The Powhatan High School boy’s basketball team struggled at times in their season opener at the Louisa Lions but managed to hold on for a 74-63 win Monday night.

Not that the Indians lack skills. It is the annual problem for Coach Steve Washburn; the domination of the Powhatan football team. Eight of his players, including three starters, had been on the Indians’ football roster that had again gone deep into post season play. With only four days to practice as a unit, the Indians were, understandably, often out of sync.

Shawn Henderson opened the season with a steal and served notice that the 2007-08 PHS squad will be felonious pilferers. Shawn found Luke Meyers alone at the top of the key and Luke nailed his first attempt of the year, a soft three-pointer. The Lions’ Frank Johnson quickly exposed the weakness in the PHS interior defense with an easy layup. Ethan Lewis pulled down a rebound and fed Emmett Brown in close, but Emmett missed a short jumper, another early season flaw in the Indian’s offense. “We missed a lot of open opportunities” said Coach Washburn. Lewis solved the immediate problem with a neat roll to the hoop at 5-2. Demetris Johnson fired back with a short interior jumper. Powhatan stretched their lead to 9-4 on two Brown steals and a put-back by Meyers, then gave four back on two Kerry Wynn power moves. Wynn led the Lions with 16 points and was the dominant inside force all night.

Powhatan surged out to a 13-8 lead on a Lewis steal leading to Taron Hampton’s high flying layup and Lewis’s power move. Brown launched a long distance air ball during this run but didn’t let the embarrassing miss bother him. Following Kwamaine Marshall’s steal and run out layup, Brown pilfered. Hampton also committed larceny and found Brown deep in the corner, alone. Emmett calmly dropped in a three point dart at 18-10. Rohan Byrd answered with a three of his own. Wynn got loose at the rim before Hampton went strong to the rim again to end the first quarter 20-15 Powhatan.

Johnson opened the second stanza with a three pointer before Brown went back to the corner for another seemingly effortless three-pointer. Hampton’s slick scoring feed to Marshall was followed by Kwamaine’s spin move for another score. Brown’s rebound led to Henderson’s short jumper and Emmett’s steal earned Shawn a free throw to put the Indians in front 30-19.

But Powhatan was unable to stand prosperity, a night-long trend. The Lions went on a 7-2 run; two inside scores and a Reginald Shelton three. Meyers’ put back of a Lewis miss had the Indians up by eight. In a frantic sequence at 33-25, Hampton found Meyers cutting to the hoop, stole the Lions’ inbound, lost the ball, stole it back then lost it again. Drew Carlson missed a medium range jumper. Johnson followed with two free throws and a long jumper at the buzzer to pull the Lions back to 35-30 at the half.

The Lions kicked off the third quarter on back to back power moves by Wynn to pull within one. Lewis’s drop step earned him two made free throws which he followed with a short miss. Meyers converted a Brown rebound into a three point play, then Henderson took the spotlight. Shawn dropped in a smooth jump shot at 42-36 and started a classic fast break, Meyers to Brown, with a steal and outlet pass. Lewis redeemed himself with a powerful base line drive to again put PHS up by ten at 46-36. The Lions got two back on another Wynn follow. Lewis’s absolute stuff of Mathew Cassell’s layup attempt ended up in the hands of Byrd for an easy put-back and Cassell made one free throw to again close the gap to five. Marshall’s steal and run out was answered by yet another Wynn power move. Meyers missed an open three but followed up with a hard drive to the rim. His three point play ran the lead back to eight. The Indians turned the ball over twice while Wynn put back an offensive rebound and Byrd canned an uncontested three. Meyers ended the quarter with an assist to Marshall as time expired. Powhatan 53. Louisa 48.

Luke dominated the start of the final period with another hard baseline drive, a rebound and an assist to Hampton slicing to the basket. Lewis’s larceny under the Lions’ rim led to an assist as he fed Luke for another score at 59-48. Ethan pilfered the next Louisa offensive effort and saved the possession with a smart timeout just before he slid out of bounds. Brown drove the base line and dished to Meyers to give the Indians their biggest lead, 61-48. It took the Lions a bit over a minute and a half to cut the lead back to seven.

With 3:09 left Hampton again showed impressive power with his attack of the rim. His three point play opened the lead to ten, 64-54. Byrd again dropped in an uncontested three and Meyers answered with a baseline drive. Brown’s foul shot essentially ended the contest at the one minute mark and outside of Meyers’ tip in the final seconds it became one long free throw contest.

Meyers led the Indians with 22 and Brown contributed 17. Emmett also served in the role of point forward, running the Indian’s offense. “It’s a role he assumed on his own as a team leader,” said Coach Washburn, waiting for Minor to play his way into control of the team from the point guard position. Having Emmett, the tallest active Powhatan player, away from the basket contributed to the porous interior defense. “We are concerned about this, but we can improve on it. We have a lot of work to do correcting missed opportunities and missed assignments” Coach Washburn concluded.