Basketball: Loudoun County Girls and Potomac Falls Boys Defend Dulles District Tournament Titles

Loudoun County's Erica Linnemann and Alex Lapple postgame


Purcellville (Feb. 19, 2011) - Both the Loudoun County girls and the Potomac Falls boys opened strong Friday night and defended their Dulles District basketball tournament titles at Woodgrove High School.

Loudoun County trailed only in the opening minute of the opener before taking a commanding, 32-12, halftime lead and then held off a ferocious Freedom comeback to collect the Raiders third tournament title in four years -- all against Freedom -- with the 54-49 win.

In the second game, before a packed house, Potomac Falls never trailed and led by 14 in the first quarter and 22 at the half on the way to a 73-55 victory over surprise finalist, No. 7 seed Woodgrove.

Potomac Falls' Pete Simoneau and Zach Curran postgame


Both Loudoun County and Potomac Falls were also regular-season champions.

In the first game it the fourth straight year that Loudoun County (21-4) and Freedom (18-7) were meeting in the finals. While high-scoring senior Brittany Batts was held scoreless in the first quarter, the Raiders still jumped out to a 12-6 lead behind juniors Alex Lapple and Erica Linnemann, who combined for 10 of their 22 points in the quarter.

Batts heated up in the second quarter with seven points and center Casey Cummings, who had a team-high 14 points, scored five including a 3-pointer as the Raiders went up by 19 points at the break.

Loudoun County's Casey Cummings and Brittany Batts postgame


Held to one field goal in the first half, Freedom senior Dionna Scott broke loose in the third quarter, scoring eight of her game-high 19 points, and Freedom made a valiant charge at the Raiders, holding County to just four points in the quarters.

Cummings had some key baskets in the fourth quarter as Freedom's comeback fell a couple of baskets short.

Loudoun County girls basketball coach Derek Fisher


In the boys game, Potomac Falls (24-1) got a scoring boost in the opening quarter from a pair of senior guards who don't normally carry the scoring load as Zach Curran and Pete Simoneau each hit a pair of 3-pointers. Curran finished with 13 and Simoneau had 11.

The Panthers had four players in double figures with Greg Graves, very strong in the fourth quarter after Woodgrove (10-15) had made a run to get within 13 points going into the final quarter, finishing with 18 points and Brendon Chesson scored 11. The Panthers leading scorer Lukas Mihailovich only scored eight points but did a nice job defensively, with tight defense on Wolverine junior Brad Gilson, and some nice work on the boards.

Gilson, displaying a smooth stroke with his long range jumper, finished with 23 and teammate Brett Danielson scored 11.

Potomac Falls will host district rival Broad Run on Tuesday in the Region II Division 4 quarterfinals and Woodgrove will host a Division 3 quarterfinal, the loser of Charlottesville vs. Monticello in the Jefferson District finals.

Potomac Falls boys basketball coach Jeff Hawes


On the girls side, Loudoun County will host district foe Potomac Falls and Freedom will host yet another Dulles District team, Briar Woods.

Girls: Loudoun County 54, Freedom 49
Free - 6    7  12  24 - 49
LC - 12  20    4  18 - 54
Free: Scott 19, Collins 12, Mayo 8, Koditek 6, Jones 4.
LC: Cummings 14, Batts 12, Lineemann 12, Lapple 10, Phillips 6.


Potomac Falls 73, Woodgrove 55
WG - 10 14 20 11 - 55
PF - 24 22 11 16 - 73
WG: Gilson 23, Danielson 13, Traub 9, Caslin 8, Stephan 2.
PF: Graves 18, Curran 13, Simoneau 11, Chesson 11, Mihailovich 8, Kress 6, Hoover 3, Wagenhoffer 2.