On a night where Region 6A Champ Landstown (5-1) and Region 6B Champ Potomac (12-0) faced off for a berth in the State Final on Saturday in what was the first playoff encounter between the two perennial winning programs in 16 years, the Panthers did what all great teams have to do at some point in postseason play. That is survive and advance.

Potomac withstood a storm from Landstown's star - Top 100 prospect Donald Hand Jr. from the Class 2022 - and a late surge by the Eagles on their home floor in Virginia Beach.

Keith Honore's crew from Dumfries kept their undefeated streak alive, prevailing 79-73, despite an individual performance for the ages from Hand, who scored a personal best 43 point. In some ways, it was reminiscent to Potomac's 5A State Championship win over L.C. Bird in 2016 when Charles Falden, now of Winthrop, scored 35 points with 19 straight comign in the fourth quarter alone.

In the end, the sum of the parts proved just enough for Potomac to come out on top against a virtuoso effort from the guy wearing No. 13 in white.

Limited fans were in attendance at Landstown, but the fans that were there made their presence known.

The game, which started off with a 12-point Potomac lead at halftime, narrowed to a 65-62 Panthers lead as the game reached 4:11 to play. But Potomac managed to hold off the Eagles and earn a trip to Centreville, which shared the Class 6 State Championship with South County a year ago. Honore goes for his third state title as the Head Coach of Potomac.

"We know when you come down here it's going to be a tough environment even without fans," said Honore, who got to win a state title in 2014 with his son Keijon and looks to do the same this weekend with his son, junior point guard Kyle Honore.

"Our kids, like all year long, showed resilience and brotherhood. When things got tough they could have unraveled but didn't."

Potomac overcame the aforementioned 43 point night from Hand, who constantly attacked a defense that came in rather rock solid, yielding just 53.8 points per game. Hand's night included him going a perfect 27-of-27 from the free-throw line.

"The kid (Hand) is so good. That kid is so good. The environment they created out there makes it impossible to guard him," Honore explained. "He put a lot of pressure on us today."

On Potomac's side, Tyrell Harris - a senior forward named Cardinal District Player of the Year earlier in the week - had 26 points to lead the now 13-0 Panthers.

"Coming out, we knew it was going to be tough," Harris admitted. "It's been a long, hard year. I'm just glad we're here right now."

"He's (Harris) been the guy. We go as he goes," Honore commented. "The last four years, he has had a few ups and downs, but it's great to see him bounce back and it's great to see him finish off his senior year like he is doing."

Harris, who has had to defend players both in the front-court and back-court throughout the season, knew the challenge that was in front of him and his teammates in Landstown, which won the Class 6 state title back in 2019 and is annually one of the state's best defensive teams themselves.

"We had to come out and go at him (Hand) and just try and stop him the best we can," said Harris.