Emotions Run High During Gaithersburg, Paint Branch Game

Things got a little sporty at Paint Branch High School during Tuesday night's boys' basketball game in which Gaithersburg made a valiant come-from-behind effort to win 53-50.

Tension and frustration were palpable throughout the game, but significantly intensified after officials gave out three technical fouls, one for Paint Branch and two for Gaithersburg, within a three-minute span in the second quarter.

According to Paint Branch head coach Walter Hardy, officials told him that one of his players had thrown an elbow at a Gaithersburg player. Meanwhile, Gaithersburg senior guard Malcolm Miller drew a technical when, according to officials, he uttered an expletive. Gaithersburg head coach Kevin Parrish drew the third technical for complaining to the officials about a lack of fouls being called on his players.

In the third quarter, officials broke up two players exchanging words and staring each other down. Later in the fourth quarter, Paint Branch senior guard Kenny Abel drew yet another technical for talking back to an official after he was called for a hitting foul.

"We're in the same division, they beat us three times last year ... I think there's bit of a rivalry starting now," Parrish said.

"We played each other three times last year ... and our first game [this season] was a close game," Hardy said. "Our games always come down to the wire, and the kids always play hard against each other."

Perhaps adding to the tension was both teams' struggle to put the ball through the hoop. Players on both sides missed numerous open jumpers and foul shots. In particular, Paint Branch's 50 points Tuesday night are the fewest they have scored all season.

Miller led the Trojans in scoring with just 11 points. He got help from senior forward Kris Westphall and senior guard Mathias Doe, each of whom scored nine points. Abel led the Panthers in scoring with 10 points.

Gaithersburg struggled early in the game with turnovers, owed to a lot of sloppy passes that helped Paint Branch secure a four-point lead at halftime.

"All of the turnovers so far are unforced," Parrish told the team in between the first and second quarters. "They're not even putting pressure on us, we're just throwing it away."

Paint Branch held the lead for most of the game, but Gaithersburg settled down in the second half and kept the score close. They took the lead for the first time with less than two minutes left in the game, and both teams began fouling each other intentionally to slow the clock down.

Gaithersburg, however, was not in the double bonus yet, and the fouls served to stop the Panthers' fast breaks. The Trojans made enough of their free throws from the fouls to put them up by three. Abel's missed last-second Hail Mary 3-pointer secured Gaithersburg's victory.

"We talked at halftime and I said, 'let's keep attacking the basket,'" Parrish said.

"We aren't letting these guys push us around anymore," he told the team just before the start of the second half.

"I thought defensively we played real well in the first half," Hardy said. "I thought we didn't finish plays, and we missed a lot of easy layups and shots. That might have given us a bigger lead" going into the second half. "At halftime, we talked about keeping our cool and not doing stupid stuff, then we go out and do stupid stuff," referring to Abel's technical.

Gaithersburg players were not immediately available for comment after the game. According to coaches, something was said between players in the after-game handshake line that made Montgomery County Public Schools security request that Paint Branch players wait in their locker room while Gaithersburg left.

"I don't know, one of our kids said something to one of their kids, one of their kids said something to one of our kids," Hardy said. "Just stupid stuff. It's embarrassing, it should never happen."

He added that he was angry about the incident.

Paint Branch Athletic Director Heather Podosek had no comment on the incident.