** Below this game summary are the profiles of the three seniors on varsity this season

In a need-to-win Conference game, The Lady Jaguars laid a furry, spotted egg against the Lady Lancers of Lee HS in the worst shooting performance for the home team for the entire season. The loss removes any chance for Falls Church to finish in the middle of Conference 13 and places a premium on their game coming Tuesday against Stuart HS to lock in the sixth position.

The game started cautiously and evenly for both opposing offenses. The foes traded punches throughout the first half and traded the lead several times in the process. The Lady Jags outshot Lee throughout the first 15 minutes but were unable to sink more than four baskets. Amber Ecelbarger hit all but one of those shots, including her 20th "3" of the season. Coach Pritchett's mix of man and zone defenses effectively reduced Lee's scoring opportunities and kept the game close with Lee up by one at the half-time buzzer, 11-10.

The second half started promising for the Lady Jags with senior Natalie Samaha celebrating Senior Night with a banked shot to give Falls Church the lead for the third time. But the offense collapsed for the next ten minutes and Lee went on an 18-0 run to build an insurmountable lead by the time the Jaguars started to score again. Senior Brittney Barbaro converted her first basket-and-one three-point play of her Varsity career, joined by baskets by Samaha, Leah Shaw and Leann Loch who nearly matched the entire output for the first three quarters in the final six minutes. 

Unlike most of the low-scoring games by the Jags, this contest was marred by five missed layups as well as 15 missed baskets from close range -- many of them uncontested. Falls Church shot below 25%, easily their lowest output for a team with ample shot opportunities. Coach Pritchett and Bailey will have to re-focus the team for their crucial game against Stuart in four days. Win the game and Falls Church will finish in 6th place for the second time in three years (they were 7th last year and for three straight seasons back from 2011-12). Lose the game and Falls Church risks the possibility of a three-way tie which may ultimately rank them last.

Scoring Summary: Amber Ecelbarger, 8 points; Leann Loch, 6 points; Natalie Samaha, 4 points; Brittney Barbaro, 3 points; Leah Shaw, 2 points.

Senior Profiles:

Brittney Barbaro began her four-year high school basketball career as the starting point guard on the freshman team; one year later she assumed the same duties on the JV squad. Coach Pritchett selected Brittney for the Varsity team in her junior year where she played a key role as a defensive specialist in both zone and man coverage. She was instrumental in these duties to help stymie Bishop Ireton's high-scoring offense and enable the Jags to pull off their biggest upset victory in several years in December, 2013. Brittney's highlight moment was banking the game-winning basket with a left-handed layup in the come-from-behind victory over Lee HS to open the 2013-2014 season. A hectic senior year has reduced Brittney's participation with Varsity this season, but she still has contributed at the most opportune time -- turning a standard inbound play into a heady pass to a fast-breaking guard which turned out to be the game-winning assist in the first victory over Jefferson this season.

Amy Rock has not only been a rare player to play and score points on Varsity for three seasons, she did so by ascending directly from the freshman team. Amy has been a varsity mainstay since her sophomore year, gradually increasing her playing time and output with each successive season. Amy has had the pleasure to start several games during her senior year at shooting guard. Her highlight game was a three-pointer and two-point basket against Jefferson in the Joe Cascio Holiday tournament this past December. Amy has been a part of a team that has enjoyed more victories over the past three years than even any four-year player has witnessed since 2006.

Natalie Samaha has played four years of high school basketball, starting on the freshman team with her current fellow co-seniors. She moved on to JV where her improved skills were put on display with two 20+-point game performances, including a dominant game in a rare victory over Yorktown HS in December of 2012. Natalie saw a brief shift on varsity that year during the holiday tournament, then made the varsity squad her junior year. She started at the forward position during the final quarter of the season, showing great promise with a 9-point first-half performance in the playoff game against Mount Vernon which ended the season.

Natalie has fulfilled that promise throughout her senior season on varsity. She has started every game and has been a consistent, high-producer for the team, averaging nearly 7 points/game. She was a major contributor so far in four victories with 10 or more points in each of those games; in fact, she has six games in double digits including a stretch of four consecutive games in the middle of the season. She is an integral component of a tandem of post players who have together produced more baskets this season than any previous Lady Jags front court has in previous seasons in recent memory, and perhaps for the past 15 years.