A four-game winning streak, which included three straight wins at the recent Ashburn Holiday Tournament at Stone Bridge High School, gave the Broad Run High girls basketball team some much needed confidence after a slow start to the season.
The Spartans, coached by Mike O’Hara, were 1-5 to start the winter campaign. But a Dulles District win at Heritage Dec. 19 gave them some momentum entering the winter break and the local holiday tourney at Stone Bridge. There, Broad Run won all three of its games, including a 49-38 triumph over Loudoun Valley High in the title game Dec. 30.
That victory not only gave Broad Run the championship, but it improved its record to 5-5 going into this week when the locals were set to jump into the heart of their regular season district schedule.
"They were a little disappointed [at the 1-5 start], but knew the teams we were playing were good teams," said O’Hara, whose squad opened the season with setbacks to Northern Region power Oakton as well as Fairfax High. "Our kids realized those were tough games and we may not win them. But [playing high-caliber teams] will make us better later in the year.
"Winning the last four games will really help their confidence," the coach said. "We have the confidence to be a good team. We’re not there now. We’ll see by the end of the season."
Broad Run’s holiday tournament wins over host team Stone Bridge, Herndon and Valley came over a four-day period. Spartan player Maggie Andricosky, who scored 13 points in the title game win, earned tournament MVP honors. Teammate Caitlin Hunter, a post player, also earned All-Tournament Team recognition. She netted 12 points in the finals win.
Andricosky, a versatile player who excels both inside the paint and along the perimeter, scored 12 points in the Spartans’ hard-fought 45-44 win over Stone Bridge in the first round and also played solid in her team’s 48-37 semifinals win over a talented Herndon squad in the semifinals.
"She’s been playing well all year," O’Hara said of Andricosky’s game. "She’s starting to score a little more. She passes up a lot of shots and we’re trying to get her to [shoot] more. She’s probably one of our best three-point shooters."
<b>THE WIN OVER</b> Loudoun Valley, a member of the Cedar Run District, was especially sweet because Broad Run had lost to the Vikings earlier in the season, 38-26, in a non-district road game Dec. 5. In that first meeting with Loudoun Valley, the Spartans did not have Hunter available to play. But Hunter more than made her presence known in the holiday tournament win over Valley with her dozen points and team-high 15 rebounds.
O’Hara said that Hunter, who was a member of Broad Run’s state title winning girls soccer team last spring, helped the Spartans by simply staying on the court over the three tournament wins.
"She’s very aggressive," O’Hara said of Hunter’s style of play. "She’s a tough kid and she stayed out of foul trouble. She has a tendency to pick up cheap fouls. In the tournament, she didn’t do that."
Broad Run, which finished 16-8 last year and went as far as the district tournament semifinals before losing to Freedom, was scheduled to play district home games this week against Loudoun County (Tuesday) and Park View (this Friday night).
County and Freedom are the teams to beat again this season after finishing first and second in the district last year. O’Hara said the Spartans are among a handful of other teams within the eight-team district that could be fighting for a third-place regular-season finish.
"There’s a pretty wide gap," O’Hara said of Freedom and County being the district’s clear top-two teams and everyone else being more grouped together. "Every game [for us] will be a tough game."
Along with Andricosky, who leads Broad Run with 12 points per game, and Hunter, key players for Broad Run this season include seniors Chelsea Gantt (nine points per game) and Haley Johnson. Gantt scored a career-high 19 points in the win over Herndon. Johnson, a fourth-year varsity player, scored six points in the Valley win. She is not a big scorer, but is a solid rebounder and defensive player. O’Hara said Johnson is also a team leader.
In action next week, Broad Run is scheduled to play at Potomac Falls on Monday, Jan. 12, and at home against Dominion on Wednesday, Jan. 14.