Thursday, March 11, 2010
Patrick Henry Patriots' season ends in semis
Patrick Henry is ousted from the Group AAA tournament by undefeated Petersburg.
JAY PAUL Special to The Roanoke Times
PH's Marcus Banks drives around a Petersburg defender on Wednesday.
JAY PAUL Special to The Roanoke Times
Patrick Henry's Ronnie Thomas (5) tries to drive around Petersburg's Frank Mason during Wednesday's game.
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RICHMOND -- Maybe Petersburg High School's nickname should have been a clue.
Patrick Henry met the Crimson Wave in a Group AAA semifinal that ended up more like a bloodbath.
In a game marred by six technical fouls, one ejection and plenty of pushing, shoving, jawing and jiving, unbeaten Petersburg subdued PH 77-57 Wednesday night at VCU's Siegel Center.
Petersburg (29-0) advanced to Friday night's championship game against Eastern Region rival I.C. Norcom.
The Patriots (21-5) saw their season end at the furthest point the program had reached in 18 years.
"It's disappointing," PH coach Jack Esworthy said. "It was a great run, and this team was so much fun to be around."
PH was assessed four of the game's six technicals including two picked up by forward Terrell Wilson, who was escorted to the locker room with 1:29 to play.
Paul Porter and Kalleone Moret also picked up technicals for the Patriots, while Quinton Spain and Du'Vaughn Maxwell were hit with technicals for Petersburg.
"I hate it," Esworthy said of the number of technicals earned by his team.
"I was disappointed the character the whole game took on. We played 26 games and this is only the second game that one of my players has gotten a technical. I'm not saying it was one-sided. But the character the game took on, it was almost like tackle football."
Petersburg, which lost in the state semifinals last year to eventual champion King's Fork, was ready to get physical.
"You've got a lot on the line," veteran coach Bill Lawson III said. "Both teams are trying to win."
Patrick Henry senior Ronnie Thomas echoed that sentiment.
"It was just a lot of emotion," Thomas said. "We both wanted to win. We're both in the state semifinals.
"The refs gave us leeway. Then when it got rowdy it seemed like they were ganging up on us a little bit and letting them keep going."
Stopping Petersburg was a mountainous task and the biggest mountain of all -- the 6-foot-6, 345-pound Spain -- was a huge factor.
The West Virginia football signee scored 16 points and clogged the middle all night, forcing PH's offense to the perimeter as the Patriots launched 34 3-pointers.
"He's 300-some pounds," Lawson said. "He's hard to move. We try to use every tool we can."
PH hit 12 of 34 shots from beyond the arc and were just 9 of 31 on two-point attempts.
Reserve forward Cam Jones led the Patriots in scoring with 16 points, making all four of his 3-pointers. Guard Ty Smith finished with 15 points.
Petersburg's balanced attack left PH in a defensive bind. Point guard Frank Mason and Maxwell led the Crimson Wave with 17 points apiece. Wing guard Tyre Desmore joined Spain with 16.
Patrick Henry led the game just once at 2-0. The Patriots forged a tie at 26 midway through the second quarter before Petersburg took a 36-30 halftime lead.
PH point guard Melvin Henderson picked up two early fouls and played just five minutes in the first half. The Western Valley District player of the year finished the game scoreless and was one of three Patriots who fouled out.
Petersburg, with just one starter shooting better than 65 percent from the line on the season, hit 12 of 14 free throws in the first half and finished 33 of 44 for the game.
Meanwhile, PH shot just eight free throws all night.
"I've been coaching 16 years and I've never had a discrepancy where one team shoots 44 free throws and the other team shoots eight," Esworthy said.
"The refs earned a spot to be here, and I'm sure they called it the way they saw it, but that was the whole game right there."
PETERSBURG (29-0)
Green 2-7 5-6 9, Desmore 4-9 8-8 16, Mason 4-12 7-12 17, D. Maxwell 5-9 7-11 17, Spain 6-8 4-5 16, Hoosier 0-1 0-0 0, Holmes 0-0 0-0 0, E. Maxwell 0-3 0-0 0, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 2-2 2, Patterson 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 33-44 77
PATRICK HENRY (21-5)
Henderson 0-7 0-0 0, Thomas 1-6 0-0 3, Wilson 2-8 0-0 5, Smith 6-18 1-4 15, Porter 3-8 0-1 8, Banks 1-6 0-0 3, Hamlet 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 5-6 2-3 16, Moret 3-6 0-0 7, Manns 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-65 3-8 57
Petersburg 20 16 16 25--77
Patrick Henry 13 17 10 17--57
3-point goals-- Petersburg 2-12 (mason 2-6, Green 0-2, Desmore 0-2, Hoosier 0-1, E. Maxwell 0-1, Patrick Henry -- 12-34 (Jones 4-4, Porter 2-4, Smith 2-5, Thomas 1-5, Wilson 1-5, Banks 1-4, Moret 1-3, Henderson 0-4. Fouls -- Petersburg 15, Patrick Henry 30. Fouled out -- Henderson, Thomas, Porter. Technical fouls -- Patrick Henry 5 (Terrell 2, Porter, Wilson, Moret, Petersburg 2 (D. Maxwell, Spain. Rebounds -- Petersburg 40 (Green, D. Maxwell 10), Patrick Henry 39 (Thomas 10). Assists -- Petersburg 10 (Green, Mason, 5, Patrick Henry 15 (Thomas 5).
