Girls Basketball: Record-Breaking Batts Leads Raiders to 51-46 Win Over Heritage

By Alanna Dvorak
VivaLoudoun College Intern

Leesburg (Dec. 17, 2010) - The Loudoun County High School girls basketball survived a second half surge by visiting Heritage Friday night to win the “Battle of Leesburg”, 51-46.

The evening, however, belonged to Raider senior Brittany Batts, who after two early free throws, was honored by the school for breaking the Loudoun County High School girls record for career points. Batts was the high scorer for the game with 16 points to increase her career scoring total to 1,480 points. Earlier in the week on the road, Batts had edged past the previous school record of 1,458 set by Angela Dolby, who graduated in 1988.

Brittany Batts with family: dad  (Steve), mom (Lisa) and sister (Madison)
Photos courtesy of Gary Sousa/Sousasportpics.com

“It feels amazing,” said Batts. “But there’s still a long way to go.”

Batts also owns the single game free throw made record, 12, and the career free throw made mark with 265 to date along with the career three-point made record of 181 and counting.

“She deserves to be a record-breaker,” said first-year Raider head coach Derek Fisher. “She works hard and gives back. We’re proud to have her.”

The Raiders (3-2 record), coming into the non-district contest on a rare two-game skid, clearly dominated the first quarter, as the Pride struggled with turnovers. County entered the second quarter with a 21-7 lead. The Pride (5-4) managed to keep a better pace with the Raiders in the second still the half ended with the Raiders up 33-17.

The 2nd half breathed new life into the Pride. Led by junior guard Sydney McDonald and freshman guard Kayla Tibbs, the Pride outscored the Raiders 25-18 in the final two quarters. Both teams were given plenty of opportunities at the line as the Raiders and Pride accrued 12 and 11 fouls in the second half, respectively.

Heritage head coach Anthony Long is still optimistic about his season. “We are two wins away from our best season record. We have 10 strong players.”

This second meeting of the non-district Leesburg rivals will be the last of the season, as both teams prepare to enter district play in the coming weeks.

LOUDOUN COUNTY 51, HERITAGE 46
H (5-4) — Tibbs 11, McDonald 9, Grabbi 7, Smart 6, Nibbelink 5, Moore 4, Whoolery 3, Reilly 1. Totals 17 11-22 46.
L (3-20) — Batts 16, Cummings 13, Lapple 12, Linnemann 10. Totals 16 15-23 51.
Halftime: Loudoun County, 33-17.
Three-point goals: H (Tibbs); L 4 (Batts, Cummings, Lapple 2).


More on Batts’ Record Breaking Career at Loudoun County

Loudoun County High School senior standout Brittany Batts broke the career scoring mark this week set by Angela Dolby at 1,458 points in 1987.

Batts was recognized Friday night in front of her home crowd and delivered the ball to her parents, Steve and Lisa Batts.

To date, Batts has 1,480 points as she is only five games into her final year as a Lady Raider.
Batts became an instant success her freshman season. During her initial campaign, she averaged 15 per game and scored 380 points as the Raiders won the Dulles District regular season and tournament championships.

Batts would not suffer a “sophomore slump” as the sharpshooter continued to demonstrate her abilities to score as she tallied a staggering 571 points (school record) in helping lead the Lady Raider’s program to their first state championship in basketball.

Last season, Batts’ junior year, she recorded 439 points in only 23 contests. With Batts average of 19.1 points, she would have most likely eclipsed the school mark but lost five games due to the weather cancellations. Once again, Batts’ team won championships as they shared the Dulles District regular season championship with Freedom and then beat them in the tournament championship to earn another title in her stellar career.

Other individual accomplishments include a game high of 33 points her sophomore year, hitting eight three’s in the win over Loudoun Valley. In a Regional win over James Wood her junior year, she would hit a school record nine three pointers as she scored 31 points in that contest.

Batts also owns the single game free throw made record, 12, and the career free throw made mark with 265 to date along with the career three-point made record of 181 and counting.

Loudoun County High School opened its doors in 1954.

Batts by the Numbers:
84 Games
1,480 points
336 two-point field goals
181 three-point field goals
265 free throws made

Alanna Dvorak is a Potomac Falls High School graduate  and is currently studying journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Alanna will be interning with VivaLoudoun over the holidays!