By wearing down the Warriors of Wakefield at Falls Church HS tonight, the Lady Jaguars won their fourth consecutive game, broke a 13-game, 7-season losing streak against this nemesis, and moved into sole possession of third place in Conference play -- all in the span of 32 minutes that teemed with an average of four points produced by both sides each and every minute.

An early eight-point first half lead slowly dwindled to three points by the start of the fourth quarter, but--characteristic of recent games--Falls Church poured out points throughout the final frame to pull away for their 11th win of the season. The vaunted Three Machine churned out seven more tonight with five players contributing. Falls Church can now boast five players who have at least ten 3-pointers this season. Not only is this a "first" for 15 games played, there is no other entire season in memory with this many successful 3-point shooters on one Falls Church girls basketball team. Two players had seven made baskets tonight: sophomore Amari Faust and senior Rasha Benhamida. For Rasha, she supplemented her field goals with a lights-out, 10-for-12 performance at the free-throw line to mark this night as her career game, passing 20 points for the first time in her Varsity career. Another noteworthy moment was when Leah Shaw added another seemingly routine blocked shot to her box score. She now sits in fifth place -- IN THE ENTIRE DC-METRO AREA -- with 34 recorded blocked shots this season.

Falls Church hopes to carry their momentum into Friday evening's game with an attempt to clear one of their most challenging historical obstacles. Nobody knows if this team has ever beaten Mount Vernon before; we only know that this opponent has run roughshod over the Lady Jags for more than 20 years, compiling 50+ straight victories over Falls Church. Seniors Mia Pendleton and Leah Shaw are the only two current Jag players who have faced this multi-year Conference King (Mount Vernon left the Conference after their freshman season.  They both were on the court watching a slim lead slip away in the fourth quarter against the Majors in 2015. This Friday night they have the opportunity to take part of a Falls Church team that seeks to end a second monstrous losing streak in consecutive nights.

Scoring Summary:   Rasha Benhamida, 25 points; Amari Faust, 19 points; Sierra Kennard, 9 points; Gabriele Clay, 6 points; Leah Shaw, 3 points, Mia Pendleton, 2 points.