Division, 10-8 overall finish)
Poolesville (# 5 seed) beat Middletown (# 4) on Saturday by a score of 21-19.
The JV Girls lost in the D-1 Semi-Finals on Sunday by a score of 27-18 to Walkersville. Walkersville ended up winning the JV tournament championship.
http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmgirlsbball/mmtour.htmlPBA Varsity Girls (Mid-Maryland League D-1, 9-5 Division, 11-6 overall finish)
Poolesville (# 2 Seed) lost to Walkersville (# 7) on Saturday by a final score of 44-35. Ballenger Creek beat Walkersville in the Varsity tournament championship.
http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmgirlsbball/mmtour.htmlPBA Rising Star Boys (6th Rising Star Atlantic Division, 6-6 overall finish)
Poolesville (#3 seed.) beat the Bears by a final score of 36-34 (Chesapeake Div. #4 seed) in East Regional first round action on Saturday (2/28).
The RS Boys lost to the WHC Heat in the regional quarterfinal on Sunday by a final score of 47-16. Their season is now over.
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rectmpl.asp?url=/content/rec/sports/basketball/risingstarbasketball/risingstarschedules.asp
Poolesville High School Final Tournament Info
PHS Varsity Girls (#4 seed) beat Williamsport (#5 seed, 9-11 overall) on Friday night by a score of 39-28.
Poolesville beat Boonsboro (#1, 15-6) on Tuesday at Boonsboro by a final score of 43-38.
Poolesville (16-9) beat Catoctin (# 6, 9-16) in the 1A West Regional semi-finals!
Poolesville (16-10) lost to Allegany (#1 seed) in the 1A West Regional Finals Saturday (3/7) at Frederick Community College. Congrats on a great season!
http://www.mpssaa.org/wintersports/girlsbasketball/release.asp?release_id=222PHS Varsity Boys (#2 Seed) beat Clear Spring (#7 seed, 15-6 overall) on Friday night by a score of 57-38.
Poolesville beat Smithsburg (#3 seed, 8-14) on Tuesday at PHS by a score of 44-25.
Poolesville (16-5) lost to Brunswick (#1, 18-4) in the 1A West Regional semi-finals and their season is over.
http://www.mpssaa.org/assets/wintersports/boysbasketball/09BBkbBrackets-1A.pdfFor complete PHS schedule info, go to:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/poolesvillehs/athletics/Basketball/Basketball.htmlFor complete PBA schedule info, hit "League Info"
Game Summaries
Weekend of March 7th-8th--------------
JV Boys Beat Mt. Airy, Fall to Folly Quarters
Rising Star Girls Lose in Overtime
Varsity Boys Can't Get Past Glenwood
Trevor Stottlemyer goes high off the glass against Mt. Airy. Check out the crowd at the JV Boys game---from left to right: Rachel Stream, Mike Poe, Matt Poe, Kevin Baker and Jaime Baker. Steven Morningstar prepares to muscle his way past two Mt. Airy defenders.
The PBA Rising Stars Girls lost an overtime thriller, 30-29, to the WHC Comets in the MOCO Rec. Rising Star Regional semi-finals on Saturday night. The game was marked by numerous scoring streaks, as Poolesville had leads of 4-0 and 5-4 before falling behind 12-5 until Denise Larson scored on an inbounds pass from Anna Murgia with five seconds left in the first half to make the score 12-7 at halftime. At the half, Larson had six of the team's seven points, with Murgia scoring the other point. The Poolesville girls then went on a great run at the beginning of the second half to lead 22-14. The run was sparked by great defense, and included a basket by Mollie Bodmer off of a nice assist by Larson, a 15-foot jumper by Allie Gruber, and lots of free throws. The Comets then went on an impressive run of their own, triggered by their defense, and took a 26-24 lead with just under two minutes left off of a baseline jumper. In the ensuing possession, Kristen Darragh drove the lane and was fouled while shooting. Darragh made both free throws to tie the game at 26. Through the rest of regulation, both teams had shots roll around the rim and fall off, but neither team scored, so they headed to overtime. In overtime, the Comets scored first, and then Darragh tied the game with a steal and a lay-up. Then, with 0:33 remaining, the Comets went up 30-28 by making both ends of a one-and-one. Darragh later cut the deficit to one with a free throw. An attempt by Poolesville to send the Comets to the line was unsuccessful before time ran out. "I was extremely proud of our girls," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We fought back from several deficits. We made 17 free throws, shooting better than 50 percent from the line. I never would have believed that a 6th grade team could make 17 free throws and lose. It was great free throw shooting on our part. Kristen played an outstanding game, scoring nine points, including our last five points of the game, and including five for eight from the foul line. She also had five steals. Anna DeSoto did a great job defensively, tying for the team lead with six steals and forcing lots of other turnovers with her pressure defense. Ashley Adkins did a good job underneath on our press, and Breanne Hall did a good job disrupting one of their inside scoring threats, despite a considerable size disadvantage." Larson led the team with 12 points, including eight for 12 from the line, and also had a team-leading 11 rebounds. Murgia tied for the team lead with six steals, and also scored four points, all on free throws. Bodmer, who scored two points, also came up with two steals in overtime. Darragh's nine and Gruber's basket completed the scoring.
Reflecting on the season, Morgan continued, "We had a great season. We won our division. There weren't many people that thought that we would do that. We continued to improve throughout the season, both individually and as a team. I hope the girls will play a lot on their own during the spring and then be ready for a great summer season. I think great things are ahead for this team."
In opening round Mid-Maryland "A" Tournament action, the PBA JV Boys swept past Mt. Airy by a final score of 55-42. Craig Morton did most of the heavy lifting for Poolesville early on. He scored 12 out of his season-high 17 points in the first half. In the second half, Trevor Stottlemyer turned it up a notch, and with Andy Baker (seven points and eight assists) saddled with foul trouble, Stottlemyer (19 points) and Morton combined for 19 rebounds to control the boards over Mt. Airy. Robbie Metz scored six points in the win, Charlie Miller scored four, and Steven Morningstar also scored. The Falcons made a nice run of it in the semi-finals, but a hot shooting Folly Quarters ended the JV Boys season on Sunday by beating the Falcons 57-31. Folly Quarters ended up falling to Glenwood in the JV finals. Baker and Stottlemyer finished with 10 points each. Miller had four, Metz and Mitchell Poe had a bucket each and Morningstar, Zach Khalil, Connor Hall also scored. The loss put the JV Boys record on the year to 13-7. After giving up a total of 99 points in two tournament games, Coach John Weber said "I'm super proud of the way our guys share the ball. They're very unselfish. But starting this summer, the guys who play defense are going to be the guys who will get the chance to earn minutes. We need to defend better, period, or we won't win match-ups against teams like Glenwood and Folly Quarters."
Weekend of February 28th--March 1st--------------
Varsity Girls Battle Emotions, Lady Lions
Death of Dale Carnahan Shakes Team, Community
8th Graders Fight Hard, Lose in Tournament OpenerThe PBA Varsity Girls, dealing with tragedy, heartbreak, and raw emotions, gave it all they could in their first round Mid-Maryland League Division 1 tournament match-up against Walkersville (7-10) on Saturday following the death of former PBA player Dale Carnahan. Carnahan was the son of coaches Cathy and Brian Carnahan and brother of PBA star Kelsey Carnahan. After racing out to a 12-2 lead following the moment of silence for their departed family member, the Varsity Girls, coached by Brian Carnahan, eventually could fight no more as they fell to the Lady Lions by a final score of 44-35. Poolesville managed to cut Walkersville's lead to just one late in the game but could not get over the hump to secure the win.
"The girls came out strong and fought all the way," said Coach Carnahan. "But as you know what happens in sports, our emotions kind of ran out after a while. Cathy and I are incredibly proud of the girls for coming up as big as they did. There isn't a finer group of young ladies or teammates in Poolesville as far as we are concerned."
Kelsey Carnahan and Jaime Baker led Poolesville with eight points each. Allie Greene and Jocelyn Bodmer scored six points each. Haley Davison (five points) and Shannon Hemp also scored. The Varsity Girls and Coach Cathy Carnahan finished their PBA careers with numerous championships and the highest winning percentage in PBA history. According to PHS Coach Randy Berger, "This team has a great future awaiting them at Poolesville High School. I'm really looking forward to working with them this summer and beyond."
The PBA JV Girls played their best game of the season and gave the undefeated Walkersville Lions their toughest game of the year, but the effort fell just short as the JV Girls lost to the Lady Lions in the closing minutes by a final score of 27-18 in the season-ending Mid-Maryland League D-1 semi-final. Walkersville, who won all of their conference games by greater than 20 points (except a 15-point win over Poolesville) found themselves only up two points with 2:30 left in the final period after a running lay-up by Rosie Barry. The JV Girls could get no closer, however, and were forced to foul the sharp-shooting Lions (who hit their free throws to nail down the win). The Falcons played well on defense by holding the Lions to their lowest point total of the year and only committed 14 turnovers against Walkersville's tough press. Even though the Lions were keying on Poolesville's diminutive point guard ("get the red head" was constantly yelled from the stands), Whitney Carmack hit for 12 of the Falcons 18 points, but more importantly didn't allow the Lions killer press to work. Barry was the defensive standout. She pushed around a girl all game long who seemed like 6'4" (well, maybe 5'9"...but much bigger than her). MacKenzie Fields snagged eight rebounds, and Rebekah Chittenden, Julia Potts, Jessie Maloney, and Rebekah Dill played well in keeping the game close.
In their tournament opener, The JV Girls beat a talented Middletown team by a final score of 21-19. This was another game that was played within a few points the entire contest until, once again, Barry stole the ball and went the length of the floor for a lay-up to give the Falcons a 21-19 lead that would stand up over the final two minutes. With most of the game's points scored in the first quarter (Poolesville led 11-8), the two defenses clamped down, but the Falcons proved stronger in this contest. Carmack led the Falcons with 15 points, and Barry anchored a stingy defense with 9 steals and contributed 4 assists and 4 points; Chittenden also contributed a basket.
In their after-game discussion, Coach Sandy Chittenden let her troops know she was proud of their effort and their progress. "I think our team grew up a lot this year and we need to keep growing--including in height--so we can be competitive in this tough division next year," said Chittenden. "I wanted to give a special thanks to Christina Christou. Although she didn't get much playing time she practiced hard, had a great attitude, improved her game and made the other girls better."
The PBA Rising Stars Girls won their first playoff game with a dramatic, come from behind, 24-20 victory over the Longshots in opening round MOCO 6th Grade Rising Star tournament action on Sunday. Poolesville opened up an early 4-2 lead before the Longshots lived up to their name by making a 3-pointer to take a 5-4 lead. Poolesville wouldn't take the lead again until late in the game. The score was 12-7 at halftime. According to Coach Steve Morgan, "Mollie (Bodmer) played really well in the first half, scoring four points, two following an offensive rebound in the first possession of the game, and two on an assist from Anna DeSoto, and getting an assist on our other field goal of the half. Defensively, we did reasonably well in the first half, but good defense wasn't leading to good offense. Sam (Adkins) had a nice steal and what would have been an assist if we had converted our lay-up, but we didn't have many fast break opportunities, and our half court offense was getting us decent scoring opportunities, but not great ones. Fortunately, our half court offense got better in the second half and we also had a few more fast break chances." Denise Larson, who had scored Poolesville's other three points of the first half, closed the gap to 12-11 in the second half on two field goals, with assists from Bodmer and Anna Murgia. Bodmer then tied the game with a free throw. The Longshots scored the next four points. Larson closed the gap to one with a free throw and a jumper from the foul line with an assist from Breanne Hall. With less than six minutes left in the game, Kristen Darragh then gave Poolesville its first lead of the second half on a lay-up with an assist from Larson. The lead lasted only fifteen seconds, as the Longshots scored on their next possession, and extended their lead to 20-17 with five minutes left. With 4:15 left, Bodmer closed the gap to 20-19 on a short jumper with an assist from Darragh. Murgia tied the game with a free throw at 3:15. Larson gave Poolesville the lead for good with a free throw at 2:56, and added another free throw at 1:34. Larson finished the scoring with a put back off of a missed front end of a one-and-one with 0:02 remaining. Morgan continued, "Our defense shut them down the last five minutes of the game. Anna DeSoto had a huge block of a potential game-tying shot with ten seconds remaining in the game. Our offense was much better in the second half. For the game, every one of our field goals except for the baskets in the first and last possessions of the game came off of assists, which is really remarkable. Of course, I would have preferred it if we had made some of our non-assist shot attempts so that we could coast to victory, but our girls continue to show that they are really clutch in crunch time." For the game, Larson led the team with 14 points and nine rebounds, Bodmer had a season-high seven points, Darragh added two and Murgia added one. The girls play in the regional semi-finals on Saturday evening (see above).
