Posts
By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor
Leesburg (Feb. 25, 2011) - The epic series between the Freedom and Loudoun County high school girls basketball teams stretched across 17 incredible games during the brilliant 4-year careers of Eagle swing player Dionna Scott and Raider guard Brittany Batts and the two veterans saved the best for last as they combined for 47 points Thursday night in a contest won by Loudoun County, 54-51.
The win avenged a loss by the Raiders at Freedom in last year's Region II Division 4 semifinals and sent Loudoun County onto the regional final Saturday at 7 p.m. at Liberty and assured the Raiders of a trip to the VHSL state tournament in a week.
"I love playing against Freedom. You know they are always going to bring it," said Batts who scored 14 of her team-high 23 points in the final quarter, the most she has ever scored against two-time defending state champion Freedom. "That loss (in regionals) last year was tough so getting them back on our homecourt tonight felt great."
Scott, with a game-high 24 points and team-high 16 rebounds -- her second best offensive effort ever against the Raiders -- did everything she could as Freedom, with junior Alexis Mayo scoring 15 points, built a 10-point first half advantage but Loudoun County fought back and nosed ahead in the second half.
"After these games I go home and I'm exhausted. I feel like I have played," said Freedom 1st-year coach Joe Crawford, who was an assistant under Jason Eldredge from the start of the series. "I told them we needed 32 minutes of getting after them and I'm really proud of them."
Loudoun County, like Freedom, also has a first-year coach in Derek Fisher, who took over after Kevin Reed left for Sherando, and he knew exactly what Crawford was talking about as he needed to take a seat before commenting about the intense contest.
"These games take a physical and emotional toll. They are like an NBA series," said Fisher.
While Scott and Mayo combined for 39 points and 22 rebounds, the rest of the Eagles managed just 12 points and Batts had a little more support as junior Casey Cummings pulled down 19 huge rebounds and scored eight points, junior Erica Linnemann added 11 points, freshman Maggie Phillips was key off the bench with seven points and six rebounds and junior Alex Lapple had five points, including a big 3-pointer, all in the crucial final minute of the first half.
It was Batts, however, the lone senior on the Raiders roster, who came up the biggest in the big game as she had just four points at the half, but was fouled shooting a 3-pointer to start the third quarter, knocked down all three free throws, and never looked bac. Batts' drive to the basket with 6:57 left in the game put the Raiders ahead for good, 38-36.
"She's a senior leader. You saw who who had the ball at the end of the game," said Fisher.
Batts made four field goals in the fourth quarter and was a perfect 6 of 6 from the line.
Phillips made a nice dish to Cummings to make it 40-36 Loudoun County and two free throws by Batts pushed the cushion to six points with 5:08 to go.
Mayo got three points back at the foul line but Batts, who didn't make any 3-pointers in the contest, but was comfortable going to the basket, went baseline for two points.
Scott made a nice transition basket to slice the lead to 44-41 with 3:22 left but Batts came right back down and sliced through the lane for two points and on the next trip down, the athletic Phillips, twisted in for a rebound and follow to make it 48-41 with 2:29 to go.
Not giving up, Scott sank a shot just inside the 3-point line but again Batts had the answer with a basket. Freedom senior Alexis Jones hit a 3-pointer with 1:32 to go to make it 50-46.
County ran some time off the clock and the Eagles finally had to foul Batts, who made both, to increase the Raiders lead to 52-26 with 36 seconds left. Scott had a free throw and then after the Raiders missed from the line, she went inside for a put-back with 12.6 seconds left to give Freedom hope, down by three, 52-49.
The Raiders were able to get the ball inbounds safely and into Batts' steady hands and she was fouled with 6.9 seconds left. Needed one to make it a two-possession game, Batts hit both and Scott drove all the way down the court to lay the ball in with a second left but Loudoun County was soon celebrating with the 54-51 win.
And after 17 games there were tears on both sides as the Eagles season came to an end and the Raiders showed the emotions of winning a tough battle against a respected opponent.
"Last year we were all crying when we lost to Freedom. It felt so good to win tonight and we were crying but it was tears of joy," said Cummings.
Cummings no doubt will play a key role Saturday against a Liberty team that Fisher described as "big, bigger, then bigger, then gigantic ...". The rest of the Raiders Thursday combined for just 12 rebounds -- seven fewer than the haul by Cummings.
Freedom's gameplan Thursday was for a quick start and the Eagles executed it as they held the Raiders to just four points in the first quarter and by the end of the second quarter, the Eagles were up 24-14 with Scott and Mayo leading the charge.
The Raiders, however, answered with a 7-0 run to close out the first half with Linnemann driving to the baskt and then Lapple knocked down a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in the half and pulled-up for a jumper with 14 seconds to go. That run cut Freedom's halftime lead to three, 24-21, and that soon was gone as Batts opened the second half with her three free throws.
Loudoun County 54, Freedom 51
Freedom 8 16 11 16 - 51
Loudoun County 4 17 15 18 - 54
Freedom (19-8): Mayo 6 3-5 15, Scott 10 4-6 24, Koditek 1 1-2 3, Schneider 1 0-0 2, Collins 1 0-0 2, Jones 2 0-0 5. Totals 21 8-12 51.
Loudoun County (23-4): Lapple 2 0-2 5, Linnemann 3 4-6 11, Batts 7 9-9 23, Phillips 3 1-3 7, Cummings 3 2-2 8. Totals 18 16-22 54.
3-Pointers: Freedom 1 (Jones), Loudoun County 2 (Lapple, Linnemann).
Rebounds: Freedom 40 (Scott 16, Mayo 6, Collins 3, Schneider 3, Koditek 3, Jonese 2, Klinko 2, team 5), Loudoun County 36 (Cummings 19, Phillips 6, Lapple 4, Linnemann 1, Batts 1, team 5).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment