[New] Dominant defense fuels Powhatan’s fourth win

ROBBY FLETCHER Sports Editor

Behind a deadly full court press and hot shooting nights from the team’s leading scorers, the Powhatan Indians stepped onto the home floor of the Maggie Walker Green Dragons and left it looking like the superior team in a 63-35 win on Jan. 10.

The victory was Powhatan’s second win in its last three games, and its largest margin of victory of the season, beating a 23-point win over the Goochland Bulldogs on Dec. 6.

The Indians were led by a 19-point outing from senior Jack DeBord, who lit up the scoreboard with three 3-pointers. Next to him were solid scoring performances from sophomore Matt Henderson and junior D.J. Jackson, who finished with 10 points apiece.

Senior center Paul Bonner, an anchor in the paint who was disruptive on both ends of the floor against the Green Dragons, says the team entered the game coming off a strong practice session, a trend he notices has led to some of Powhatan’s best performances this season.

“I think it’s big when we have a good practice beforehand,” Bonner said.

Bonner in particular looked like a player that used the motivation from a strong practice to deliver one of his best all-around performances of the season. He says his confidence lies in doing the little things right on the floor, noting his ability to rebound, play aggressive and read the defense as ways in which he helps his team.

“I may not score a lot, but rebounding is what has gotten me this far so I just continue to focus on that,” he said.

At the forefront of the victory was a suffocating full court press from the Indians, who never let the Dragons get comfortable in their home gym. When Maggie Walker did beat the press, Powhatan still displayed sound de- fense in the half court, holding Maggie Walker to its first game under 40 points since a season-opening loss to Colonial Heights on Dec. 1.

“To me, it’s always about effort,” Geiman said of his team’s defense. “We weren’t perfect, which we are never going to be, but I thought we executed well enough and worked really hard, which is what we’ve been preaching.”

Geiman says the coaching staff has been preaching the importance of effort all season to the team, focusing on the aspect that good effort provides more room for error and can often make up for those mistakes.

On offense, the Indians started to pick up the pace at the end of the first quarter with six unanswered points from DeBord and Henderson to make it a 11-4 game entering the second quarter. That momentum carried over into the start of the second, with DeBord burying a catch-andshoot three, followed by Bonner stopping a post-up opportunity which sparked a fast break layup for Henderson.

Powhatan again scored in bunches soon after, with Henderson finding DeBord on a skip pass for a mid-range jumper, which was immediately followed by a steal at half court by Bonner which then led to DeBord burying another 3-point make in the same area as his mid-range jumper. In the blink of an eye, the score was 21-9 in Powhatan’s favor.

The Indians entered the half up 28-10 and continued to flex their muscles, keeping up with the press and cruising to a 43-21 lead at the end of three quarters after a Bonner putback at the buzzer.

Geiman was able to go deep into his bench to stretch out the rotation for the remainder of the game, giving some of Powhatan’s younger players some well-earned minutes on the floor with the game already in hand.

The Indians had a quick turnaround after the win over the Green Dragons with a home matchup against the Cosby Titans the next day. While the Indians rightfully deserved some time to celebrate their largest margin of victory this season, Geiman says the mindset shifted to Cosby once the clock struck midnight, a philosophy that he learned from the coaches he used to play under.

“After the clock hits midnight and it’s the next day, it’s all hands on deck for the next game,” he said.

Against the Titans, who are one the strongest teams in the district, the Indians fought to the end to keep the game close, giving the Titans one of their closest battles of the season.

Cosby won 53-46 to move to 8-4 on the season, but they had to gut it out despite jumping to an early 20-12 lead entering the second quarter.

Behind a masterful 26-point game from Henderson, who connected on five 3-pointers, the Indians were down just 10 points entering the fourth quarter, and 11 points from Henderson and three from DeBord helped them score 15 in the final eight minutes to keep the Titans on edge until the final buzzer sounded.

Though not a result in Powhatan’s favor, it was another impressive performance that indicates the improvement the team has made since the season started.

Up next for the Indians is a matchup against George Wythe for their second meeting of the season.

The first game was Powhatan’s closest win of the season, as they fought back with a late go-ahead bucket by freshman Ryan Flippo to win the game 66-55 on Dec. 2. Their second meeting will be at Powhatan on Jan. 18 with a start time of 7:15 p.m.

Robby Fletcher can be reached at rfletcher@powhatantoday.com.