The PBA Rising Star Boys overcame a sluggish first half to shoot down the Bears by a final score of 36-34 in MOCO Rec 6th Grade Rising Star tournament action on Saturday. After five minutes of the first quarter, the young Falcons found themselves in a huge hole; they were losing by a score of 12-1! Poolesville went on a 12-2 roll to trail by just one at the half and the rest of the game was hard fought and close. With less than a minute to go and the Falcons down by one, Zach Long drove the lane hard and hit what would end up being the winning bucket. The Bears had several attempts to pull ahead but none dropped and Poolesville would advance to the next round. Leading all scorers with 11 points each was Long and Steven Morningstar. Underclassman Reid Patton hit for six points, Joey Cartwright and Steven Johnson had three points each and Nic Fisher also scored in the win.
In their second round playoff game, the Rising Star Boys ran into a buzz-saw called the WHC Heat and were burned by a final score of 47-16, thus ending their first PBA season with a very respectable 6-6 record. Poolesville kept the game close and trailed by just two early on, but the Heat's full court pressure was just too much for the young Falcons. Cartwright, Fisher and Logan Rocco with finished with three points each for Poolesville while Johnson, Morningstar, and Patton also scored.
The PBA Varsity Boys went on the road to Middletown (13-6) trying to get on the right track for a playoff run, but fell a little short. After starting the game with a 6-6 tie, Middletown scored six unanswered points and took a 12-6 lead into the second quarter. "Middletown really hurt us in the last game with their 2-2-1 press, but after two unsuccessful times running it, our guys forced them to shelve it for the rest of the game. I liked our execution, but we had way too many turnovers to win at the Mid-Maryland level", said Coach Marshall Micheals. Poolesville mishandled the ball to the tune of a 25-17 deficit. They were never out of the game, but couldn’t seem to get over the hump until a surprising 21-point outburst in the fourth quarter. "There is a time in the game when you feel like a combination that is on the floor is really clicking’, continued Micheals, "but we could only bring it to 46-42 with a minute and a half left. We gave up seven points and only scored two to make the final 53-44. I did like our effort and I like the fact that we are going to have our full squad back for the playoffs, but we need to really take care of the ball to do anything that resembles a playoff run". Josh Womack returned to his JV form with 14 points, fed quite well by Niko Micheals who had a bucket and numerous assists. Kirby Carmack (11), Tony Clements (6), Thomas Wolz (6), Brandon Prather (3), and Brian Dillon (2) rounded out the scoring. The Varsity Boys play next against Glenwood this Saturday at 6:00 PM at MSD in first round Mid-Maryland "A" tournament action. Tickets are available at all Ticketron outlets.
The PBA JV Boys fell to a strong Middletown squad by a final score of 50-28. The loss moved the JV Boys record to 12-6 overall but did not change the JV Boys tournament seeding. Andy Baker hit for 12 points, Trevor Stottlemyer scored nine points, Vince Guanciale hit for three points and Charlie Miller and Robbie Metz also scored.
Weekend of February 21st-22nd--------------
Baker's Double-Dozen Not Enough
Against Glenwood
Varsity Girls Blow Out Windsor Knolls!In an effort to make a better showing after losing to Glenwood's JV Boys by 30 earlier in the year, the PBA JV Boysaccomplished that mission, but the final result was still a Glenwood 56-47 win over the Falcons. Andy Baker scored from all over and finished with 25 for Poolesville. Trevor Stottlemyer contributed nine points in the loss and Mitchell Poe also scored six points for the Falcons. Robbie Metz (four), Charlie Miller, and Craig Morton also scored. "The guys showed me a lot more in this game than the first time we played Glenwood," said Coach John Weber. "We have improved throughout the season and we need to take another step up for the tournament if we're going to beat teams like this Glenwood."
The JV Boys beat Ballenger Creek on the Bulldog's home court on Saturday by a final score of 59-46. The smooth-passing Falcons recorded 13 assists, finished well, and worked hard for a well-deserved win. Leading the charge was Baker with 16 points, Poe with 13, Stottlemyer with 11, Morton with eight, and Metz with five. Steven Morningstar finished with three points and Miller and Kyle Brown also scored.
The PBA Varsity Boys closed a 16-point deficit to just four, but that's where the comeback ended on Sunday as Glenwood's Varsity Boys defeated Poolesville by a final score of 50-37. Poolesville had the double-donut covered, with Tony Clements, Thomas Wolz, and Josh Womack hitting for eight points each. In Saturday action against Ballenger Creek, the news wasn't any better as the VB's fell to the Bulldogs by a final score of 40-32. Kirby Carmack scored eight points to lead Poolesville. Womack finished with five points; Clements had five points, as did Niko Micheals, and Brandon Prather. Nikolay Henze also scored for Poolesville.
In a potential playoff preview, Windsor Knolls withstood a late charge by the PBA JV Girls and beat the Falcons on their home court by a final score of 26-25. The Lady Hawks led most of the game until Poolesville's Jessie Maloney scored and hit the "and one" to give the Falcons a one-point lead. The Hawks made a key steal, got fouled, and hit both ends of the one-and-one to give the lead back to Windsor Knolls. Poolesville had several chances to tie in the waning seconds but no shots would fall and the Lady Hawks brought home the win. Whitney Carmack scored 12 points to lead Poolesville with Maloney hitting for five and Sarah Kenneweg scoring four points. The JV Girls finish the regular season with a 9-7 record.
The PBA Varsity Girls opened up an early lead against Windsor Knolls and it just got worse from there as the Falcons rolled past the Lady Hawks by a final score of 46-10. Kelly Hughes led Poolesville with 13 points, and while eight Falcons total got in the scorebook, a sweet three-pointer from Kassidy Florczyk, a bucket and two rebounds from Shannon Hemp, and three rebounds by Carmen Maita were amongst the highlights for Poolesville. Noelle DeCenzo also had an assist and a rebound against the Hawks. The win closed out the regular season coaching career for Cathy Carnahan, who finishes her time in the PBA with the highest winning percentage in PBA history (and hopefully a few more wins to come!) and an 11-5 record this year.
The PBA Rising Stars Girls lost to the Aqua Mystics, 16-11, on Sunday. "We have to shoot better," according to Coach Steve Morgan. "Despite our poor shooting, we were in the game until the end." The Poolesville girls were down 8-2 at halftime, with their only points coming on a foul-line jumper by Ashley Adkins. For the game, Denise Larson led the team with six points, Anna Murgia added two free throws, and Anna DeSoto added a free throw. Mollie Bodmer led the team with eight rebounds. The RS Girls finished their inaugural PBA regular PBA season with an 8-2 record and their first playoff game is this Sunday.
The PBA Rising Star Boys finished the regular season with a 49-23 loss to Damascus. Steven Morningstar led Poolesville with 12 points, Zach Long hit for eight points and Ryan Shorts chipped in three points. The loss moved the Rising Star Boys record to 4-6 for the year, which was not that bad a result considering what the boys accomplished over the year (with the playoffs still to come), according to Coach Steve Morningstar. "We had an exciting season, which I think was a lot of fun for everyone," said Morningstar. "We just missed being 6-4, which is pretty good for a group of kids playing together for the first time. I saw a lot of improvement from my guys and I think we did a great job of playing hard every game. If our effort is there this weekend in the playoffs, I don't know why we can't win a couple of games and then surprise some people."
Weekend of February 14th-16th--------------
PBA JV Boys Like Home Cookin',
Stay Undefeated at PHS
Varsity Girls Bounce Back, Rising Star Girls Suffer First Loss
The road was blocked high, so Mitchell Poe decides to go low in the JV Boys win over Walkersville. Rebekah Dill faces a den of Lady Lions as the JV Girl's center gets a shot off underneath in action at PHS on Sunday. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA Varsity Boy's Brian Dillon derails Brunswick with this lay-up. Max Dahlen of the PBA Rising Star Boys scores against the Bruins on Sunday. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA JV Boys defeated Walkersville's JV's 48-33 on Sunday to revenge an early season loss to the visiting Lions. Poolesville held a slim one-point lead at the half, 20-19, as Walkersville matched the Falcon's intensity and hustle. Poolesville took control of the game in the second half by applying a strong defensive pressure and scoring when it was needed. The JV Boys ended the game with six three pointers----a season high---and also 12 assists. Andy Baker led all scorers with 19 points (to go along with his 14 rebounds), Mitchell Poe hit for 11, and Trevor Stottlemyer scored seven points (and also recorded six assists). Robbie Metz scored six points for the JV Boys, Craig Morton had four and Vince Guanciale also scored.
On Monday, the JV Boys kept the "revenge thing" going by beating Brunswick by a final score of 47-38. The victory kept the JV Boys undefeated at home this season, gave them their 8th win in a row, and improved their overall season record to 11-4 with three regular season games remaining. Coach John Weber said, "Beating Brunswick always feels good, and this was a hard-fought win against a team that never quits." Robbie Metz took a big charge in the 2nd quarter to spark the Falcons to a 23-9 halftime lead. Brunswick made a run in the second half but it wasn't enough to slow down the Falcons. Baker again led the team with 16 points, Morton went double-digits with 12, and Metz finished with seven points.
The PBA Varsity Girls righted their ship on Sunday by beating Walkersville 30-26 in a very well played game at PHS. Poolesville took an early 12-4 lead at the end of the first period. The Lady Lions chipped away at the Falcon lead and in the fourth period trailed Poolesville by a single point. A big three-pointer by Kelsey Carnahan (10 points total) and two key free throws by Kelly Hughes (team-high 12 points) iced the game for the Varsity Girls. "Walkersville came ready to play, said Coach Cathy Carnahan. "They played a pretty tight man-to-man on Kelly and Kelsey but we ran our box-and-one offense which got our girls open for some good looks at the basket. Allie Greene (two points, five assists) did a nice job moving the ball and driving to the hoop. Jocelyn Bodmer (four points, seven rebounds) and Jaime Baker (two points, ten rebounds) did a strong job of controlling the boards. Noelle DeCenzo and Shannon Hemp (four rebounds) gave us some good minutes. Kassidy Florczyk and Carmen Maita came off the bench and played aggressive defense. We are hoping for Haley (Davison) to recover from her ankle injury and get back before the tournament. This late in the season every win is a big one!!"
The Walkersville JV Girls stayed unbeaten by defeating the PBA JV Girls on Sunday by a final score of 46-31. In the first quarter, the Lady Lions opened up a small lead by going four-for-five from the foul line. In the third quarter, Walkersville took over on the boards and the Falcons couldn't keep pace. Whitney Carmack led the JV Girls with nine points, Rosie Barry finished with seven and Julia Potts had six. The loss snapped the JV Girls season-high six-game winning streak.
The PBA Varsity Boys fell to Walkersville on Sunday by a final score of 45-21. The visiting Lions took a five-point lead into the half and gradually pushed the margin out the rest of the way. Poolesville was led by Brandon Prather with 10 points, Kirby Carmack with eight points and Brian Dillion with six points.
The news wasn't much better on Monday as Brunswick blew open a close game to roll past the Varsity Boys by a final score of 61-31. Tony Clements led Poolesville with 12 points, Carmack had seven, and Josh Womack scored five points in the loss.
On Sunday, the PBA Rising Star Boys faced two opponents---the Bruins and the Flu. Both "teams" got the best of the short-handed baby birds, which resulted in a 40-17 loss to the Bruins. Leading all scores for the Falcons was Nic Fisher with seven points followed by Joey Cartwright with four points, and Max Dahlen and Reed Patton with two points each. Zach Long and Steven Morningstar also scored.
