Week of June 29th 

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 Phoenix is Rising

With Coach Micheals on sabbatical in Arizona, President Bannon stepped in to coach the 6th Grade Rising Stars Boys team 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.

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. 

 

 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.

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.

 

 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.

 

 Latest Info 

	Revised Summer League Game Schedules have been posted under "Schedules". Contact your coach if you will be late or not attending a game!
	Poolesville High School Girls JV and Varsity Summer League Schedules have been posted under League Info.
	PBA Summer League Tryouts have been completed! Congrats to the latest crop of future PHS stars. Winter League Tryouts are just four months away.
	2009 Mini-Falcon, Junior Falcon and Falcon Camp info  has been posted under "Camp Information". Registration is winding down but there are still spots in the camps! No price increase for 2009!
	PBA End-of-Year Awards Banquet was held on March 21st. See below for photos!
	Open Gym Nights for current 4th through 8th graders are finished for Spring 2009. Thanks to all participants!
	Final 2008-09 Rising Star, JV, and Varsity Game Results have been posted under "Game Summaries" and "PBA Player Info"
	2008 Sugarloaf Shootout 8th Grade Boys Holiday Tournament results have been posted under "Tournaments"