POOLESVILLE -- Poolesville coach Fred Swick said his team has struggled at times with its free-throw shooting.
Last night was not one of those times.
Brian Thoms and Adrian Dorsey combined to hit all eight of host Poolesville's free throws in the final two minutes, and the third-seeded Indians rallied for a 62-59 victory over sixth-seeded Wilde Lake in a Class 1A South Region first-round playoff game.
Poolesville (17-4), which advances to the region semifinal tomorrow night at Westlake, made 18 of 22 from the line and used free throws to rally from a four-point deficit late in the fourth quarter.
Thoms (13 points, 11-for-11 from the line) three times made both ends of a one-and-one. Dorsey (29 points, 7-for-10) did the same one other time as the Indians scored 11 of the game's final 15 points.
"In some of the games we lost, free throws have been the reason," said Swick. "But tonight, it was our savior."
For Wilde Lake (12-9), Carl Jackson nearly became a savior. The 6-foot-8 junior drew double- and triple-teams most of the night but finished with 19 points and 16 rebounds.
Still, Jackson could only shake his head after the game . The Wildecats never seemed to get going for long stretches, and it cost them.
"We just didn't come out with any intensity," said Jackson. "Nothing was going our way."
And that included shooting. The Wildecats, who also got 14 points from Will Edison and eight apiece from Jeff Johnson and Aaron Peterson, hit only 23 of 65 from the field -- 13 of 33 in the second half.
The Wildecats found open shots, most manufactured when the Indians swarmed around Jackson and the center kicked the ball out, but they could not hit them.
Wilde Lake missed numerous close shots, but Poolesville did not. Despite having Dorsey, Thoms and Aramin Davidson (18 points) account for 60 of their 62 points, the Indians did well on offense all night.
And Dorsey may have been the biggest reason for that success. The sophomore stayed hot for most of the night, scoring 19 in the first half. He sparked the Indians by hitting the fourth quarter's first seven points for a 51-49 lead.
"I just tried to get the ball, get set and get an open shot," said Dorsey.
What Wilde Lake wanted was overtime, and it nearly forced one. After Johnson's three cut the lead to one with 34 seconds left, Thoms stretched it to 62-59 with two free throws at the 23-second mark.
Brian Sterling missed a three-pointer for Wilde Lake with 14 seconds left. The Wildecats got the ball back and had one final chance, but Peterson had to shoot an off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer and missed.
"[Poolesville] played well and shot well," said Wilde Lake coach Paul Ellis. "I just don't think we played really good defense, [and] they shot really well in the fourth quarter."