Leesburg, Va. — After quickly falling into a deficit, the Loudoun County High School boys basketball team knew what they needed to do to claw themselves out of trouble. By halftime the Captains had tied the game at 32-32, and by midway through the third quarter, they had really started to settle in. Despite a tremendous shooting effort by Briar Woods, the Captains used four double-figure scoring performances to outlast the Falcons, 66-56, on December 1 in Leesburg. “Briar Woods is very well coached. I respect the heck out of Derek Butler and the way he goes about his business,”…

Ashburn, Va. — Defending a 4th-and-1 from near midfield on the opening drive of the game, the Broad Run High School defense stepped up. Tuscarora handed the ball off to their trusty running back, who was met and stonewalled at the line of scrimmage by Broad Run senior linebacker Luca Lombardo, short of the line to gain. From that moment, the Spartans knew they were in for a special afternoon. Series after series the Spartan defense proved stout, paving the way for Broad Run senior quarterback Brett Griffis to rush for nearly 100 yards and 4 touchdowns, as the Spartans…

Leesburg, Va. — For the first time in school history, Heritage High School was prepared to host a home playoff football game. The Pride didn’t let the historic moment get in their way as they laid out their three-pronged plan: contain James Wood senior running back Jaden Ashby, establish their own running game through senior running back Sean Robinson, and get the ball to senior receiver Omari Cornwall in space. “First home playoff game ever, so we were super excited,” Heritage senior defensive back Kyle Alt said. “But we knew we had a lot of work to do.” An early…

Ashburn, Va. — The first serve of the night not getting over the night could have set the tone for the Stone Bridge High School volleyball team. But the Bulldogs didn’t let it. After evening things out at 1-1, Stone Bridge senior outside hitter Sophia DeNayer rallied off five straight service points, and the Bulldogs were well on their way to a first set win. Stone Bridge used that momentum to escape the second set with a win then dominate the third to defeat Patrick Henry in straight sets—25-18, 25-22, 25-9—and, for the first time since 2013, claim the VHSL…

Leesburg, Va. — For the third time in four years, the Broad Run High School football team will hoist the Dulles District championship banner after erasing a halftime deficit, forcing a pair of second-half turnovers, and coming from behind to defeat rival Tuscarora, 27-17, on November 5 in Leesburg. “We can tell them all we want, but they have to believe in themselves,” Broad Run head coach Matt Griffis said. “We have great team leadership, and we were not going to just give this game to them. We were going to do everything we could to win.” [adrotate banner=”46″] The…

Leesburg, Va. — After knocking off their crosstown rival twice in the regular season, the Heritage High School field hockey team was on the losing end of the Dulles District championship game against that very same rival. Just a week later, the Pride bounced back, avenged their district championship loss, scored the decisive goal in overtime to defeat the Loudoun County Captains, 2-1, and claimed the VHSL Region 4D title on November 4 in Leesburg. “We played Loudoun County four times in three weeks, so we just had to bring it back to our game, back to the basics,” Heritage…