The Lady Jags defeated the Lady Colonials of Thomas Jefferson HS to post their second win of the season. It was a tale of two entirely different halves -- the first a sleeper, and the second a back and forth affair with plenty of points and momentum changes.

Falls Church shot numerous times in the first two quarters of this game, but landed only about 20% of them. Solid defense -- particularly junior Leann Loch's dominating rebounds and shot blocks -- and cold shooting by TJ's players kept the score very close. Junior Amber Ecelbarger's late-half 3-pointer enabled the Lady Jags to take a 13-11 lead to the locker room. Whatever Coach Pritchett told her team during the intermission, it made a huge impact on her players. The Jaguars hit nearly 70% of their shots in a 20-point third quarter, led by Ecelbarger's three- and two-point baskets, free throws, and four assists -- two to fellow junior Leann Loch and two to freshman Leah Shaw, who each converted the passes into two baskets. Senior forward Natalie Samaha also sunk two baskets in the quarter, including one at the buzzer, to widen the Lady Jags lead to 12 points entering the fourth quarter.

Leann Loch had already tallied a double-double in points and assists and also added five blocked shots in 20 minutes of court time to help Falls Church throughout those first three quarters, but the game was far from over. The plucky Lady Colonials were missing several injured players this night, including their all-Conference senior point guard, but they still could not be put away. Taking advantage of a huge free throw disparity between the two teams, the Jefferson girls managed to tie the game with under 3 minutes to go, 36-36. They chipped away with five baskets and hit 7 out of 10 foul shots in the final quarter while the Lady Jags landed only a third of their shots all game. Ecelbarger gave Falls Church the lead again with a fast break layup made possible by a heady inbound pass from senior Brittney Barbaro. With both teams in the double bonus with about a minute left, the game was decided by free throws. The Lady Colonials tied the score at 38 with two more, then fouled Ecelbarger twice in the closing minute. She hit all but one free throw in those two trips to put the Lady Jaguars up by 3 with about 15 seconds left. Freshman Mia Pendleton snuffed out TJ's final attempt with a crucial block to seal this win.

Scoring Summary: Amber Ecelbarger, 17 points; Leann Loch, 11 points; Leah Shaw, 6 points; Natalie Samaha, 4 points; Mia Pendleton, 2 points; Brittney Barbaro, 1 point.