Paint Branch High School Head Coach Darrian Lee calls Ryan Tientcheu “the junkyard dog” of this Panthers team. While the junior isn’t dropping gaudy statlines every night, he’s the glue supplying everything not found in the box score, playing stout defense, diving for loose balls, hustling for rebounds and providing much needed energy.
With his team on its home court and in need of an infusion of offense against Sherwood High (14-5) from Sandy Spring, on Friday, Tientcheu scored 10 points in the final quarter, spearheading a 66-59 come-from-behind victory for the Burtonsville-based Panthers (15-4).
“He’s been putting in extra time in the gym working on his ball handling, working on his finishing, working on his sold defense,” Lee said. “And today, we just saw what we’ve been seeing in practice, what he’s been working towards.”
After ending the first quarter with a 17-16 lead, Paint Branch labored offensively in the second. The Panthers were outscored 21-8 and trailed 37-25 at the break after a buzzer-beating triple from Micah Webb, who had 13 points in the first half and led Sherwood with 15 for the game.
“We missed some good shots. The ball didn’t drop on a couple layups,” Lee said. “We saw that, we understood that, we talked about it in the locker room.”
When these two teams met Jan. 11, with a 58-53 victory for the Panthers, similar to Friday, Paint Branch raced out to a first-quarter lead before being trounced in the second.
In January, Paint Branch raced back into the lead before the end of the third quarter. Friday’s effort was a steadier climb.
The Panthers cut the lead to single digits with 3:49 left in the third after a three-point play from Jordan Horm. When the quarter ended, Sherwood held a 49-42 lead.
A layup by Tientcheu, followed by a steal and score from Horm cut the Sherwood lead to 51-50 with 5:20 remaining. Only 17 seconds later, Tientcheu grabbed the first Panthers lead of the second half via a pair of free throws.
After another stop, Paint Branch raced down the floor where Isaiah Lee was sitting unguarded in the corner. Without hesitation, the Panther’s leading scorer sunk a triple, making the score 55-51 and sending the crowd into a relentless frenzy.
“I’m just watching the defense really. If my team has it to take, then they have the take, but if I’m open, I’m waiting for it every time,” said Isaiah Lee.
After Isaiah Lee’s triple, Sherwood grabbed two points of its own.
Tientcheu responded with another score to extend the lead to four. After another defensive stop, the ball found Tientcheu in transition. With a defender in front of him, the junior dribbled the ball around his back before floating it off the backboard and through the net.
“I had to step up,” Tientcheu said. “I had to get out of my box and handle the ball a little bit. And just seeing the ball drop is pretty good.”
Tientcheu was one of a trio of Paint Branch players in double-figures, tying his career-high with 14 points. Isaiah Lee led with 21 points and Dennis Tamnou also had 14 points, while adding five boards. After the game, Tientcheu admitted it was unusual to take on an expanded offensive role, but he was surprised at his own effectiveness.
“It was nerve racking, but I had to get the job done,” he said.
For his coach, this was the fruition of a season’s worth of work, and a pleasant moment of recognition for a player who, due to his role, often gets very little.
This Paint Branch team has high aspirations, and with the postseason weeks away, Tientcheu’s ascent into a two-way threat is a critical development for a squad aiming to make a deep playoff run.
“That’s exactly what we need going into this last stretch and into the playoffs,” Darrian Lee said. “He’s peaking at the right time.”
Upcoming Games:
Sherwood: vs. Magruder (Tue, Feb. 20, 6 p.m.)
Paint Branch: vs. Wheaton (Tue, Feb. 20, 6 p.m.)