Raiders Push Win Steak to 13

By Matt Tobin

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

With a dominating 88-40 performance over Potomac Falls Tuesday night, Loudoun County pushed its win streak to 13 games and notched another victory in its perfect district record.

The game was a rematch of a Dec. 21 game that had the Raiders (15-2, 9-0 AA Dulles) do much of the same. On that day, star senior Samantha Akers and freshman standout Brittany Batts combined for 27 points to help their team in a 70-33 drubbing of the Panthers (5-11, 2-8).

Tuesday night, the pair accounted for 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight Panther turnovers.

But what might have been more impressive was the play of Loudoun County collectively. As a team, the Raiders forced 27 turnovers, dished out 18 assists, had four players finish with more than 10 points and had five different players connect beyond the arc.

"Honestly, we just come out every game and try to perform at a high level," Loudoun County head coach Kevin Reed said. "We come out and try to see how far we can push the envelope on our end. I'm proud of the girls."

To say the least, Loudoun County has been playing at a high level all season. With its only losses coming against Turner Ashby and Loudoun Valley early in the season, the Raiders have been riding a 13-game win streak with a 21-point average margin of victory.

Reed said his team's hunger to improve fuels the momentum behind the streak.

"We're focused on how we can get better everyday," he said. "We'll come into practice tomorrow, there are a few areas where we need to improve that we discussed at halftime. The idea is just to enjoy playing basketball and put on a good show for our basketball team, for our school and see how far we can take this."

The streak careened with the Panthers at a particularly difficult time in their season. The game on Tuesday was their fourth in five days, something that Potomac Falls head coach Lynn Ewald couldn't help but note.

"This is our third game in a row without practice," Ewald said. "We played Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, so that's something that's obviously difficult to do. There aren't a lot of adjustments you can make on the bus trip, so you get out there and hope that you can do some things."

But despite the disparity in points, Ewald could find no lack of effort in his team.

"We came out and we fought until the end," he said. "That's something that benefits us in future games."

Tagged: basketball, high school sports, Loudoun County High School, Potomac Falls High School

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