The PBA Rising Stars Girls suffered their first loss of the regular season with a 22-15 loss to the Badgers on Sunday. In what sounded like a bad remake of a Dr. Seuss tale, Coach Steve Morgan said, "We couldn't shoot. We couldn't make a lay-up, we couldn't make five-footers, we couldn't make ten-footers, we couldn't make 15-footers. We couldn't make our free throws. It was unbelievable. We didn't rebound well, we didn't pass particularly well, and we didn't play particularly good defense, and yet we still would have won if we had made our easy shots." Poolesville tied the score at eight with a minute left before halftime, but the Badgers made a free throw shortly before the half ended to give the Badgers a 9-8 lead, a lead they kept throughout the second half. The score remained close until the final minutes, when the Badgers capitalized on Poolesville's gambling defense. "Mollie (Bodmer) had a nice assist, Denise (Larson) had a nice assist and had several other passes that should have resulted in assists, and Sam (Adkins) had several nice passes that would have been assists if we had converted our shots," said Morgan. "We had many more bad passes than good passes, however." Larson led the team with 11 points, Anna Murgia added two points to go with her five steals and six rebounds, and Kristen Darragh added a field goal. Despite the loss, the girls have clinched first place in their division. They have one more regular season game to regain their shooting touch before the playoffs start
Weekend of February 7th-8th--------------
Fisher's Bomb and Morningstar's 26 Lead
PBA Rising Star Boys to Weekend Sweep!
JV Girls Take Down Oakdale, Ballenger Creek
JV and Varsity Boys Sweep Eagles, RS Girls Stay Undefeated!
PBA Rising Star Boy Joey Cartwright slices to the bucket under the watchful eye of Coach Steve Morningstar. Teammate Zack Long shows off some pretty nice form on this jumper against the Cyclones. Note Reid Patton's jersey getting used for position. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA Varsity Girl Noelle DeCenzo elevates with a shot that any shooting coach would be proud of. JV Girl Jesse Maloney does the same against Ballenger Creek.Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA Rising Star Boys took advantage of the surprisingly mild February climate by taking down two weather systems---the Cyclones and the Thunder----over the weekend. On Saturday night, the Falcons beat the Cyclones the same way they won their first match-up---on a last second three-point buzzer beater---this time by guard Nic Fisher. Defense was the name of the game early on with both teams struggling to score and the Falcons leading at the half by one. The second half saw much of the same strong defense and with fourteen seconds left in the game, the Falcons found themselves trailing by two and the ball in their opponent's hands. Poolesville applied full court pressure for the first time all game long and Joey Cartwright came up with a big steal. With one second left, Fisher let it fly from three-point land. The buzzer sounded, the ball hit the bottom of the net, and Poolesville beat the Cyclones for the final time this year. Coach Morningstar was quoted after the game. He said, "Man, you can coach for a long time and never be part of a three-point buzzer-beater and we have had three already this season! Luckily we won two of them". Leading all scorers was Steven Morningstar with 6 points followed by Joey Cartwright and Zach Long with 4 points each. Nic Fisher hit his game winning three and Ryan Shorts also scored. Reid Patton had another huge game on the boards with 11 rebounds.
On Sunday the Falcons played yet another game that would be determined in the final seconds. The Falcons trailed at halftime, 17-14, but opened the second half by scoring three points to tie the game. The Thunder came right back to take and hold the lead until the last 30 seconds of the game. With two minutes left in the game both Cartwright and Zach Long stepped into the lane to take a "duel charge", which fouled out the Thunder's leading scored, who at that point had already dropped 24 points on the young Falcons. Still trailing with one minute to go in the game, Steven Morningstar, who had a huge game, scored to help the Falcons capture their first lead of the second half. He then got the job done at the foul line by going 2 for 3 from the charity stripe to extend the lead and close out the Thunder by a final score of 36-33. Morningstar led all scorers with a whopping 26 points. Reid Patton finished with four points and Zack Long and Logan Rocco each had a bucket.
The PBA Rising Stars Girls remained undefeated with a 37-16 victory over the Golden Eagles on Sunday, improving their record to 8-0. "Anna DeSoto had a fantastic game," according to Coach Steve Morgan. "She scored 15 points, which was the first time she had scored in double-figures. She made her only free throw attempt. She tied for the team lead with six rebounds. She also had several steals, several assists, and just had an overall great game." The game was very close throughout the first half, with the Golden Eagles maintaining a small lead throughout most of it. Morgan continued, "We were down 10-7 with a little over two minutes remaining in the first half when I went with the lineup of Denise (Larson), Anna (Murgia), Anna (DeSoto), Mollie (Bodmer) and Nancy (Morgan). We finished the half on a 5-0 run to take a 12-10 lead at halftime. Things had finally started to click. We started rebounding a little bit better, shooting a little bit better, and playing defense a little bitter better. We weren't playing terribly before that, but we were missing our shots and we weren't rebounding very well. I knew it was just a matter of time before we would put it together. The last two minutes of the first half and almost all of the second half were great." Over those last 16+ minutes of the game, Poolesville outscored the Golden Eagles 30-6, the result of good defense and good offense. Said Morgan, "I was also happy that as a team, we made nine free throws. Our shooting has really improved, both from the free throw line and from the field." Anna Murgia scored eight points, including making four of her six free throw attempts, had five defensive rebounds and had four steals. Larson scored seven points, including making three of her six free throw attempts, had a team-leading six steals, and tied for the team lead with six rebounds. Kristen Darragh added three points, Bodmer contributed a field goal, and Taylor Thomas scored her first PBA points with a field goal.
The PBA JV Boys played their best "team" game according to Coach John Weber and in doing so rocked the Oakdale Eagles by a final score of 53-31. Poolesville opened up a twenty-point halftime lead by blitzing the beleaguered home team with a hard-nosed defense and an unselfish offense. "Our defense really did a good job putting pressure on the ball," said Coach John Weber, "and as a result we tallied 12 steals for the game, lead by Andy Baker with 6. Most of these steals ended with fast break opportunities and that was really how the boys put this game out of reach in the 1st half. As in other games this season, I'm amazed at how unselfish the boys are. As a team, we ended the game with 11 assists, with Mitchell Poe, Andy and Charlie Miller leading the way with three assists each. We really shot well today, when the majority of your shots are lay up in transitions it really helps your shooting percentage and today we shot over 40% for the field and 64% from the free throw line." Trevor Stottlemyer finished with 16 points, Poe hit double-figures with 11, Craig Morton hit for eight points, Robbie Metz and Baker had six each, Miller score three points, Kyle Brown had a bucket and Steven Morningstar also scored. The JV Boys have now won six games in a row heading into the final weeks of the regular season.
The PBA Varsity Boys made it look easy against their Oakdale counterparts. Jumping out to a 19-2 first quarter lead, the Falcons never looked back as they coasted to a 26-8 halftime lead and a 44-24 finish. “I think that the guys did a great job of going out and beating a team that we were supposed to beat. Sometimes these are the games that get away from you, but we put pressure on them in the beginning and never let off”, said Coach Micheals. “We are missing some guys due to injury, but I like the prospect of the nine that we have remaining going into the second half of our division schedule and then on to the tournament”. Josh Womack and Brandon Prather led the Falcons with nine points each. They were followed by Thomas Wolz with seven, Kirby Carmack with six, and Brian Dillon with five. Niko Micheals, Dillon Kress, Nikolay Henze, and Tony Clements also scored.
The PBA JV Girls took care of business against Oakdale as well. They opened up a 12-point halftime lead, played things even in the third period, and then held the Eagles to just four points in the fourth quarter to win 35-19. Rosie Barry led all scorers with 11 points, Sarah Kenneweg hit for eight, Whitney Carmack had seven points and MacKenzie Fields scored six points. Rebekah Dill scored three points for the Falcons and also had six rebounds. Julia Potts had five boards from the guard position and Rebekah Chittenden also anchored things underneath.
On Sunday against Ballenger Creek, the JV Girls faced an opponent that was determined to avenge an earlier season loss to the Falcons. Revenge was not in the cards, however, for the Lady Bulldogs as the Falcons held off numerous charges to beat the visitors by a final score of 30-25. The "Creek" pulled to within two points late in the game, but two lay-ups off of steals kept the Bulldogs at bay. Barry again led all scorers with 13 points and three steals. Backcourt-mate Carmack hit for 12 points and had four steals in the win. Potts, Kenneweg, Jesse Maloney and Denise Larson also scored for Poolesville. The JV Girls have now won five in a row and their record improves to 9-5.
In two losses that were as exciting as any PBA game in recent history, the PBA Varsity Girls fell to two teams that showed they were not to be intimidated by the Poolesville squad's impressive Mid-Maryland League history over the last two years. On Saturday, the Falcons trailed Oakdale by most of the game as the Eagles used a twin tower line-up to keep the pesky Falcons off the boards and out of the lane. With Poolesville trailing by three and the last seconds of the clock ticking away, a swarm of Oakdale defenders rushed the corner as Kelsey Carnahan (10 points, five assists) passed the ball to the hot shooting Jaime Baker. As the Oakdale quartet all but made Baker invisible, the ball popped up out of the crowd, the buzzer sounded, and the ball dropped through the net for Baker's 14th point, and more importantly, the game-tying three pointer. Some would claim that Baker was fouled on the play (setting up what would be the game-winning free throw), but the officials saw otherwise. In overtime, the Varsity Girls almost pulled the rabbit out of their hats again as Kelly Hughes hit an almost-last-second three pointer (that seemed to bend in mid-air). Oakdale converted free throws at the end to win the game by a final score of 37-35. In addition to Baker and Carnahan's heroics, Haley Davison had five points and three rebounds, Jocelyn Bodmer had four points and four boards, Allie Greene recorded three assists, Kassidy Florczyk created a crucial steal for Poolesville late in the game and Shannon Hemp grabbed a rebound and put a hard foul on one of the Oakdale centers (after a clean block).
On Sunday, the Varsity Girls opened up a 16-4 lead against Ballenger Creek---a team that just about ran Poolesville out of their gym earlier in the year. While Poolesville fought hard and held the lead until the very end, Ballenger Creek scored last and beat the Falcons by a final score of 39-38. Carnahan (ten points) and Hughes (nine points) led the way for Poolesville. Baker (six points, seven rebounds), Greene (six points, three assists), Davison (four points three rebounds) and Bodmer (three points, five rebounds) did all they could to stop the Lady Bulldogs 6' center Amanda Fioravanti underneath. "The girls played hard in both games," said Coach Cathy Carnahan, "but the basketball gods were not with us this weekend."
Weekend of January 31st--February 1st--------------
Varsity Girls Fend Off Foul Trouble, Lady Knights
JV Girls Drive to Revenge Win over Middletown, Rising Star Girls Extinguish Flames to Go 7-0
JV Boys Sweep Weekend with Wins over Cougars, Knights
PBA JV Boy Craig Morton goes lefty to avoid the blocked shot from behind. Varsity Girl Kelly Hughes sees an opening against Middletown. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA JV Boy Robbie Metz lets it fly against Middletown. PBA President Bill Bannon mops up after a Trevor Stottlemyer bloody nose made a mess of things. Senior Official Joe Baker makes sure the Prez gets the job done right. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, contact Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA Varsity Girls overcame severe foul trouble (three starters fouling out) to hold off the Middletown Varsity Girls on Sunday by a final score of 35-32. Kelly Hughes led Poolesville in scoring with 11 points before hitting the bench with her fifth and final foul. The Falcon's Kelsey Carnahan (six points) iced the game with two free throws. Jaime Baker came up big once again with seven points and six rebounds. Allie Greene also stepped it up with six points and four assists.
In Saturday action, the Varsity Girls exacted revenge over an Urbana team that handed them a controversial defeat just a week ago by decisively taking down the Lady hawks by a final score of 32-19. With the score tied at 14 at the half, the Falcons smoked the home team by an 18-5 margin the rest of the way to take the win. Hughes hit for eight points, Haley Davison scored seven, Carnahan and Baker scored six each, Jocelyn Bodmer had three and Greene dropped in a deuce. That was a very aggressive game," said Coach Cathy Carnahan. "It was a big win for us. Going into the second half of the season every game is important."
