Having been his basketball team's most prolific scorer and steadiest player this season, Barrie senior guard Brandon Johnson may have felt he deserved a pass regarding team rules that state a player will not start a game if he misses a prior practice.

Johnson missed a team workout prior to Saturday's 58-49 win against Washington Waldorf because he was in a board meeting with the Boys Scouts - he is set to become an Eagle Scout.

Instead of asking for an exception, however, Johnson flatly told first-year Barrie coach Jack Mitchell "you can't change the rule for me." He then cheered his teammates on as he watched most of the first quarter from the bench.

"If I bench the best player that sends a message, a positive message [to the rest of the team] and it says a lot about Brandon," Mitchell said. "He understood [and] look how he responded."

Oh, how he responded, pouring in a team-high 35 points that included an 11-for-16 performance at the free-throw line in leading the Mustangs (4-10) to their fourth victory of the season and their third in four games since the New Year. Johnson is averaging over 22 points a game for the season.

"We're not gearing the offense to him," Mitchell said. "It's no one-on-one show. We run a patterned, half-court offense. He's just scoring out of our offense. He sticks the 3, finishes in transition and on the free-throw line. He's as quick as lightning. He challenges the passing lanes and must get four steals a game.

"We have to expand his exposure. He's going to college but we'd like to see him play ball as well."

Johnson, who began his career at DeMatha, was one of two senior leaders against Waldorf. The other, Jeff Cannon, produced a team-high 15 rebounds to go along with five points despite playing against a much larger opponent.

"He absolutely owned the boards," Mitchell said. "They had a kid who was probably 6-7 and weighed 240 [pounds]. We did a great job of fronting him. He was a big threat for them. Between Jeff and Eli Sachs, our inside game is just starting to come together. We're hoping to get more inside [production] from our post players to compliment Brandon. [Cannon] was definitely a man [Saturday]."

Barrie's next game is Saturday at home against Pallotti.

Young Lady Mustangs fare well

First-year Barrie coach Anthony Awkward opened the 2003-04 season with little size and a bevy of young talent but so far, the Mustangs have more than held their own in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference's North Division.

After last week's three games, Barrie (8-5, 5-4 in the PVAC) was first-place Jewish Day's top contender for the division crown. The squad sandwiched wins over Hebrew Academy, 55-37, and non-league Seed, 51-18, around a 46-43 loss to Oakcrest.

"We're doing well so far for a young team," Awkward said. "Our record doesn't reflex how good we really are. There were a few close games that should have gone the other way. Free throws and turnovers are really hurting us."

The setback to Oakcrest was one of those narrow losses. The Mustangs led 21-20 at halftime but a pair of free throws by Oakcrest freshman Angela Asta (10 points) sealed the three-point win. As a team, Barrie made just 7 of 25 free-throw attempts.

Lauren Abbott scored 21 points to lead all scorers in the loss. Kate Gallagher paced Oakcrest with 12 points and 23 rebounds.

Things went much smoother in the team's two victories. Against Hebrew Academy (4-7, 3-5), Barrie opened up leads of 15-3 after one quarter and 23-9 at halftime en route to the 18-point league victory.

Amanda Archer (21 points), Jamie Roberts (15 points) and Abbott (10 points) all reached double figures in the win, combining to make 17 of 31 free throws.

In the win against the Seed School, Abbott and Roberts paced another balanced attack with 15 and 10 points apiece. Adeola Panox chipped in eight points and 19 rebounds. She's pulling down an average of 11 rebounds a game for the season.

Another fast start fueled Barrie as it jumped out to a 14-2 first-quarter lead. The team finished things off with a 21-4 fourth quarter long run.