Girls Basketball: Hot Shooting Raiders Net Third Dulles District Tournament Title in Five Years

South Riding (Feb. 23, 2010) - Loudoun County High School senior Alissa Kain broke the 1,000-point career mark the other night and evidently the gritty 5-foot-9 swing player was just getting warmed up as she scored 21 points Saturday, including 15 and three 3-pointers in the first half, to lead the Raiders to their third AA Dulles District girls basketball tournament title in five years.

Loudoun County (18-3) earned a banner, to go with district tournament banners earned in 2008 and 2006, and respect in the 69-58 win over rival Freedom (16-5) ... and not much else. Despite the win on the Eagles home court -- where Kain as a sophomore in 2008 hit a dramatic buzzer beater to shock Freedom -- the Raiders earned only the No. 3 seed in the Region II Division 4 Byzantine playoff system and will host No. 6 James Wood on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

The Eagles, who had beaten the Raiders earlier in the week in a special playoff after the two teams tied as co-champions in the regular season, is the No. 2 seed and has a bye. And the No. 1 seed is Liberty (14-3), a team that lost to both Freedom and Loudoun County this year.

Oh, and if Loudoun County wins tonight, they will head to, where else?, Freedom again on Thursday night for a fifth meeting this season with the Eagles -- with the series tied 2-2 and one of the defending state champions moving on to the regional title game and qualifying for States and one team ending its season.

Kain and the Raiders Saturday reminded everybody, including the defending VHSL Division 3 state champion Eagles, of why LC is the VHSL Division 4 defending state champion. For starters, Kain rolled through the state tournament in 2009 and she appears primed for another postseason run as she shot a sizzling 8 of 14 from the field Saturday including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

While Freedom's top two scorers Kelsey Buchanan and Dionna Scott combined for just seven points in the first half, the Raiders had six different players score in the first half, and they were on fire from long range the entire game, making a whopping 50 percent of the 14 3-pointers they attempted.

Kain's 21 was supported by 17 points from senior Kendra Holmes, who was a clutch 11 of 15 from the line including 9 of 13 in the final quarter, and 11 from sophomore Erica Linnemann, who was left open at times and made the Eagles pay for it.

LC leading scorer, junior Brittany Batts finished well below her average with nine points, as did sophomore Jenna Strange but both players were key on the defensive end and they each dished out four assists apiece.

LC jumped out to a 16-9 lead after the first quarter and never gave it up as they took a 10-point lead into the half and out-scored the Eagles, 23-14, in the third quarter.

Freedom point guard Jessica Escorza had a good shooting first half, scoring 8 of her 14, and Buchanan came alive in the second half, scoring 16 of her 21, but it wasn't enough to allow Freedom to cut deep enough into the LC lead for a comeback. Scott finished with 11, nine in the second half.

The Raiders had their transition game going, especially in the third quarter as even made Freedom baskets were answered with LC layins on the other end. Whether it was Kain hitting a jumper from a Batts pass, Batts scoring a layin off a Linnemann pass or Linnemann scoring off a Batts pass, it was a team effort for LC.

The lead grew to as much as 21 deep in the third quarter with the Raiders up, 55-34.

Escorza with two fastbreak layins and nice feed to Buchanan fueled an 8-2 run early in the fourth quarter, but the Raiders, without a field goal in the final quarter, were solid from the line and protected the lead as Freedom was forced to foul in the final four minutes of the contest to slow down the clock.

Holmes finished wit 10 rebounds for LC to register a double-double and Buchanan had 15 rebounds for the Eagles for a double-double as well. Kain almost had a triple double as she grabbed 10 rebounds and had seven assists.

Loudoun County 69, Freedom-South Riding 58
L (18-3, 8-1) — A. Kain 21, Holmes 17, Linnemann 11, Batts 9, Strange 9, Cummings 2. Totals 22 18-29 69.
F (16-5, 8-1) — Buchanan 21, Escorza 14, Scott 11, Koditek 6, Merritt 6.
Totals 20 16-24 58.
Halftime: Loudoun County, 32-22.
Three-point goals: L 7 (A. Kain 3, Linnemann, Batts 2, Strange); F 2 (Koditek 2).
Rebounds: L 31 (A. Kain 10, Holmes 10, Linnemann 3, Batts 2, Strange 4, Cummings 2).
Assists: L 19 (A. Kain 7, Holmes, Linnemann 3, Batts 4, Strange 4).
Complete box with stats from Freedom High School