The PBA JV Girls pitched a fourth quarter defensive shutout to beat the Middletown JV Girls by a final score of 28-24 on Sunday. The Falcons out-scored the Lady Knights 8-0 in the final period to garner the win. Whitney Carmack and Rosie Barry (five steals) combined to score 22 points for Poolesville. Down 8-2 at the start of the game, Carmack drove for two consecutive buckets and Barry hit a 10-footer to get Poolesville back into the game. Rebekah Chittenden, Julia Potts and Sarah Kenneweg also scored for the Falcons. Denise Larson had five rebounds in the win. "Everyone on the team contributed today," said Coach Sandy Chittenden. "Our press threw them for a loop and we did a good job of running it. I thought our big girls, especially Rebekah Dill, gave us a lift."
The JV Girls defeated Urbana on Saturday by a final score of 28-21. The Falcons outscore the Hawks 13-6 in the final period to take the win. Carmack led all scorers with 12 points (to go along with her six steals). Barry finished with six points and eight rebounds. Larson scored five points, MacKenzie Fields hit for three, and Kenneweg also scored.
The Poolesville JV Boys rode Andy Baker's 19 points to a 33-30 victory over Middletown. Teammates Craig Morton and Robbie Metz added six points each for the Falcons with Metz hitting a key three-pointer at the end of the first half. In addition to some strong work on the boards, Trevor Stottlemyer contributed a bloody nose, which gave PBA President Bill Bannon the opportunity to work on his mopping skills.
On Saturday, the JV Boys expanded a 34-26 halftime lead to blow past Catoctin by a final score of 64-49. Baker hit for an astounding 28 points while also dishing off for six assists. Stottlemyer scored 15 points, Metz had seven, Mitchell Poe scored five points, Charlie Miller and Kyle Brown had two each, and Steven Morningstar also scored. "We were able to work the ball down in the paint for good shots and they fell for us tonight," said Coach John Weber. "But we also let them drive through the paint too many times. Steven Morningstar was a rebounding machine for us tonight." The team combined for 17 assists, seven steals and 30 rebounds.
In a closely contested game, the PBA Varsity Boys defeated Catoctin 47-39 on Saturday. Poolesville jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and never trailed despite the best efforts of a smothering Cougar defense in the second half. The Falcons had three players in double figures led by Kirby Carmack with 13. Tony Clements and Colin Turner each contributed 10 points.
The Varsity Boys couldn't keep the "mo" working in their direction on Sunday as they fell to Middletown by a final score of 54-46. The Knights second half trapping defense proved too much for the Falcon's to overcome. Poolesville received big games from Thomas Wolz (12 points), Colin Turner (10 points), Kirby Carmack and Brandon Prather (six points each).
In a battle of the two undefeated teams in the division, the PBA Rising Stars Girls defeated the Maryland Flames, 30-22, on Saturday night. "That was a great team win," said Coach Steve Morgan. "We knew first place was on the line, and we rose to the occasion. We played with both intensity and composure, which isn't easy to do. I was really proud of our girls." Poolesville, who never trailed in the game, opened up a 12-6 lead before the Flames hit two three-pointers to tie the score. Poolesville then scored the last two baskets of the half, including a great give-and-go play, which Anna Murgia converted with the assist from Denise Larson to beat the halftime buzzer. The PBA girls maintained a lead between three and six points throughout most of the second half. After the Flames cut the lead to 24-20 with just over three minutes remaining, Larson and Murgia each made field goals to give Poolesville its first eight-point lead. The Flames cut it to six before Larson scored again to make the score 30-22. "Our defense was very effective," according to Morgan. "Offensively, we did a really good job of taking advantage when the Flames were pressing aggressively. Denise and Anna (Murgia) are really starting to play well together offensively. Mollie (Bodmer) did a great job controlling the boards. Anna DeSoto did a great job defensively, stealing the ball, forcing turnovers and disrupting their offense. Allie Gruber played really well, applying pressure defensively and handling pressure offensively. Our whole team rose to the challenge. It was great to see." Larson led the team with 15 points. Murgia scored nine. Bodmer scored four points, including two free throws, to go along with her team-leading eight rebounds, and Kristen Darragh added a field goal.
The PBA Rising Star Boys lost a tough game to the Science on Sunday. The Young Falcons had a hard time getting the ball in the hoop shooting 5 for 37 from the field and 6 for 22 from the foul line. It was just one of those days offensively and the Young Falcons could not buy a bucket. There were some bright spots defensively; the full court pressure caused numerous turnovers. Reid Patton led the team with six steals followed by Joey Cartwright with five, Steven Morningstar with four, Nic Fisher with three and Zach Long and Ryan Shorts with a pair each. Leading all scorers against the Science was Steven Morningstar with seven points, followed by Zach Long with five, and Joey Cartwright and Nick Fisher with a pair each. The team looks to rebound this weekend with a pair of games against evenly matched opponents.
Weekend of January 24th-25th--------------
PBA JV Boys Break Mustangs!
JV Girls Sweep, Varsity Girls Bounce Back from Tough Loss
Rising Star Girls Go to 6-0
Breanne Hall of the RS Girls swoops in for a steal, Kristen Darragh is a blur on her way to the bucket and Denise Larson looks up for a teammate to pass to.
The PBA JV Boys beat back Monocacy at home on Sunday by a final score of 51-44. Trevor Stottlemyer set a new personal best with 18 points in the win. Hunter Pearre broke double figures for the first time with 11 points and Andy Baker hit for eight points against a strong Mustang squad. "I really like how unselfish these guys are," said Coach John Weber. "When your leading scorer (Baker) leads your team in assists in a close win, that's saying something about him and his teammates."
The PBA Varsity Boys were not as lucky against Monocacy, as the Mustangs used their speed and athleticism to hold off the senior Falcons by final score of 52-36. Poolesville hung with the physical Mustangs and kept their composure even with two flagrant fouls being called on the burly visitors. Colin Turner and Brandon Prather led the Varsity Boys with seven points each. Josh Womack and Kirby Carmack scored six points each for the Falcons. "The win would have been nice, but I liked our guys intensity," said Coach Marshall Micheals. "We'll need that for the rest of the season if we want to go far in the tournament. We have nothing to be ashamed of in this loss. Monocacy won the whole thing last year and they have what we want---a tournament championship."
The PBA Rising Star Boys lost their 3rd straight game, 31-18, on Sunday against a very tough and, unfortunately, still undefeated Damascus Team. The Rising Star Boys completely stifled Damascus's league leading offense in the first half allowing the Cougars only five points with a smothering defense and strong rebounding. The score at halftime was 11-5 in favor of Poolesville. The second half saw the tide turn with Damascus outscoring the young Falcons 26-7. Even in the loss, the RS Boys showed great strides and improvement. They played with a lot of heart, toughness and desire against a very good and experienced team. The Falcons look to change their fortunes with a strong showing in the second half of the season. Leading all scorers in the game was Steven Morningstar with eight points. Joey Cartwright scored four points for the Falcons, Zach Long had three points, Steven Johnson hit a bucket and Nic Fisher also scored. Underclassman Reed Patton had another huge night on the boards with a team-leading 10 rebounds.
The PBA Rising Stars Girls continued their winning ways on Sunday with a 34-18 defeat of the Damascus Crushers. The Poolesville girls, who are now 6-0, were up 18-6 at halftime and coasted to victory. "We played really well," Coach Steve Morgan said. "Our defense overwhelmed them. We passed really well. We had good spacing offensively. There are still a lot of things we need to do better, but we continue to improve from week to week. We had a better scoring distribution, as we had two girls in double-figures for the first time. Kristen Darragh really had a breakout game." Darragh scored ten points and had a team-leading seven steals. Denise Larson led the team with 14 points and seven rebounds, and also had five steals. Anna Murgia scored four points, including making both of her free throw attempts, and added three assists. Mollie Bodmer scored four points to go with her four rebounds. Breanne Hall had four steals and four rebounds, and Ashley Adkins scored her first PBA points as she contributed a field goal to go along with her four rebounds. The Rising Star Girls take on the Flames this weekend in a match-up of undefeated teams.
On Saturday, the PBA JV Girls played a tough full court pressure defense and forced Urbana to turn the ball over numerous times as the Falcons raced to a 20-6 halftime lead. Urbana came out strong in the second half, but the strong inside game of Poolesville proved to be to much for the visiting Lady Hawks as the Poolesville JV Girls won by a final score of 26-14. Denise Larson led the way for Poolesville with eight points. Whitney Carmack and Rosie Barry added six points each. Larson and MacKenzie Fields led Poolesville with eight rebounds each.
On Sunday, the JV Girls used a 9-3 run to break open a close game against Monocacy and then kept the Lady Mustangs at arm's length the rest of the way for a 40-34 win. Whitney Carmack of Poolesville led all scorers with 16 points, seven steals, and some crucial free throws down the stretch. The JV Girls also picked up contributions from the inside duo of Larson with six points and six rebounds and Fields with six points and nine rebounds. Olivia McAleer, in her best game of the year, finished with six points and 10 rebounds. Fields hit a crucial bucket in the end to clinch the game for the Falcons
In a rematch of the Boonsboro Holiday tournament final, The PBA Varsity Girls took a seemingly commanding 20-15 halftime lead over Urbana on Saturday. The strong inside play of Jocelyn Bodmer and Haley Davison, with four points each in the half, seemed to be too much for the visiting Lady Hawks. But Urbana went on a 16-2 run to start the second half and seemed to have figured out the Poolesville pressure defense. Urbana took a 31-24 lead into the fourth quarter. Poolesville battled back with the clutch outside shooting of Jamie Baker (10 points). The Varsity Girls tied the game as the buzzer sounded with a long distance three-pointer by Kelly Hughes, who finished with 14 points. In overtime, Urbana used a couple of turnovers to open up a small lead they would nurse to the end. Final score Urbana 41-36.
On Sunday, the Varsity Girls overcame a slow start (a one-point halftime lead) by scoring 15 unanswered points to start the second half. The Falcons coasted the rest of the way to a 40-22 win over Monocacy. Poolesville was led by Kelsey Carnahan with 15 points, Kelly Hughes with nine points, and Haley Davison and Jocelyn Bodmer with five points each. "The loss on Saturday still stings," said Coach Cathy Carnahan. "Aggressive defense and good passing on offense kept us on top in the second half of this game. Allie Greene gave us some great leadership from the point."
Monday January 20th--------------
JV, Varsity Boys Blow Past Mt. Airy on MLK Day
The high-flying duo of Craig Morton (3) and Trevor Stottlemyer (15) go lefty-rightly to lead the PBA JV Boys to victory over Mt. Airy on Monday.
While the second half was evenly played, the PBA JV Boy's 13-point halftime lead held up as they beat Mt. Airy's JV Boys by a final score of 43-29. The Falcons were led in scoring by Andy Baker with 13 points and Trevor Stottlemyer with 10. Mitchell Poe scored five points, Craig Morton and Charlie Miller scored four each, and Robbie Metz, Hunter Pearre, Joe Kazadi, and Kyle Brown also scored. Baker kicked in four assists with Stottlemyer, Morton and Vince Guanciale also passing for buckets. Baker and Morton had three steals each and the team recorded 11 steals total. "As a team, we shot over 50% from the floor and from the line," said Coach John Weber. "That's where we need to be every game."
Defense and intensity were the common components in the first half for both the Mt. Airy and PBA Varsity Boys as the 14-11 score at the midpoint correctly indicated. The Falcons came out smoking in the second half however as they outscored Mt. Airy 22-4 in the third period to take control of the game---final score 50-33 Poolesville. The loss was only the second in the season for Mt. Airy and with the win, the Varsity Falcons improved to 6-3 on the year. Colin Turner (team-high 15 points) hit three three-pointers in the first quarter to provide Poolesville with the majority of their early points. Kirby Carmack and Brian Dillon chipped in eight points each for the Falcons with Tony Clements also scoring six points for the home team. In all, nine Falcons scored in the win, including the aforementioned gents and also Nikolay Henze (four points), Niko Micheals (three), and Josh Womack, Brandon Prather, and Thomas Wolz (two points each). The Varsity Boys take on 6-1 Monocacy this Sunday at PHS.
