The nature of basketball being a game of runs was proven once again Friday night in a battle for first place in the Dulles District between the host Broad Run Spartans and Loudoun Valley Vikings. A contest that featured several lead changes and ties, dazzling dimes, and emphatic blocks ended with a Spartan victory to clinch the district for the regular season, 65-55.
Loudoun Valley got off to a great start, with sophomore guard Alex Phillips hitting one of her three triples on the Vikings first possession. The Vikings’ 1-3-1 zone defense bothered the Spartan offense, as Broad Run struggled to get the ball into the paint and hit from the outside in the first quarter.
In the second, the Spartan backcourt of Yvonne Lee and Sajol Thornhill each hit from outside and started infiltrating the paint to get the offense rolling, and tie the game at the intermission. Thornhill was dominant in the quarter, scoring seven and notching a few steals to disrupt the Viking offense.
Broad Run was then able to get its first lead at the start of the third, but that was short lived as the Vikings began hitting from deep again and finding gaps in Broad Run’s zone defense. It was a back-and-forth game for a few minutes, with five lead changes early in the quarter before the Vikings went on a 9-0 run to gain their largest lead at 45-36, after finding their groove in the paint for several easy buckets. Forward Allyson Cassell had seven of her 13 in the quarter for Loudoun Valley.
However, the momentum began to swing the Spartans’ way again as they closed the third quarter with an 8-0 run, capped by a Thornhill drive and dish to freshman Claire Erny for a layup at the buzzer.
“I just told them to stay patient and keep working hard, to get ourselves in a good position offensively, and keep working hard defensively. They stayed, and kept working, and grinding, and were able to chip away at it,” said Head Coach Kate Culhane.
Thornhill then struck again to open the fourth with a triple, and the Spartans never looked back.
She finished with 20 points, three steals, and two boards on the night. Her backcourt mate Lee was key to not only getting Broad Run back in the game, but keeping the foot on the gas to keep building a lead in the fourth. Lee finished with 17 points and seven assists, several of which were beautiful dishes to posts Gabby Vanik (15 points) and Sydney Sokol (11 points) in the paint.
Down the stretch as the Vikings attempted to claw their way back, both Thornhill and Lee remained patient against the Valley zone. They not only used up time, but managed to find their teammates right at the basket for easy buckets. Sokol, the only other senior besides Lee on the team, was also relentless on the offensive boards all night.
“It can be hard to stay patient like that. But I think it was very beneficial in helping us finish it off from the comeback and to see what we had available to us,” said Culhane.
Freshman Elizabeth Thornton (18 points) and senior Jane Bodamer (13 points) led the way for the Vikings (11-2, 15-4), whose only district losses are to Broad Run (13-0, 17-2). The Vikings’ streak of four consecutive Dulles District regular season titles was snapped, though they will certainly be a strong contender in the district tournament and beyond.
–Max Nagle
@MaxWritesHoops