The third time playing the Lady Majors this season did not prove to be the charm for the Lady Jaguars -- but it almost did. Falls Church led most of this game but they ran out of steam in the closing  minutes and dropped their conference playoff to end the season at Mount Vernon HS.   

Coach Pritchett's starting five played the whole game as she sent out a line-up dominated by rebounders with three forwards and two guards. The match-up gave Falls Church an early advantage as they fought to a 13-10 lead at the end of the quarter. Three Jaguars had two baskets a piece in that quarter as Amber Ecelbarger, Leann Loch and Natalie Samaha each scored with high percentage shooting, each benefiting from solid assists from the others. They kept the lead for the rest of the half as Meg Verhagen netted 5 of the 7 Jaguar points of the second quarter while keeping Mount Vernon to 9 points in the frame. The half ended with Falls Church up 20-19 -- the second time this season the Lady Jags led this once-dominant team at the halfway point and the fourth time in six games between these two teams that the second half began with a close score.

The third quarter also went the Jaguars way. Ecelbarger and Loch put up ten more points, all with drives and free throws. The lady Majors were held to 9 points again and the third quarter closed with Falls Church up by two. The final quarter saw back-and-forth scoring between the two teams and as the clock ticked down to 3:40 left to play, the Lady Jags clung to a 34-33 lead. Mount Vernon's three point shooting was inefficient tonight, but they landed their second "3" of the night at the most opportune time in those closing minutes to take the lead. Falls Church's fatigue began to induce turnovers and easy conversions by Mount Vernon. They finished the game on a 10-3 run and won the game by 6 points for the second time this season.

Although not the victors tonight, Coach Pritchett and Bailey led a spirited squad that out-rebounded their opponent throughout the night. Leann Loch had 16 of them and Natalie Samaha had 10 more. Loch completed another double-double (her fourth of the season) and was the high scorer on the floor tonight. Amber Ecelbarger converted several acrobatic drives and also finished in double digits for the ninth time out of her past ten games; she also added five assists. Natalie Samaha finished her high school career with a solid performance offensively and defensively; fellow senior Amy Rock covered well in zone tonight and enjoyed a full game on the court. Sophomore Meg Verhagen gave a glimpse of her scoring ability tonight; a talent that will need to be honed for the benefit of the player and her team next year.

** In an All-Conference matchup within tonight's game, the two "honorable mentions" (a guard and a forward) outscored the two higher-ranked "second team" (another guard and forward) 26-18 tonight. In the other close game between the two teams this season, the "honorable mentions" outscored the supposedly better "second teamers" 12-1. For the season these two All-Conference bottom-dwelling "honorable mentions" have tallied 464 points while the "second team" players have managed only 330 points. If this doesn't make sense, one only needs to know that in Conference 13, team rank is an extremely high consideration for all-conference player status. Thus, the two high-scoring "honorable mentions" both played for the sixth-place team while the "second team" girls who scored 134 fewer points (that's equal to 6 fewer points/game x 23 season games!) both played for the third-place team. Explanation completed.

Scoring Summary:  Leann Loch, 16 points; Amber Ecelbarger 10 points; Natalie Samaha, 6 points; Meg Verhagen, 5 points.