Weekend of 1/17-1/19--------------
PBA Rising Star Girls Keep Rolling!
Varsity Girls Come From Behind to Beat Walkersville (updated below), RS Boys Lose Two at Buzzer!The PBA Rising Stars Girls improved their record to 5-0 with a hard-fought 15-10 victory over another team named Falcons. "Going into the weekend, the "other" Falcons were also undefeated, so we knew this was going to be a tough opponent," according to Coach Steve Morgan. The game was closer than the final score indicates. The Poolesville girls opened up a 4-0 lead, which was the largest lead of the game until the last two minutes of the game. Poolesville held a slim 7-6 lead at halftime. The "other" Falcons took an 8-7 lead before Anna Murgia put Poolesville up 9-8 with a basket. The "other" Falcons regained the lead at 10-9 before Kristen Darragh put Poolesville ahead for good with a basket with about four minutes left in the game. With about two minutes left, Denise Larson made a field goal to increase the lead to three, and then soon thereafter, Larson was fouled and made both free throw attempts to make the score 15-10. "I was very proud of the girls today," said Morgan. "We stayed mentally tough even when we were down one. Once again, we did a great job defensively. Mollie Bodmer did a fantastic job rebounding, leading the team with eight boards, and she also blocked a shot. Anna DeSoto played really good defense, getting lots of steals and also blocking a shot. Everyone played well. It was a great team effort." Larson led the team with eight points, while Murgia scored five points to go with her team-leading seven steals.
The Rising Stars Girls team remained undefeated with a 21-14 victory over the Badgers on Saturday night. Our girls had an 11-4 lead at halftime and maintained a safe margin throughout the second half, eventually building a 21-10 lead late in the game. Everyone in attendance will remember the game for an incident at the 8:30 mark of the first half. It was at that moment when Poolesville's Kristen Darragh leapt high in the air trying for a steal near mid-court but collided with an opponent in mid-air and crashed to the hardwood floor. Whether her head or her back hit the floor first or if it was simultaneous is still in doubt, but it was a memorable crash. After a few minutes of applying an ice pack, Kristen was ready to play. She sat out the rest of the first half, but returned to the game in the second half, at which point the referee showed her the indentation in the floor corresponding to the back of her head, and that she should be looking for a bill from Northwest High School. "During a dead ball situation, I noticed the referee pointing out the spot on the floor to Kristen, but I didn't learn the details of the conversation until after the game. She showed a lot of toughness, wanting to play after her extremely hard fall," according to Coach Steve Morgan. "As a team, we're showing a lot of toughness. We're playing aggressively. Ashley Adkins and Breanne Hall each had four rebounds from the guard position. Anna Murgia had seven steals. We're really get the job done defensively. Also, Denise Larson had another really good all-around game." Larson led the team with 15 points, with Murgia, Darragh and Mollie Bodmer adding one bucket each.
The PBA Rising Star Boys played two exciting games over the weekend. In Saturday's game, the Falcons played a tough Thunder team. The Thunder scored first but by halftime the Falcons led 17 to 14. It was another see saw battle with each team unable to hold their lead. With six seconds left in the game the Thunder scored the final points of the game and sealed the victory---final score 31-29. The young Falcons were led by fifth-grader Reed Patton. Patton had a break out game with 16 boards and eight points. Also scoring were Steven Johnson with eight points followed by Zach Long with seven and Steven Morningstar with six. Coach Morningstar had this to say about the game." I thought we did a great job running our offense tonight against a very good team. We shot the ball better from the outside then we have all season. Nic (Fisher) did a great job getting us into our offense and we were very patient tonight. We passed and shared the ball well, which allowed us to get and make quality shots. We also had great contributions off of our bench when our starters were in a bit of foul trouble and somewhat fatigued. Even though we ended up losing the game we definitely took a big step forward as a team in many ways."
The second game of the weekend saw much of the same against another strong opponent (the Bruins), yet another see saw battle (multiple lead changes) with no lead safe by either team until the last shot. The Falcons again led at the half, 16-13, but in an eerily similar situation their opponents scored with six seconds left to win the game this time by a 30-28 margin. The last minute of the game saw the Falcons tied and with 30 seconds left in regulation Steven Morningstar hit a free throw to give the Falcons a one point lead. The Bruins came down court and hit a long distance 3-pointer with seven seconds left to seal the victory. This was one of the team’s best defensive games of the season. The Falcons held the high scoring Bruins, who scored 58 points in their last game, to only 30 points. A real bright spot in the loss was Steven Morningstar going 7 for 10 from the free throw line while the rest of the team struggled (hitting on only 3 of 16). Reed Patton followed up his rebounding clinic from the night before to lead the Falcons again in rebounds with 13 boards. Scoring for the Falcons were Zach Long and Steven Morningstar with 10 points apiece followed by Nick Fisher and Steven Johnson with four points apiece. Coach Morningstar had this to say about the game “It is tough to lose back to back games at in the waning seconds on back to back nights, but the game today really hurts because I believe we played our best game of the season. We played outstanding defense against a very strong offensive team and we again ran our offense very well. I thought the way we handled the Bruins press the entire game was particularly impressive, our team’s hard work the last few weeks in practice against the press really paid off tonight, our ball security and patience against the pressure was outstanding. All and all it was a great weekend of basketball for our team, we took huge strides forward individually and as a team this weekend and that should serve us well throughout the rest of the year. This team has shown it is extremely resilient, tough and has a desire to get better, with that attitude in place we will be a hard team to beat as the weeks go on".
The PBA JV Girls knew Walkersville was going to be their toughest game since they have been rolling over teams. With only eight players on hand after the game was rescheduled and Walkersville having 15 players, the Falcons knew they had a numbers problem as well. The JV Girls scared them in the first half with their trademark strong defense and trailed the Lions by just four at the half. Walkersville went to the press in the second half and Poolesville had trouble with it. Due to high turnovers and Walkersville being more aggressive under the boards, the JV Girls lost by a final score 51-21. MacKenzie Fields did a great job underneath with her rebounding and shooting (4 for 6 from the field) and was high scorer with eight points. Whitney Carmack finished with six points. Olivia McAleer completed her foul shots for three points and Rosie Barry and Kristen Drinnon each contributed two points each. "We are looking forward to our rematch at home with our full team," said Asst. Coach Laura Carmack.
The PBA Varsity Girls, behind Jocelyn Bodmer's 14 points and five rebounds, came from 12 points down to defeat Walkersville on Saturday. During the first half, the Lady Lions out-hustled and out-played their Falcon counterparts, and in doing so built a 28-16 halftime lead. Poolesville came out in the second half, played two of their best quarters of the year, and stormed past the stunned home team by a final score of 51-44----a 19-point second half turnaround."The girls and I had a heart to heart about effort and what it would take to pull out a win," said Coach Cathy Carnahan. "When the girls took the court they came alive. I saw more hustle in that 14 minutes of play then I have seen from the girls all season. They played with passion and heart with each one getting into the action. Jocelyn (Bodmer), Jaime Baker (eight points and eight rebounds) and Haley Davison (two points five steals) took control of the boards. Jaime and Jocelyn hit big shots which started to open up our outside shooters so Kelsey (Carnahan) and Kelly (Hughes) went to work with both hitting three three-pointers. Allie Greene did a good job of feeding the ball and getting to open spots on the court for a few important baskets. We have some big games coming up and I feel if the girls can play like they did in the second half of this game we will be hard to beat." Hughes finished with 11 points and five steals, Carnahan finished with 10 points and seven assists, and Allie Greene had four points and four assists.
Saturday-Sunday 1/10-11--------------
Varsity Boys, Girls Brush With Crest(wood)
RS Girls Take Two to Go 3-0, Cartwright "Three" Keeps RS Boys Undefeated!The PBA Varsity Boys and Girls returned to the winning column over the weekend as the senior boys swept past Folly Quarters and Crestwood while the senior girls did the same against Crestwood on Sunday.
The Varsity Boys rebounded from a stinging defeat to Brunswick last week to roll past Folly Quarters on Saturday by a final score of 57-38. Poolesville blew open the game with a 26-point second quarter. Balanced scoring carried the day as Colin Turner hit for 12 points, Kirby Carmack scored 10, and Brian Dillon, Nikolay Henze, and Brandon "Handles" Prather scored eight points each. In their Sunday contest against Crestwood, the Varsity Boys outscored the Cavaliers 29-9 in the second half to beat the Cavs 54-24. Turner (10 points) and Carmack (13 points) got the Falcons off to a fast start with eight points each in the first quarter. Josh Womack came alive with four points and four rebounds in both the second and the third quarters. Thomas "the Tower" Wolz hit for seven points and racked up four blocked shots. Dillon scored six points, Niko Micheals hit for five points, and Henze and Tony Clements also scored, with Clements also passing for three assists. The Varsity Boys committed only 14 turnovers against Crestwood, which was also Coach Marshall Micheals' first win over the Cavaliers. "It seems like we got back our 'swagger' a little bit this weekend," said Coach Micheals.
The Varsity Girls returned to the win column have a tough two-game stretch last week. They kept Crestwood at arm's length all game long en route to a 53-28 win over the Lady Cavs. Kelly Hughes led Poolesville with 20 points---her second 20-point effort in her last three games. Backcourt mate Kelsey Carnahan hit for ten points and dished out eight assists. The frontcourt of Haley Davison (nine points), Jocelyn Bodmer (eight points), and Jaime Baker (six points, nine rebounds) handles the boards against an aggressive Crestwood team. The Varsity Girls record stands at 5-2 with a mid-week game against Walkersville scheduled for Thursday night.
The PBA JV Boys opened up a 12-0 lead against Crestwood on Sunday and held serve the rest of the way in their 38-31 win over the Cavs. Trevor Stottlemyer hit for 14 points, Andy Baker had nine, and Mitchell Poe scored eight to pace the Poolesville attack. Stottlemyer, Baker, and Craig Morton combined for 25 rebounds. Hunter Pearre (three points), Robbie Metz, Charlie Miller and Kyle Brown also scored. "We ran transition well in the first half and that really makes a difference," said Coach John Weber, "but when it's not there, we need to learn to be more patient." Against Folly Quarters on Saturday, the JV Boys were seemingly on a seesaw the whole game. They trailed by ten early, were down by two at the half, held a four-point lead late and ended up losing 49-48. Baker hit for 20 against Folly Quarters with Stottlemyer chipping in 12 and Morton scoring eight. "Stotts" and Baker grabbed a total of 15 boards. "Too much 'run and gun'," said Weber. "If we had been patient we would have won the game."
The PBA JV Girls let a close game slip away on Sunday against Crestwood with the end result being a 24-19 win for the Lady Cavs. Crestwood scored the first seven points in the second half, and while the Falcons closed the game with a strong run it wasn't enough to complete the comeback. Whitney Carmack and Sarah Kenneweg scored 13 of Poolesville's 19 points.
On Sunday, the PBA Rising Stars Boys played an exciting game against a tough Maryland Cyclones team. There were many lead changes and ties during the game with both teams taking small leads only to have those leads turn into quick deficits. It looked like whoever scored last would be the winner. In the first half the big men reigned supreme as Steven Johnson and Steven Morningstar controlled the boards and by game’s end they totaled with 17 and 20 rebounds apiece. At the half Poolesville lead 19-18. The second half saw much of the same, but with two minutes left the Falcons were down by six. With three big defensive stops, the Falcons regained the lead only to have the Cyclones tie it back up with 12 seconds left. The Falcons broke the Cyclones full court pressure by getting the ball quickly to half court. In a flurry of action with one second left Joey Cartwright squared up and took a three-pointer. The buzzer sounded as the ball left Cartwright's hand. The crowd and team exploded as the ball hit the bottom of the net and the Falcons on top 35-32. After the game Coach Morningstar said he felt the team moved the ball really well and was pleased on the offensive end, but will look to improve the team on the defensive end this week in practice. Morningstar led all scorers with 13 points followed by Nic Fisher with seven points, Johnson with six points, Zach Long with four points, Cartwright with (a very important) three points and Max Dahlen with two points.
