Broad Run Girls Top Heritage, 48-35

By Garrett Downing

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Fueled by a quick scoring run to start the fourth quarter, the Broad Run girls' basketball team was able to pull away from the Heritage Pride and coast to a 48-35 victory Monday night.

Heritage (3-14, 1-9 AA Dulles) kept the score close for most of the game, but Broad Run (10-7, 7-3) scored six quick points to go up by 13 early in the fourth, and the Pride were never able to close the gap.

“We started to execute our offense in the second half,” Broad Run head coach Mike O’Hara said. “In the first half we were just kind of running up and down the floor.”

The Spartans' athleticism, especially from senior Alexis Campbell proved too much for Heritage to handle down the stretch. After a quiet start, she made her presence known in the second half.

On the defensive end, Campbell forced turnovers by flustering the Prides' guards. Offensively, she sliced her way to the basket, drawing fouls and converting on critical foul shots. She finished with a game-high 12-points.

“(Campbell) is a superior athlete to most of the kids in the district,” O’Hara said. “She goes after it and she hates to lose.”

The Spartans also had a strong night from sophomore Maggie Andricosky, who spent most of the game underneath the basket, cleaning up rebounds and capitalizing on second-chance opportunities. Like Campbell, she drew several fouls and finished with 10 points.

Her play in the third quarter helped keep Heritage from gaining momentum, and gave the Spartans a comfortable seven-point lead heading into the final quarter.

O’Hara credited Andricosky as a key factor in the win, and said “this was one of the better games she has had for us all year.”

There were several lead changes in the first half, but Heritage struggled to put up points as the game progressed, shooting 35 percent from the field.

Freshman Necole Sterling, one of the top scorers for the Pride, had an off night shooting. She failed to make any shots from behind the arc and finished with nine points.

“We just can’t have those stretches in the second half where we go without scoring,” Heritage head coach Anthony Long said. “We just have to play consistently throughout a game.

“We are showing spurts where we can play with anybody, and then we have spurts where we play like anyone can beat us.”

Monday’s win ends a two-game skid for Broad Run, and gets it ready for Tuesday’s game with Loudoun County, the district’s top team. The last time the Spartans and Raiders met, on Jan. 8, Loudoun County escaped with a five-point win, its slimmest margin of any district game.

Even though Loudoun County has a grip on the regular season crown, Broad Run is hoping to deliver the Raiders their first district loss.

“The kids will be ready to play,” O’Hara said. “It is a rival game with them. No matter what the records are, we get up for them.”

Tagged: basketball, Broad Run High School, Heritage High School, high school sports

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