A Surprisingly Successful Season of Transition

Coach Pritchett entered her second season at the helm of the Lady Jaguars this past November with very large holes to fill in her roster after the graduation/departure of three very experienced seniors from the previous year. She fielded a team after tryouts that returned only 5 varsity players from the previous year and after one of them was forced to miss the first three games of the season with an injury, the Lady Jaguars entered the season with only one returning regular starter from the previous year, another part-time starter from the remaining Varsity players returning from last season, two freshman who both were in the starting line up, and three players from last year’s JV team.

Despite the lack of experience throughout the roster, the Lady Jaguars celebrated seven victories this season, the most they’ve had in eight years and the second most they tallied for a season throughout this century. They also proved to be more competitive in defeat against teams that traditionally had rolled over them in past years, such as Mount Vernon and West Potomac. Between 2008 and 2012, the average score of a Lady Jaguar’s game for those four seasons was a miserable 26 to 59; this season that average score tightened considerably to 33 to 43. Clearly, a much more competitive team competed in Falls Church colors this season compared to those four painful years and even compared to the two improved teams of 2012-2014.

Offensively, the Lady Jaguars were more potent than those most hapless years, but they did suffer a relapse from last year’s squad which had poured in 37 points/game. The departing seniors from last year took 280 points with them; these points were not fully replaced this year. The team was also more inconsistent offensively compared to last year as they were held under 20 points in one game, and in the 20s nine other times (last year’s team had only three of these “clunker” offensive outputs). Still, with six games over 40 points, including two games in the 50s, the offense demonstrated the ability to manufacture points at a higher clip than all but one of the past six seasons.

Defensively, the Jaguars had their best season in at least ten years and perhaps for the century, four points per game stingier than last year’s team, and 10+ points/game improved defensively compared to each of the eight seasons before that. Only 5 times in 23 games did the defense yield 50 or more points in a game, and in more than half of the games this season, opponents were kept under 40 points Most surprising about this improvement was that Coach Pritchett was forced to be one-dimensional for most of the season by employing zone coverage with relatively few instances of man defense.

What was the source of improvement? The Lady Jaguars did benefit from a weaker schedule, but that only provides a partial answer. For the first time in recent memory, the girls basketball team featured two productive forwards on the court, junior Leann Loch and senior Natalie Samaha. In five of the seven victories, those two together scored 18-26 points. For the season, they combined for 330 of the team’s 770 points (43%). No previous tandem of Lady Jaguar forwards have contributed so strongly to the offense. Their frontcourt position in the zone resulted in numerous blocked shots and a tremendous number of rebounds to hold down opponent scoring.

Junior point guard Amber Ecelbarger was the other important ingredient. With close to 300 points for the season, she was the most productive Lady Jaguars player since Karla Cortes in the 2006-2007 season. Most importantly for this season’s Jaguar team is that she had a hand in half of the team’s offense in combined points and assists. With backcourt zone coverage and nearly 50 rebounds, she also aided the defense. Her production was consistent and fortuitous for the team, particularly considering that no other guard on the team averaged any more than one basket/game over the last ten contests on the court. The double-edged sword for Coach Pritchett’s team is that Ecelbarger, Loch and Samaha scored 80% of the team’s points this year.

Other players also contributed, particularly the youngest ones. Leah Shaw made the All Rookie team for Conference 13 because of her offensive potential and defensive prowess. She slid into one of the open guard positions and held it until suffering an injury that cut her season short by two games (she did score in every game she played; only the second known freshman to accomplish this feat in recent memory). She and fellow freshman Mia Pendleton gained valuable experience throughout the season and are both expected to be regulars and likely starters next season. Sophomore Meg Verhagen demonstrated scoring ability in the final game of the season and has the potential to be a significant contributor to Varsity for the next two years. Junior guards Sarah Halverson and Connie Vuong experienced less court time than seniors Amy Rock and Brittney Barbaro, but can increase their roles next season with improved play on offense and defense.

Next year Conference 13 will be composed of only seven teams (Mount Vernon leaves the conference beginning next fall). With the return of Ecelbarger and Loch coming in for their fourth and final seasons on varsity, Coach Pritchett will benefit from two of the highest scoring players in the conference with a well-seasoned court chemistry developed between them. For her to enjoy another season of improved success in the won-loss record, Coach P. will need to cull her remaining talent from this season’s roster and hope to pull in players from the JV team, perhaps the freshman squad, and keep her eyes open for what may come in from this year’s 8^th grade class at middle school.