The PBA Rising Stars Girls opened up the two-game weekend by beating the Aqua Mystics, 27-20, on Saturday night. The girls from Poolesville were down one, 20-19, with 3:25 left before finishing the game on an 8-0 run. "I was thrilled with how we dealt with the psychological pressure of being down one with just a few minutes left, and then how we kept our composure with a small lead very late in the game," according to Coach Morgan. "They were applying a full court press, but we were strong with the ball, didn't turn the ball over much, and when they fouled us, we made a good percentage of our free throws. Denise Larson played another great game to lead our team." Larson led the team with 19 points, including shooting seven for 13 from the foul line. Anna DeSoto scored four points and had a team-leading 10 rebounds. Mollie Bodmer added a field goal to go with her seven rebounds, and Kristen Darragh and Breanne Hall each made a free throw.
The RS Girls did it again on Sunday. They remained undefeated with a 26-18 victory over the Golden Eagles, which moved the young Falcons record to 3-0. In Sunday's game, the Poolesville girls opened up a 15-0 lead and coasted to victory. "We had great passing today," according to Coach Morgan. "When we had a teammate open for a shot, we did a good job of not only noticing that they were open, but making a good pass to them. Also, we did a good job defensively, as we usually do." Denise Larson led the team with 14 points and nine rebounds. Mollie Bodmer had four points and six rebounds. Anna Murgia led the team with five steals to go with her two points. Breanne Hall, Kristen Darragh and Anna DeSoto each added a field goal.
Saturday-Sunday 1/3-4--------------
Larson Powers Rising Star Girls to Win
W. Carmack's 28 points help Carry JV Girls over Ballenger Creek
Rising Star Boys Also Start Season with Victory
The always-entertaining PBA Varsity Boy Brandon Prather takes flight against Brunswick. JV Boy Robbie Metz gets a good look at the bucket. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, email Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
PBA Varsity Girl Jocelyn Bodmer looks for daylight against Ballenger Creek. Sarah Kenneweg finds an opening in the JV Girls win over “the Creek”. Photos by Tom Amiot. For reprints, email Tom at jcphotoclub@aol.com.
The PBA Rising Stars Girls started their regular season with a 32-20 victory over the Damascus Crushers. The girls from Poolesville opened up an 8-0 lead, led 21-10 at halftime, and cruised to victory. Denise Larson led the team with 19 points, including 5 for 6 from the foul line, and also led the team with 12 steals. Anna Murgia had six points and 11 steals. Anna DeSoto had five steals and added a bucket. Breanne Hall had three steals and a bucket. Fifth-grader Kristen Darragh had 3 steals and a free throw. Classmate Mollie Bodmer also added a field goal. "Our defense was great for most of the game," according to Coach Steve Morgan. "Our starters played really well, particularly Denise, who had a great game. But we were getting good contributions from everyone. Ashley Adkins had three steals. Nancy Morgan had a block, a rebound and a steal. Taylor Thomas had a couple of rebounds and a steal. Morgan Brashear had a rebound and a steal. We had good effort from everyone. We still have a lot of things to work on, but this is a great way to start the season."
The PBA Rising Star Boys opened their 2009 campaign with a victory over the Bethesda Science. Poolesville scored first, led 15-7 at the half and cruised to a 31-20 win. Scoring for the Falcons were Steven Morningstar with 13 points, Zach Long with six points, and Joey Cartwright and Nic Fisher with four points each. Eric Lee and Steven Johnson also scored for the young Falcons.
The PBA JV Girls turned a three-point halftime lead into a resounding 51-38 win over Ballenger Creek on Saturday. Poolesville finished strong with an 18-3 advantage in the fourth quarter. Guard Whitney Carmack paced the JV Girls with 28 points---almost all on lay-ups as Ballenger Creek never really solved the penetrating Falcons. Julia Potts and Rosie Barry finished with six points each, MacKenzie Fields hit for four points, and Sarah Kenneweg, Jessie Maloney, Olivia McAleer and Denise Larson also scored. Rebekah Chittenden and Kristen Drinnon finished with four rebounds each and Christina Cristou snagged two steals. "Everyone contributed to this game," said Assistant Coach Laura Carmack. "At some point our opponent should have switched to a zone but we kept penetrating to the inside. We had trouble rebounding during the game but once we did rebound, we maintained possession."
Sunday was a different story. The JV Girls effort was there once again but the scoreboard didn't get a chance to reflect it. Counting two shots that went in after the clock hit 0:00 (with the buzzer coming a second later), the Falcons fell to Middletown by a final score of 27-22. The Falcons had their chances, however, but couldn't convert on some open fast break opportunities and also went only two-for-ten from the free-throw line. "We went man-to-man to try to force some turnovers halfway through the fourth quarter," said Coach Sandy Chittenden, "but we could not connect on any shots to bring the W on our side. I was very happy with how the girls played this game - they fought hard for the ball and we could have won if we dropped in more of our shots. We need our big girls down low to start scoring to maintain our competitive edge moving forward." Carmack finished with 11 points, Kenneweg had six, Barry had four and Potts also scored. The JV Girls record now stands at 3-3.
Not a great weekend for the PBA Varsity Girls as they dropped two games on the same weekend for the first time since they entered the PBA three years ago. Ballenger Creek rode the strength of their top inside player and a box-in-one defense against Poolesville point guard Kelsey Carnahan to beat the Falcons on Saturday by a final score of 52-35. Middletown did not resort to a gimmick defense and didn't have to as they used their speed and aggression to take down the Varsity Girls by a final score of 40-26 on Sunday. "That was an extremely hard weekend of basketball for us," said Coach Cathy Carnahan. "Both teams played us very physical. We were unable to muster the energy to pull it together and come up with a win. I told the girls both teams are beatable. We just need to put it behind us and focus on the next game. They have to come to our house next time. I promise to have the girls better prepared. Ballenger Creek was stronger inside and Middletown was quicker and more aggressive then we were." Kelly Hughes did all she could to keep Poolesville in the mix with a total of 33 points in both games. Jaime Baker also came up strong with 13 total in both games.
The PBA JV Boys fell to Brunswick 49-47 in overtime on Sunday. Poolesville trailed by four at the half and was down by eight in the fourth quarter. The Falcons came back to tie the game on a steal at midcourt and a lay-up by Robbie Metz. The ball wouldn't fall in overtime, however, and that was all she wrote for the JV Boys. Andy Baker led the Falcons with 21 points, Metz finished with 13 points (including three three-pointers), Hunter Pearre had six points, Trevor Stottlemyer had five and Joe Kazadi also scored. “It was really nice to see the boys shoot the ball tonight," said Coach John Weber. "Now if we could just play a little defense.”
Brunswick used tough full court man to man pressure to open up a 20-5 first quarter and a 35 to 11 halftime lead that the PBA Varsity Boys could not overcome. Poolesville was able to stop the bleeding in the second half, clamping down on the Brusnwick thirteen and winning the half 15 to 14. But it was a classic case of too little too late in dropping this division game. Colin Turner ‘got his’ with eight points , Nikolay Henze followed with six, Thomas Wolz had five, Brian Dillon had 3, and Brandon Prather and Tony Clements provided a deuce each. “We came out as flat as I’ve ever seen us in three years”, said Coach Marshall Micheals immediately following the game. “Even though we beat them in the second half (15-14), the mental lapses and our inability to play to their pace hurt us. We need to start games much better than that. It is a long season though, after a great practice tonight, we’ll be ready for the Folly Quarter/Crestwood weekend outings. I was particularly impressed with Henze’s play. I thought that he really didn’t care what the scoreboard said, he was going to represent Poolesville well.”
PBA Team Holiday Tournament Game Results
PBA Varsity Boys and Team Selbys at the Sugarloaf Shootout at Poolesville High School
See results under "Tournaments"PBA Varsity Girls at the Boonsboro Holiday Tournament at Girls, Inc in Hagerstown, MD
Game 1-----Beat Springfield 38-19 to advance to quarter-finals.
Game 2-----Beat Windsor Knolls 27-15 on Sunday to advance to semi-finals.
Game 3-----Beat Urbana 38-20 on Monday to advance to championship game.
Game 4-----Varsity Girls Beat Urbana 31-25 to win Boonsboro Tournament Championship (see below)!PBA JV Boys at the MOCO Rec Rising Star Holiday Tournament
Game 1-----Friday lost to Olney Warriors 46-37.
Game 2-----Sunday lost to Jaguars 40-37.
Game 3-----Sunday lost to Bethesda Pride 55-41.PBA Rising Star Girls at the MOCO Rec Rising Star Holiday Tournament
Game 1-----Friday lost to Savage 16-13.
Game 2-----Saturday lost to Olney Lady Warriors.
Game 3-----Sunday lost to Flames-Staton 26-23.
Game 4-----Monday lost to Freedom-Swish 22-19.PBA Rising Star Boys at the MOCO Rec Rising Star Holiday Tournament
Game 1-----Friday beat Rockville Stars 42-39
Game 2-----Saturday lost to DC Stars 44-23.
Game 3-----Sunday lost to Freedom 51-12.
Game 4-----Monday lost to Urbana.Poolesville High School Holiday Tournament Game Results
PHS Varsity Girls at 4th Annual Sugarloaf Shootout Holiday Tournament at PHS
Monday (12/29) First Round-----------Seneca Valley beat Northwest, Poolesville lost to Quince Orchard.
Tuesday (12/30)----------Consolation Game---Poolesville lost to Northwest----Freshman (and PBA Alum) Lindsay Poss hit for 18 points.PHS Varsity Boys at Cougar Shootout at Quince Orchard High School
Monday (12/29) First Round-----------Blair lost to Urbana, Poolesville lost to Quince Orchard.
Tuesday (12/30)----------Consolation Game----Poolesville beat Blair behind 24 points from Kevin Baker.
Holiday Tournament Summaries--------------
Holiday Hoop Time!
Allie Greene hits the runner against Urbana in the PBA Varsity Girl's Boonsboro Holiday Tournament Championship win over Urbana. The PBA Varsity Girls flash their usual "We won the Boonsboro Holiday Tournament AGAIN" smiles while holding and keeping a close eye on the championship bling. Kneeling from left: Kelly Hughes, Allie Greene, Haley Davison, Kassidy Florczyk, and Carmen Maita. Top from left: Coach Cathy Carnahan, Kelsey Carnahan, Jaime Baker, Jocelyn Bodmer, Noel DeCenzo, Shannon Hemp, and Assistant Coach Brian Carnahan. Photos by Tom Amiot.
PHS Varsity Girl Jen Bateman goes lefty for two against Quince Orchard while teammate Katelyn Keese looks underneath for an assist in Sugarloaf Shootout action. Photos by Tom Amiot.
PBA Rising Star Steven Johnson boxes out and reaches up for a rebound against the Freedom. Varsity Boy Nikolay Henze goes over a Darnestown defender for two. Mitchell Poe looks for the bucket (or a pass) in Saturday's game. Photos by Tom Amiot.
PBA Rising Star Denise Larson gets a good look against Savage on Friday. PBA Varsity Girl Kelsey Carnahan drives to the bucket at the Boonsboro Holiday Tournament. Photos by Tom Amiot.
The PBA Varsity Girls beat Urbana on two consecutive days to capture their second consecutive Boonsboro Holiday Tournament Championship. The final score in the championship game was 31-25. "Urbana came ready to play," said Poolesville Coach Cathy Carnahan. "We came out a little flat and ending up going into halftime behind by 3 points. Urbana played a very aggressive man to man defense and put a lot of pressure on my guards. Haley Davison did a great job driving to the hoop, drawing fouls and finishing. Jocelyn Bodmer and Jaime Baker did a good job on the boards. Kelsey Carnahan, Kelly Hughes and Allie Greene did a nice job moving the ball. Kassidy Florczyk, Noelle DeCenzo, Shannon Hemp and Carmen Maita were aggressive throughout the tournament and gave us good minutes on the court. I am very proud of the girls. Now onto Ballenger Creek and Middletown this weekend!
Carnahan added, "I'd like to send a big THANK YOU from Brian and I to all of our parents. It's a long trip to Hagerstown for four nights in a row and i want to thank our parents, once again, for not complaining, leaving work early, rushing home making sure everyone got to the gym on time. Our parents have been incredibly supportive of the girls and I think the girls play better because of it."
