Leesburg, Va. — The Tuscarora and John Champe High School girls basketball teams are on currently on opposite sides of the Potomac District standings. No. 2 Tuscarora has posted just three losses this season – two at the hands of No. 1 Freedom – while No. 8 John Champe has just a single win in district. However, when they met on January 25, both teams were coming off wins.
From the opening tip, it was all Tuscarora as the Huskies found their offensive stride and cruised past the Knights, 66-22.
“Tonight, we executed,” Tuscarora junior guard Isabellah Middleton said. “We executed well, and went in the right direction.”
[adrotate banner=”19″]Tuscarora’s offensive stride started in the first quarter as Middleton, sophomore guard Alyssa Cabassa, senior guard Rosi Santos and sophomore forward Claire Troiano helped the Huskies climb to a 20-4 lead early.
“I think this game really helped us refocus,” Santos said. “The whole team really contributed.”
Tuscarora continued to get offensive production from all players across the board throughout the remainder of the first half as Santos added six more to her team leading 10 first half points.
On the other side, John Champe was unable to create much opportunity on offense as the Knights were held to just 8 points in the first half.
There was little change in pace for either team entering the third quarter. Middleton and Santos combined for 12 points in the third, and the Huskies took a 52-14 lead into the fourth.
“Regardless of the opponent, we got through our sets,” Middleton said. “We made our adjustments on defense, too, which helped us out.”
Led by junior guard Reagan Moore, the John Champe offense was a bit more smooth in the fourth quarter, but the pressure of the Tuscarora defense proved to be too much for the Knights to handle.
“We all got a chance to show what we can do,” Santos said. “We just had really good chemistry on both offense and defense and that will really help us moving forward.”
No. 2 Tuscarora (8-2, 14-3) hopes to ride this momentum through January 28 when the Huskies travel to No. 6 Broad Run (2-7, 3-12). No. 8 John Champe (1-9, 6-11) looks to bounce back when the Knights host No. 4 Briar Woods (5-4, 9-8) in Aldie.
