After completing two successful and high-scoring pre-season scrimmages, the Lady Jaguars opened the 2014-2015 campaign with a disappointing loss against the hungrier Lady Lancers of Lee High School in the first game of the Raider's Tip-Off Tournament at Stuart High School. The Lancers scored in the opening seconds of the game and never looked back, pouring in 12 baskets and 2 free throws in the first 15 minutes while the Lady Jags answered with only half as many field goals in the same span.

Two players contributed most of those Jaguar first-half points. Senior forward Natalie Samaha converted two passes into baskets which broke Lee's press and forced them to abandon it. Freshman Leah Shaw assisted both of those baskets and pulled in four rebounds in her varsity debut. She also scored her first points of the season with a two- and three-point basket. In addition to those two, freshman Mia Pendleton also lit the scoreboard with her first basket of her varsity career in the second quarter. Junior Amber Ecelbarger grabbed a handful of rebounds in the first 15 minutes and slashed her way to the basket in the waning seconds of the half, laying up a shot which swished through at the buzzer to send the Lady Jags to the locker room down by a dozen points.

The late score seemed to inspire Falls Church's players as they opened the third quarter with a "3" and a few free throws by Ecelbarger, followed by another basket and free throw by Samaha to pull the Lady Jags to within 7 points midway into the quarter. They never got any closer -- only colder. Lee enjoyed a 12-2 run in the final ten minutes to win this game by a comfortable margin. Despite some lapses in "man" coverage, the Lady Jaguar defense played well enough to win, but the offense sagged when it should have soared, marred by poor shot selection and lackluster ball movement. The total points scored ranks as one of the lowest in  Coach Pritchett's tenure at the helm of this team.

As several Lady Jags limped away nursing nagging wounds, including a pre-season injury that has kept a prolific scorer off the court for this game, the coaching staff will redouble its efforts to infuse new life into an anemic offense in order to put a more focused and inspired team on the floor in their next game -- a contest which begins a mere 40 hours from the close of this one.

Scoring Summary: Amber Ecelbarger & Natalie Samaha, 8 points each; Leah Shaw, 5 points; Mia Pendleton, 4 points.