The PBA Rising Star Boys opened the Holiday Tournament with a win over the Rockville Stars by a final score of 42-39. The score at halftime was 21-18. The Falcons were behind only once and that was by a lone bucket. According to PBA Boys Director (and RS assistant coach) Bill Cartwright, "The boys played tough. A lot of Hustle and Heart. We see a lot of improvement for the summer". From the stat line: Steven Morningstar led the team with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and four steals. Joey Cartwright had nine points, two rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Nick Fisher finished with eight points, three rebounds, four steals, and five assists. Zach Long scored six points, grabbed three rebounds, and snagged three steals. Steven Johnson, has four points, 10 rebounds, and a steal. Ryan Shorts had a bucket and two steals. 5th Grader Reed Patton also scored, grabbed three boards, and recorded a steal as well.
The PBA Rising Star Girls lost all three of their tournament matches but were in each game until the very end in two of the three contests. The Falcons lost a close game to Savage, 16-13, on Friday. The girls from Poolesville started very slowly, falling behind 7-0 after the first 10 minutes, the result of numerous misses of good shots. The lineup of Breanne Hall, Kristen Darragh, Nancy Morgan, Anna Murgia and Denise Larson played the last four minutes of the first half, and a combination of excellent defense and slightly better shooting resulted in a halftime score of 7-4. Although Poolesville continued to miss a lot of easy shots, they closed the gap to 14-13 with two minutes remaining, but Savage scored again and Poolesville was unable to launch a desperation 3. According to Coach Steve Morgan, "We did a great job defensively. We came up with 24 steals, but unfortunately those steals didn't lead to many fast break opportunities, and the few opportunities we had, we didn't convert. Anna led the defensive attack with 8 steals. Denise did a great job on the boards, grabbing a remarkable 18 rebounds. Unfortunately, great defense and good rebounding won't lead to a victory when you shoot as poorly as we shot. Some of that can be attributed to first game jitters. I hope we never shoot that poorly again." Larson led the team with 9 points, and Murgia and Darragh added one field goal each. In game two of the weekend, the PBA Rising Stars Girls lost to the Olney Lady Warriors, 62-14, on Saturday. According to Coach Morgan, "They have an outstanding team. They're tall. They're quick. Everyone can handle the ball really well, and everyone can shoot from the outside. They are crushing everyone in this tournament." Denise Larson led Poolesville with 10 points, and Mollie Bodmer and Kristen Darragh added one field goal each.
The Rising Star Girls hung tough in game three but ended up losing to the Flames-Staton, 26-23, on Sunday. The game was close throughout, as the Poolesville girls were down 15-13 at halftime. Poolesville tied it at 23 late in the game, but a basket and a free throw by the Flames in the last two minutes led to the final score. "Mollie Bodmer did a great job defensively underneath, blocking four shots and getting a lot of rebounds against a taller opponent," Coach Morgan said. "Allie Gruber did a great job defensively, getting a lot of steals and creating jump ball situations. Kristen Darragh had her best game as a PBA player, coming up with numerous steals to go along with her 6 points." Denise Larson led the team with 13 points, and Bodmer and Anna Murgia contributed one field goal each. In Monday action, The PBA Rising Stars Girls team lost a close game to Freedom Swish, 22-19. Down 13-6 at halftime, the girls from Poolesville made a valiant comeback, closing it to 21-19 with a minute left. After a Freedom Swish free throw, Poolesville tried a 3 pointer that fell short with 8 seconds left. Poolesville forced a turnover with 3 seconds remaining, but was unable to launch a desperation 3. "For the most part, we played fairly well, particularly in the second half," according to Coach Morgan. "Anna Murgia played a great game, scoring 6 points and leading the team with 9 rebounds." Breanne Hall had 5 of the team's 15 steals. Denise Larson led the team with 9 points, including 5 from the free throw line. Kristin Darragh and Anna DeSoto added one field goal each. According to Morgan, "Over the course of the tournament, we had several close losses, which is disappointing, but I saw a lot of improvement over the four days. This tournament definitely made us better prepared for our regular season opener on Saturday."
Sunday December 21st--------------
PBA Boys Take Two from MSD
PBA Varsity Boy Robbie Lenz fights off an Oriole while PBA JV Boy Charlie Miller gets ready to score. Photos by Tom Amiot.
The PBA JV Boys ran up a 25-point first half advantage and then coasted to a 49-13 win over the Maryland School for the Deaf (MSD) on Sunday at PHS. Poolesville's Trevor Stottlemyer had his biggest game as a Falcon finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds. Andy Baker scored eight points in the win, Craig Morton knocked in seven points, Charlie Miller had five, Steven Morningstar and Hunter Pearre hit for four points each and Vince Guanciale and Mitchell Poe also scored. Baker and Poe combined for five assists. "As a team we ended up with 30 steals-plus-rebounds and we only had seven turnovers," said Coach John Weber. "That was really the difference in the game." The JV Boys will play in the Rising Star Holiday Tournament starting on Friday 12/26 with the complete schedule due to be released on Tuesday 12/23. Their record stands at 3-2 entering the holiday break.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the PBA Varsity Boys opened up a 23-5 halftime advantage and then finished off the Orioles 44-19. Both teams pressed at various times throughout the game with Poolesville getting the better end of it by forcing MSD to surrender 29 turnovers. Kirby Carmack led the Falcons with 11 points, Niko Micheals scored eight for Poolesville, and Colin Turner and Thomas Wolz dropped in six points each in the win. "MSD did a decent job of pressuring the ball," said Coach Marshall Micheals. "They never gave up." The PBA Varsity Boys play in this weekend's "Sugarloaf Shootout" at PHS starting on Saturday (12/27) with games starting at 12:30 PM and the locals hitting the floor (old gym) at approximately 2:00 PM.
Saturday and Sunday Dec. 13th-14th--------------
PBA Varsity Girls Hold Down the Fort
JV Girls Lose Dual Heartbreakers
PBA Varsity Girl Kelsey Carnahan decides going through her Windsor Knolls opponent is the shortest way to the bucket while MacKenzie Fields gets ready to muscle her way up for a score. Photos courtesy of Tom Amiot.
A slow start was the last thing on the PBA Varsity Girls minds as they squared off on Saturday against a Monocacy team that entered the game with just one win under the belt. Mark that down as "worst fears realized" as the first quarter ended with Monocacy up by two (14-12) and the Falcons in serious fowl trouble. In what might be called a "slight adjustment", Poolesville regrouped, went on a 17-1 tear in the second quarter and proceeded to blow out the Mustangs by a final score of 46-19. The guard trio of Kelly Hughes (16 points), Kelsey Carnahan (12 points) and Allie Greene (eight points) combined for a total of 36 points and eight assists, with Carnahan also grabbing seven rebounds. "Once we got rolling, Kelsey and Allie did a great job getting the ball to the right place," said Coach Cathy Carnahan. "Kelly, Jaime Baker (4 points), Jocelyn Bodmer (four points) and Haley (five rebounds) played aggressive defense. Kassidy Florczyk, Carmen Maita, Shannon Hemp, Noelle Decenzo gave us some good minutes off the bench. We need to start out stronger and take control of the game sooner than we have been. We are missing way too many easy buckets under the basket and not moving our feet very well on defense so we find ourselves in foul trouble."
Game #2 for the weekend for the Varsity Girls went a little easier even thought the score was a little closer. The Falcons ran into early foul trouble again but managed to open up a 13-point lead and then hold it the rest of the way on their way to a 36-22 win. Baker led the team with a double-double----10 points and 11 rebounds. Carnahan finished with 11 points and five assists. Hughes scored seven points with four steals, Bodmer hit for six points and had five rebounds, Davison has a bucket and six rebounds and Greene has three assists and two steals. "Everyone is picking up when they have to," said Coach Carnahan. The double win weekend gives the PBA Varsity Girls a 4-0 record.
The PBA JV Girls suffered through two heartbreakers over the weekend. On Saturday against Monocacy, the JV Girls lost by a final score of 36-35 in the last 17 seconds of the game. Poolesville scored the first eight points (including four from MacKenzie Fields) on steals and fast breaks. At the half, Poolesville held a 12-point lead. Monocacy came out blazing in the second half to wrestle the lead from Poolesville. The Falcons regained the lead on a three-pointer from Whitney Carmack (nine points) but Monocacy answered with a three to gain a one-point advantage with ten seconds left. Poolesville had several attempts to win the game at the end but none would fall. Carmack and Rosie Barry led Poolesville with nine points each. Fields finished with six points and Rebekah Chittenden knocked in four (including a dribble through the entire defense for a lay-up). Olivia McAleer had her best game this season adding five points and four rebounds against a big girl on the inside. Rebekah Dill and Julia Potts each contributed a bucket. Barry and Denise Larson were a force on the boards, Jesse Maloney had a great block and guarded Monocacy's "bigs" as tough as anyone could have and guards Carmack, Barry and Sarah Kenneweg had several steals. Coach Sandy Chittenden told the girls in the locker room how proud she was of this team and how far they had come. "It really came down to our control of the ball in this game," said Chittenden. "We had too many turnovers which took our lead away in the second half. We need to work on maintaining possession of the ball. We'd steal the ball and then end up losing it half way down the court."
The Sunday match-up against Windsor Knolls was a repeat of Saturday. The JV Girls led in the first half of the game by seven points after a three-point buzzer shot by Carmack (game high 16 points) from half court with three seconds left in the half. The Falcons also picked up eight steals and four rebounds from Fields. In the second half, Windsor Knolls hit two three-pointers as well and then nailed 10 points in a row to take the lead 23-22. Barry (six points) then got hot on her shot and hit three in a row to keep Poolesville close. Windsor Knolls outscored the Poolesville in the second half, 25-11, to win the game 36-29. "That was really was a one-point game the entire second half until we kept fouling them to get the ball back. At the end they hit their foul shots," said Assistant Coach Laura Carmack. "In this game, we had better ball control and maintained possession of the ball but we missed too many shots." Maloney contributed three points and the Falcons got two each from Fields and Potts. Rebekah Dill was a tough defender down low as well as Denise Larson. "In both games, we fizzled out a bit in the second half but these girls gave it their all and should be proud," said Carmack. "Two losses in a row like this were tough but we stayed competitive with both teams and we will get them both next time."
In PBA Varsity Boys action, Poolesville started the game well but came out in the second half flat and dropped a "closer than the score indicated" match to Glenwood 38-28. Poolesville scored first and seemed to have the game in control at the beginning of the first quarter, but issues with Glenwood's press turned a five-point advantage to a five-point disadvantage very quickly. The game was still close at the half with a 22-19 score for the home Glenwood team. The second half was closely contested, but Glenwood managed to overcome the trademark Poolesville pressure to close out the win. "At this point, I think that the guys are executing the offense much better than we were in our earlier games", said Coach Marshall Micheals after the game. "Our defense is definitely keeping us in these games against more athletic players. Our main issue now is keeping a consistent defensive effort throughout the game, and playing smart, patient basketball. I probably called the guys out too much in front of the crowd", continued Micheals, "but I feel that this team is much better than we are showing. That we need to fix, and, quite frankly, we will. We still have a great group of hard working guys, we just need to tune it up a little bit." Josh Womack led the Poolesville attack with 10 points, followed by Colin Turner with five and Kirby Carmack, Brian Dillon, and Nikolay Henze with four each. Tony Clements hit one of his two foul shots to close out the scoring.
The PBA JV Boys wished their game was as close as the Varsity game was. Glenwood's JV ran through, past, and around the Poolesville JV Boys in a 60-28 thumping over the Falcons. "We knew going into this game they were a transition team," said Coach John Weber, "and we really didn't do much to slow them down." Andy Baker and Trevor Stottlemyer led Poolesville with seven points each. Charlie Miller had six points, Mitchell Poe had three, Hunter Pearre and Zach Khalil had two points each and Craig Morton also scored.
Sunday Dec. 7th--------------
Four Up, Four Down!
Poolesville JV and Varsity Boys and Girls Teams Sweep Oakdale
Hunter Pearre, in his Mid-Maryland League debut, drives for two of his five points in the PBA JV Boys win over Oakdale. Brian Dillon goes to the hole to score to help the PBA Varsity Boys take down Oakdale. Dillon finished with 10 points. Photos by Tom Amiot.
