The Lady Jags opened the new year with a victory over conference rival Stuart HS -- the second straight win for Falls Church and their fourth of the season. This game followed a template similar to their previous victory ten days ago -- down to the nearly identical 50-plus-point score. And again in this game, the Lady Jags hottest shooter turned in an outstanding first-half performance to provide Coach Pritchett a very comfortable cushion to cozily complete the closing two quarters.

Junior Connie Vuong earned her first start of the season and cashed in with a basket in the opening minutes. The high-scoring forward tandem of Natalie Samaha and Leann Loch also contributed three first-quarter baskets between them. All four baskets by those three players were assisted by Amber Ecelbarger. The junior point guard added 6 of her own points including a "3" as well as a steal and layup. The first quarter ended with the home team up on the Raiders, 14-9.

The Lady Jags essentially ran away with this game in the second quarter, outscoring Stuart by a dozen more points to end the half up 31-14. Ecelbarger went to the locker room with nearly half of those points, including two more "3"s to give her 15 for the season. Samaha and Leah Shaw rounded out the Jags scoring, the latter scoring in her eighth straight game as a freshman. Shaw opened the second half with two more baskets -- including her ninth 3-pointer -- and hauled in her fifth rebound of the game. Ecelbarger led the Jaguars into and through the fourth quarter with seven more points and three additional assists. Connie Vuong hit her first "3" of the season to give Falls Church 27 of them in eleven games. Meg Verhagen, Leann Loch and Natalie Samaha combined for four more baskets to close out the Lady Jags scoring. Coach Pritchett's zone defense kept the Raiders off balance most of the contest, forcing the opponents to attempt shots in a crowd of Jaguar defenders in nearly every one of their limited opportunities.

This was a sound team victory, but also one in which three players established notable marks. Natalie Samaha notched her career high game with her third game of ten or more points, averaging over twelve in the past two games. Leann Loch surpassed 300 career points tonight, already ranking the junior among the top five scoring Jaguar forwards this century. Amber Ecelbarger fell one point short of her high-point game, but her combination of points off 60% shooting efficiency and seven assists made this arguably the best game of her varsity career. Nearly halfway into her junior year, she has completed her second consecutive 20-plus-point game (the fifth of her career) and her 30th career game in double digits.

Scoring Summary: Amber Ecelbarger, 22 points; Natalie Samaha, 13 points; Leah Shaw, 8 points; Connie Vuong, 5 points; Leann Loch, 4 points; Meg Verhagen, 2 points.