Friday night at Heritage, junior Addy Padgett buried a key three-pointer late as the Pride defeated Loudoun Valley in a Dulles District contest, 48-44.
It was a special night at the school, designed to fundraise to aid children in the fight against cancer. Last year now-graduated Heritage senior Rocky Elardo returned to the court, having defeated her cancer after a long fight. On this evening, hundreds of dollars were raised through donations and the sale of goods in the hallway outside the gym.
As trivial as the game of basketball is compared to something like cancer, the game itself gave the considerable crowd a night to remember as well.
“A special night,” said Heritage coach Otto Jett. “From a game perspective as well. We needed it [the win}, Valley’s a great team and this will help us in the district race.”
The contest was back-and-forth the whole way, tied at halftime and with neither team taking more than a two-possession lead the entire game. It was a defensive struggle in the first half. 6’2″ Valley sophomore Maggie Mills made it difficult for Heritage to score inside, but the Pride were able to hold the Vikings to a low shooting percentage, especially from outside.
With the game tied at 42 late in the fourth quarter it was the Pride who came up big. Heritage sophomore guard Riley Makitka grabbed an offensive rebound off a miss and got the ball to junior Rachel Stewart. Stewart then found Padgett open on the wing for her clutch three, which made it 45-42. Solid defense and a few more free throws sealed the exciting win, to the home crowd’s delight.
Jett was extremely proud of his team and praised Makitka and Padgett for their clutch play late.
“They fought through,” said Jett of his team. “Riley is probably one of the best rebounding guards in the district, in Loudoun County…Addy’s always been like that ever since she came in as a freshman. She’s been a clutch shooter. She doesn’t hesitate–she knows she was put on this team as a shooter.”
Padgett (10 points) and Matitka (eight points, eight rebounds) came up big late, but the Pride (2-0, 5-6) had lots of heroes on this night. Jett’s team got a huge lift off the bench from sophomores Alyssa Stanford and Julia Ehrmantraut. The pair combined for 15 of Heritage’s 21 points by halftime, with Stanford leading the team in scoring on the night with 11 points. Stewart also had a very nice game, delivering eight points and eight rebounds in addition to her key assist on Padgett’s three-pointer.
Loudoun Valley (1-1, 9-4) was led by Mills (eight points, nine rebounds, four assists) and sophomore Payton Mandichak (14 points, nine rebounds). It was a disappointing loss for the Vikings, but hardly a crippling one. The Vikings were missing a very solid starter in 6’2″ junior Elizabeth Thornton, and will get another crack at Heritage at home later in the season.
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| HERITAGE | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| GROSS | 0-2 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| PUZENSKI | 1-7 | 1-4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |
| MATITKA | 3-4 | 2-4 | 8 | 8 | 1 | |
| PADGETT | 3-13 | 2-4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | |
| STEWART | 2-5 | 3-4 | 8 | 8 | 3 | |
| A.Stanford | 4-13 | 3-4 | 11 | 4 | 0 | |
| Ehrmantraut | 2-3 | 0-0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Egnotovich | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| K.Stanford | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 15-48 | 13-22 | 48 | 33 | 8 | |
| Threes: Ehrmantraut 2-3, Padgett 2-6, Stewart 1-2, Egnotovich 0-1, A. Stanford 0-1, Puzenski 0-1 | ||||||
| LOUDOUN VALLEY | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| TRIBINO | 2-11 | 0-0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | |
| RAMOS | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| MILLS | 3-4 | 2-4 | 8 | 9 | 4 | |
| MANDICHAK | 6-13 | 2-3 | 14 | 9 | 2 | |
| A. PHILLIPS | 3-13 | 2-2 | 9 | 6 | 1 | |
| Dunkerley | 1-7 | 0-0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
| J. Phillips | 2-6 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cassella | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 18-56 | 6-9 | 44 | 32 | 10 | |
| Threes: Tribino 1-5, A.Phillips 1-11, Dunkerley 0-2, J.Phillips 0-2, Ramos 0-1, Mandichak 0-1 | ||||||