Basketball: The Skinny for Wednesday Night -- Shocker in South Riding! Briar Woods Upsets 2-Time Defending State Champs Freedom

(Dec. 23, 2010) - Briar Woods High School coach Dave Morris doesn't even have to wait until Christmas to get his greatest present of all as his girls basketball team upset two-time defending state champion Freedom, 33-31, Wednesday night on the road.

"Jillian Olson had the best defensive game of her career," said Dave Morris when reached after the game. He said the short bus ride back to Brambleton was indeed a happy one and that Olson and all her teammates were celebrating their big win at the local McDonald's.

Freedom (4-1, 6-2) came into the game unbeaten in the Dulles District and on a six-game winning streak. Rival Briar Woods (2-4, 4-6) -- both schools opened in 2005 -- came in having lost three of four, but all of them very close, one point to Dominion, four points to Broad Run and two points to Park View.

"We have been struggling this year and we really needed this win going into the break," said Morris.

The key to Wednesday's upset was the defense of senior Olson (4 rebounds, 5 steals) on Eagle senior standout Diondra Scott in the Falcons diamond-and-1 defense with Olson taking Scott 1-and-1 and her teammates in a 4-player zone.

Scott, a key component of the Eagles Division 3 state title in 2009 and then their Division 4 state title in 2010, was averaging 23.4 points per game and hadn't been held under 17 yet this season but she was limited to 10 Wednesday as the Falcons defense slowed the pace of the play down.

Briar Woods led 23-19 at the half but it was all Freedom in the third quarter, in fact shutting out the Falcons, 10-0, to take a 29-23 lead into the final quarter. Freedom also chose to hold the ball during this quarter in an effort to flush Briar Woods out of their hybrid defense.

In the final quarter, Freedom held the ball more, accounting for the low score, but when the pace of play did pick up, it was Briar Woods scoring as the Eagles had gone cold.

Falcon 5-foot-4 senior Ashley Adams knocked down a 3-pointer in the last minute of the game to bring the Falcons to within one point. 5-foot-5 sophomore Logan Ballard then made a layup and was fouled with 18 seconds left in the game, and she made the free throw for the three-point play.

Now up by two points, the Falcons were able to keep Freedom from scoring in the final seconds for the big win.

Freedom had dropped just one regular-season district game in the last two seasons and the Eagles were 7-0 against the Falcons over the past three years including wins of 83-33, 66-25 and 74-43 in the last three meetings.

Scoring for Briar Woods: Ashley O'Neill 3, Ashley Adams 7, Brittany Gilbert 7, Macy Jones 3,
Logan Ballard 7, Jessica Ketant 2, Lauren Moore 2, Jillian Olson 2.
Scoring for Freedom: Dionna Scott 10, Alexis Mayo 8, Alexis Jones 8, Kim Koditek 3, Arnelle Collins 2.

Boys Basketball
Briar Woods 54, Freedom 49
The Skinny: Sophomore Matt Rolin had 13 points to lead the Falcons to the win.
Broad Run 83, Park View 43
The Skinny: Read Carl Lukat's story!
Dominion 60, Tuscarora 40
The Skinny: Titans with second district win of the season.
Potomac Falls 59, Loudoun County 49
The Skinny: Greg Graves led the Panthers with 19 and Lukas Mihailovich added 11 as PFalls entered the break unbeaten. Kris Pratt led LC with 12.

Girls Basketball
Briar Woods 33, Freedom 31
The Skinny: See above!
Broad Run 38, Park View 31
The Skinny: Elle Furguson hits for 15 for Spartans. Christina Sheppard led PV with 11.
Tuscarora 43, Dominion 41
The Skinny: Young Huskies in the mix at 2-3 in district
Loudoun County 58, Potomac Falls 43
The Skinny: Read Dan Sousa's story!