By Richard Carrier
Contributing writer

It took overtime, but the young Powhatan basketball team came away from last Wednesday’s loss to Park View with two lessons burned into their minds: when you have an opponent down make sure they don’t get up, and if you are willing to live by the 3, be prepared to die by the 3.

The equally young Dragons needed five periods, but they used superior quickness, the ability to successfully attack the rim and clutch foul shooting to put away the Indians, 67-63.

The Dragons jumped out to an 11-6 first quarter lead before the first of Ellis Moore’s long distance bombs closed the gap. Tevin Jones drove through the Indians’ zone to get two points back, but Moore retaliated with another 3, and Phillip Barden’s stick back gave the Indians their first lead at 14-13. Dion Berry’s steal fed Brett Harvey alone in the corner for another 3-point attempt. Harvey missed everything. Moore, who played his best game of the season, scoring from all over the floor, rebounding and defending the paint with a half-dozen blocks, snatched another rebound and again found Harvey alone in the corner. The first quarter horn sounded while Harvey’s nothing-but-net 3 was still in the air. Powhatan 17, Parkview 13.

The Indians, who had started the game in a seldom-used man-to-man defense and picked up four fouls in the first minute and a half, opened the second stanza in their typical 1-2-2 zone. Shawn Minor scored on two free throws and then on an offensive rebound at 19-15, but Park View showed their ability to shred the zone with Wellington Johnson’s baseline drive and A.J. Hill’s stuff over Moore. Moore and Hill, a slender but cat-quick center, fought for control of the paint all game long. Defensively it was a draw, but offensively almost all of Hill’s 17 points came in the paint.

Minor followed Shawn Henderson’s miss. Henderson fired in a line drive 3, and Chris Diamond followed one of Minor’s frequent long distance misses for a 26-17 PHS lead. Moore’s short jumper extended the lead to 11. After one Jones free throw, Minor’s dunk had the Indians comfortably ahead at 30-18.

As the first half ran out, Jones cut the margin to seven with a rainbow from long distance. Minor’s buzzer beater 3 was considerably longer than Harvey’s, but there were two seconds left on the clock when the ball dropped through the net at 35-25, Powhatan.

The Dragons scored the first six points in the third quarter and never lost momentum, despite losing starting point guard B.J. Hite to injury. Moore got the 10-point lead back with a put back and a power move over Hill. Hill and Moore traded shot blocks on each other before a Johnson layup and a wild three-point play by Kayson Fields cut the lead in half. Hill’s steal and full court run out cut that figure to three. This time it was Moore’s turn to end a quarter by dialing long distance. Powhatan 44, Parkview 38.

The two squads traded points for the first three minutes of the final quarter: Hill canned a short jumper, freshman Shaq Jones powered to the rim for a three-point play before Johnson made both ends of a one and one. With 5:19 left the Indians lead was one point. Henderson scored on a rare drive to the rim before Barden threw up an air ball 3, and Minor missed his long distance attempt. Johnson scored on a follow and a free throw to tie at 50 with 3:50 left.

Two successive Henderson drives netted three points, but Johnson tied it again with an off-balance 3 pointer. Minor made one free throw but Hill went over Moore for a three-point play and a 56-54 Park View lead. Minor’s steal led to a Henderson layup and another tie at 56. Free throws made it 57 all with 15 seconds left. The Indians pressured Johnson into a turnover and took the ball inbounds with six seconds left. Berry missed his three-point try, but Diamond somehow took the offensive rebound away from Hill and powered back up. Hill smothered the shot and Diamond. No foul was called and the two teams were headed for overtime.

Hill scored on a follow and Jones sliced to the rim, untouched, for a four-point Parkview lead. Minor’s pull up jumper got two back before Diamond’s shot block led to Henderson’s tying layup with three minutes left. The Indians could not find any offense; Diamond was blocked and Minor missed badly twice as the Dragons chipped away with free throws and Johnson’s run out at 61-65 and a foul shot trade at 62-66.

With 53 seconds left, Minor made one of two free throws and the Dragons left the door open when Hill missed two. In a 25-second sequence, Harvey missed a three and Diamond’s steal led to a Minor miss, but the Indians captured the rebound. Berry launched a three and missed but hustled to force a Park View turnover. With 13 seconds left, Diamond’s sharp inbounds pass went out of bounds. Park View simply had to march to the foul line to seal the win.

Johnson’s game high 20 points led the Dragons. Moore scored 19 for the Indians with Henderson adding 17 and Minor 14.