The PBA JV Girls opened up a 12-point halftime lead and then held serve the rest of the way to beat Oakdale's JV Girls by a final score of 34-18. Poolesville's guard combo of Whitney Carmack (14 points, 10 steals) and Julia Potts (eight points and seven rebounds) kept the pressure on the Eagles all afternoon. Jesse Maloney chipped in four points for the Falcons. Rebekah Chittenden and Rebekah Dill also scored for Poolesville. MacKenzie Fields grabbed four boards in the win, which moves the JV Girls to 2-0.
In a closer contest, Oakdale's Varsity Girls gave the PBA Varsity Girls, last year's Div. 2 champion, all they could handle, but it wasn't enough as the Falcons held off the Eagles by a final score of 36-30. Poolesville's guard combo of Kelsey Carnahan and Kelly Hughes combined to score 21 points and hand out five assists in the win. Falcon forwards Jocelyn Bodmer (six points) and Jamie Bodmer (five points) hauled down eight rebounds each. Allie Greene and Haley Davison (two blocks) also scored. "We struggled at times," said Coach Cathy Carnahan, "but we got it together when we needed to. It seemed like we were in foul trouble the whole game. Jaime Baker played very aggressively even with a few fouls."
Poolesville's JV Boys doubled-up Oakdale in the second half to beat the visiting Eagles by a final score of 53-28. Andy Baker and Trevor Stottlemyer led Poolesville with 21 and 11 points respectively, with Stottlemyer's six points in the first quarter helping the home team get off to a fast start. Robbie Metz (eight points) gave the Falcons a spark on both ends of the court. Hunter Pearre scored five points, Craig Morton hit for four, and Mitchell Poe and Zach Khalil also scored for Poolesville. Baker and Poe teamed up to hand out nine assists. Falcon big men Kyle Brown, Charlie Miller, and Joe Kazadi controlled the boards for Poolesville.
The PBA Varsity Boys broke open a tight game in the third quarter by outscoring Oakdale 14-3. The fourth quarter was more of the same and the end result was a 46-21 Falcon victory. Josh Womack (13 points) and Thomas Wolz (four points) held down the middle for Poolesville. Brian Dillon and Colin Turner scored 10 points each for the Falcons. Brandon Prather scored four points in the win and Niko Micheals and Nikolay Henze also scored.
Wednesday Dec. 3rd--------------
Lions Trip Falcons
The PBA Varsity Boys opened up a 16-6 lead in their match-up against Walkersville on Wednesday night and went into the half with a 19-12 advantage. Poolesville’s defense hung tough for the rest of the contest, but Walkersville’s defense got stronger as the game progressed and the Falcons ended up falling by a final score of 28-27. With 11 seconds left and the game tied, Walkersville missed a shot, grabbed their own rebound, and a foul was called with 1.9 seconds left on the put-back (against a stationary Josh Womack). The Lions missed the first free throw, hit the second, and the Varsity Falcons evened up at 1-1. “Our offense dropped off at the worst time last night and that’s something we can fix,” said Coach Marshall Micheals. “We only scored eight points in the second half and we didn’t respond well to their pressure.” Colin Turner led Poolesville with 13 points. Brian Dillon, Nikolay Henze and Womack scored four points each. “With Kirby (Carmack) getting knocked out (literally), Nikolay gave us a bunch of energy tonight,” said Micheals.
The PBA JV Boys got into deep trouble early against Walkersville and recovered enough to lose by just 11 points-----42-31. Andy Baker scored 15 for Poolesville. Mitchell Poe and Craig morton scored six points each. Hunter Pearre and Steven Morningstar also scored. Coach john Weber summed it up nicely. He said, "For the most part, we couldn't buy a basket."
Sunday Nov. 30th--------------
Falcons Make Lousy Visitors
JV and Varsity Boys and Girls Sweep St. Johns in OpenersThe PBA Varsity Girls picked up where they left off by beating St. Johns, 50-28, last Sunday. While starters Kelly Hughes (12 points) and Haley Davison (nine points) led all scorers, the two JB’s (Jocelyn Bodmer and Jaime Baker) hit for six points each and sub Carmen Maita got the season off on the right foot by hitting for six as well. Point Guard Kelsey Carnahan kept everyone happy by dishing the ball off in limited minutes. Carnahan combined with fellow guards Allie Greene and Kassidy Florczyk to score nine points and record 11 assists. “That was a scrappy game---not exactly the way we like to play,” said Coach Cathy Carnahan. “It was a good warm up for us to get started. Everyone got into the action tonight trying to wear off some of that Thanksgiving turkey dinner. One down, 17 to go.”
The PBA JV Girls also started off their inaugural Mid-Maryland League season with a 25-16 win over St, Johns. Sarah Kenneweg led all scorers with eight points; Jessie Maloney added six; Whitney Carmack hit a 3-pointer; and Mackenzie Fields, Julia Potts, Denise Larson, and Rosie Barry each added 2 points. Barry led Poolesville in rebounding with six boards and Denise Larson fought hard under the basket with four. St. Johns opened up a quick seven-point lead to start the game. Poolesville quickly caught up, and then proceeded to shut out the Lady Vikings in the second half. “Our 3-2 defense really worked and took away their outside shooting,” said Asst. Coach Laura Carmack. “Rebekah Dill and Rebekah Chittenden shut down two very tall girls underneath as well.” Christina Christou made her debut in her first PBA game and added to the tough defense in the second half.
The PBA JV Boys couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn in the first quarter of their opener against St. Johns on Sunday. Luckily, the barn doors opened up wide in the second quarter as the Falcons doubled-up the Vikings in that stanza on their way to a 55-35 win. After the rough start, Poolesville went a respectable 19-39 from the field, many of them lay-ups to take St. Johns out of the game. Andy Baker continued his assault on the PBA record book by hitting for 21 points. Craig Morton added eight points, and Mitchell Poe and Hunter Pearre had six points each. Charlie Miller, newcomer Joe Kazadi, and Steven Morningstar scored four points each and Robbie Metz also scored. “We had 14 steals (lead by Craig Morton and Andy Baker) versus eight turnovers which is a very big positive,” said Coach John Weber. “The steals were a direct result of the outstanding pressure our guards put on the ball the entire game. I thought we played well overall. It was nice that everyone was able to contribute to this victory with a steal, assist, rebound or points."The PBA Varsity Boys picked up where the JV left off and outdistanced St. Johns by a score of 50 to 22. Coming off of the bench and leading the charge was Brandon Prather with 10, followed by his wing man Colin Turner with 9. “You hate to sound too disgruntled after you beat a team by 28, but there are definitely things that we need to work on”, said Coach Marshall Micheals. “I thought we started slow and weren’t in the right spots for our plays to work, and we missed some open guys in our offense. Conversely, we are trying to play a tight man to man defense this year and I think that Josh Womack did a great job of manning the middle and playing help defense.” The game did start slow with a 10-5 first quarter lead, but the Falcons played strong and finished with a 28 point win. The cash register rang early and often with Nikolay Henze scoring six, Tony Clements with five, and Kirby Carmack, Dillon “Carnival” Kress, and Thomas Wolz with four each. Niko Micheals and Brian Dillon had three points each and Josh Womack (tired from playing D) with two. The Falcons play at Walkersville on Wednesday (12/3), tickets are still available.
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PBA and PHS 2007-2008 Playoff Summaries
Poolesville High School Varsity Basketball
Maryland State 1A West Regional TournamentVarsity Girls-----------
Poolesville (#1 seed East Sectional) beat Catoctin (#5) 53-23 on Monday (3/3).
Poolesville beat Williamsport (#6) 48-35 on Wednesday night.
Poolesville lost to Allegheny (#1 West Sectional) 54-47 in the 1A West Regional Championship on Saturday (3/8) at Frostburg State University. Their season is now over. The Varsity Girls finish with a season record of 19-6. Congrats to seniors (and ex-PBA'ers) Rachel Stream, Cori Rosenberg, and Jess Brown for their dedication, hard work, and success at PHS.Varsity Boys-----------
Poolesville (#7 seed) beat Brunswick (#2) 47-37 on Saturday night.
Poolesville beat Catoctin (#3) 53-39 on Tuesday night.
Poolesville beat Williamsport (#1) 49-37 on Thursday night.
Poolesville lost to Fort Hill (#1 West Sectional) 52-47 in the Regional Championship on Saturday (3/8) at Frostburg State University. Their season is now over. The Varsity Boys finish with a record of 16-10. Congrats to seniors (and ex-PBA'ers) Daniel Camillo, Matt Robillard, and Joe Miller for their dedication, hard work, and success at PHS.PBA JV and Varsity Boys Mid-Maryland League "A" Tournament ----------------
PBA Varsity Boys (#8 seed) lost 32-26 to St. Johns (#9) on Friday (2/29). Their season is over.
The PBA JV Boys lost to Glenwood by a final score of 43-22 in Mid-Maryland League "A" Tournament Championship on Monday (3/3). Their season is now over. The PBA JV Boys (#2) beat Catoctin (#7) 49-23 on Saturday (3/1). They beat Brunswick (#3) 41-23 on Sunday (3/2).
For more information, http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmbball/mmtour2008.html
PBA Rising Star Boys and Girls MOCO Tournament ---------------
PBA Rising Star Boys beat Freedom, 42-36, on Sunday (3/2).
Rising Star Boys beat the Warriors on Saturday (3/8)
The Rising Star Boys fell to Germantown in the MOCO Rising Star Regional semi-finals.PBA Rising Star Girls lost a close one to the Maryland Lightning by a score of 27-21 on Sunday (3/2).
PBA and PHS 2006-2007 Playoff Summaries
The PBA Rising Star Girls (13-1 and the # 1 seed in the MOCO Rec 6th Grade Rising Stars East Regional bracket) won all four of their playoff games including the 6th Grade Rising Star Girls Championship Game!
The PBA Varsity Girls (15-3) won the Mid-Maryland League Division IV tournament by beating Glenelg on Sunday (3/4) by a final score of 29-24.
The PBA Rising Star Boys (9-2) lost their MOCO Rec 6th Grade Rising Stars Midwest Regional bracket playoff game against the Bearcats on Saturday (3/10) and their season is over.
The PBA Varsity Girls (15-3) won the Mid-Maryland League Division IV tournament by beating Glenelg on Sunday (3/4) by a final score of 29-24.
The PBA JV Girls (18-2) lost to Glenelg by a final score of 25-22 on Thursday night in the finals of the Mid-Maryland League Division IV tournament. They beat St. Johns and Oakdale to get to the final.
The PBA JV Boys (#5 seed) lost 42-25 to Folly Quarters in the semi-final round of the Mid-Maryland "A" Tournament. Their season is now over. The JV Boys advanced to the semi-finals with an exciting first round win against MSD (#4 seed) on Saturday (3/3) at the Maryland School for the Deaf (Class A tournament location).
The PBA Varsity Boys (10-8) lost to #5 seed Mt. Airy, 53-46, in first round play of the Mid-Maryland "A" Tournament play. Their season is now over.
The Poolesville High School Varsity Girls (17-6) lost to eventual tournament semi-finalist Surrattsville, 51-38, in the Regional Semi-Final. The Falcons beat Reginald Lewis, 59-26, in 2nd Round play of the Maryland State 1A South Regional Tournament.
The Poolesville High School Varsity Boys lost a heartbreaker on a last second buzzer-beater in their Maryland State 1A Tournament opening game.
PBA JV and Varsity Boys Mid-Maryland League Tournament page
http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmbball/mmtour2007.htmlPBA JV and Varsity Girls Mid-Maryland League Tournament page
http://www.fred.net/dcline/mmgirlsbball/mmtour.htmlPoolesville High School Girls 2006-07 Schedule/Results
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/poolesvillehs/athletics/Basketball/girls%20basketball.htmlPoolesville High School Boys 2006-07 Schedule/Results
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/poolesvillehs/athletics/Basketball/boys%20basketball.htmlPoolesville High School Boys Varsity League Line-up web site
http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?cmenuid=1&url=tal&sid=164436458l
