Mark Twain once quipped that history doesn't repeat itself, but it does tend to rhyme.  Tonight it took a decade to create that rhyme, but by winning tonight, the Lady Jags enter the Regional Tournament for the first time in 10 years by beating the Lady Raiders on the Jaguar home court.  And one Jaguar reached the ultimate milestone--one not witnessed at this school for 21 years.

The game opened with the Lady Jags devouring Stuart's offense by shutting them out for the first six minutes and limiting them to one basket and one free throw for the entire quarter. Conversely, Falls Church's offense ran roughshod over Stuart's zone defense, lighting up the scoreboard with 20 points. The Three Machine was revved up early with Amber Ecelbarger and Leah Shaw each swishing the long-range shot (Shaw's 40th "3" of the year!) and adding three other two-point baskets between them while Sierra Kennard pumped in three buckets. Leann Loch completed the Jaguar scoring for the quarter with a nice banked shot.

Shut down for nine consecutive quarters against Falls Church, the Lady Raiders finally opened up in the second quarter of this contest, pouring in 15 points. But the Jaguars answered the call by upping them with 16 points of their own. For her third straight game, Sierra Kennard cleared ten points in the first half with an 11-point quarter, including her thirtieth "3" of the season, putting the "Tre Trio" back in fine form. Senior Ecelbarger and sophomores Mia Pendelton and Rasha Benhamida added two-point buckets to give Falls Church a very comfortable, 36-15 lead at the half.

Pendleton Loch and Kennard all contributed third quarter points to keep building on Falls Church's lead. But this quarter belonged to Amber Ecelbarger. She opened the quarter with a two-pointer, then followed with her second "3" of the game, and then with seconds left in the quarter she drew a shooting foul which put her on the penalty stripe. As she twirled the ball in her palms and crouched in position to launch the first free throw attempt, neither she -- nor anyone in the building except for five stats keepers, coaches and referees -- had any idea what was about to happen.

The free throw arced through the net, giving Amber her 14th point of the game. But it was much more than that. The game suddenly stopped and Falls Church officials announced that by landing that free throw, the point guard achieved a feat not witnessed at the school since 1995: Amber Ecelbarger scored her 1,000th point of her 91-game Varsity career!

After a brief and touching ceremony to announce and acknowledge the milestone, the refs resumed the game. Falls Church and Stuart exchanged baskets in a wild fourth quarter in which 30 points were split evenly between the two teams. The highlight was Ecelbarger's third "3" of the game, freshman Kennard's 16th consecutive free throw in a three-game span which gave her a fourth game of the season clearing 20 points -- and 303 points for the season -- two baskets by Meg Verhagen, another bucket by Nora Clock, and a first basket by Katie Ngo who was brought up from JV for the Conference tournament. Ecelbarger's special night was enhanced by a career-high 13 helpers (a team record) to award her with her third double-double in Varsity play. She now sits fourth in the entire DC Metro area with 123 recorded assists this season (also a team record). The Three Machine of Falls Church now has 113 three-pointers, an incredible mark not witnessed at this school in anyone's memory.

Now on to the 5A Regional Tournament. . . 

Scoring Summary: Sierra Kennard, 23 points; Amber Ecelbarger, 17 points; Leah Shaw, 9 points; Leann Loch, 4 points; Meg Verhagen, 4 points; Rasha Benhamida, 2 points; Mia Pendleton, 2 points; Elieanora Clock, 2 points; Katie Ngo, 2 points.

A Breakdown of Amber Ecelbarger's 1,003 Points:   Number of Games: 91;  Points per Game: 11.02

Points Per Season:  Freshman Year: 190; Sophomore Year: 252; Junior Year 279; Senior Year: 282

3-pointers: 86 (258 points; 26% of total); 2-point baskets: 228 (456 points; 45% of total)   Free Throws 289 (29% of total)