Leesburg, Va. — There are very few basketball players in Loudoun County that can do it all. Tuscarora High School junior guard Isabellah Middleton is one of them.
Entering their first match up of the season against Potomac Falls on January 15 in Leesburg, the Huskies and Panthers were tied in second place at 5-1 in the Potomac District. And when her team needed her most, Middleton rose to the occasion, leading Tuscarora to a 50-35 victory, earning the program’s 150th win.
“She’s an elite player,” Tuscarora head coach Michael Newkirk said. “To get up for things like this doesn’t take a lot for her. It’s already programmed in her.”
[adrotate banner=”19″]In the win, the Huskies scored 50 points; Middleton scored half of those.
The physical guard jumped out of the game quickly, scoring nine points in the first quarter, single-handedly outscoring the Panthers. That pace continued for Middleton as she went on to outscore the Panthers again in the third quarter. She finished with 25 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals.
Fortunately, Middleton got going early, because the rest of the Tuscarora offensive struggled to get rolling. Potomac Falls sophomore center Paige Anderson was a big reason why as she blocked six shots in the first half. While the Panthers defense kept most of the Huskies offense in check throughout the night, the Tuscarora defense had as much, if not more, success against the Potomac Falls offense.
“We hinge everything on our defensive effort. We weren’t able to truly dictate the pace like we wanted, but we were able to control the tempo,” Newkirk said. “We weren’t executing early on offense, but we were getting stops on the defensive end.”
After scoring just 16 points through three quarters, the Panthers turned up the intensity in the fourth, forcing 12 Tuscarora turnovers and pulling within 10 for the first time since the second quarter.
Potomac Falls turned to sophomore forward Ashley Allen, senior guard Natalie Brennan and freshman guard Ella Valente to do most of the heavy lifting late. That trio combined for 13 points, 8 rebounds and 7 steals in the fourth quarter as the Panthers turned on their full court press. Unfortunately for Potomac Falls they didn’t have enough time to overcome their double-digit deficit.
“Coming into the game, we knew what Potomac Falls was going to bring,” Newkirk said. “I think our defensive intensity was pretty good for three quarters to hold that off. But they made a push.”
While Middleton carried the scoring effort for the Huskies, it was her late rebounding and boxing out that caught the attention of her head coach.
“We just preached to continue to carve out space to secure the rebound to hold them to one-shot possessions,” Newkirk said.
Potomac Falls (5-2, 12-3) – which already has as many wins this season as they did all of last season – looks to bounce back against John Champe (1-6, 5-8) in Sterling on January 18.
Tuscarora’s tests don’t get any easier moving forward as the Huskies (6-1, 12-2) – who are currently ranked No. 3 in the LoCo Top 5 – host No. 1 Freedom (7-0, 15-0) in Leesburg on January 18. In their first match up of the season on December 7, the Eagles narrowly escaped the Huskies, 57-55.
“We know they’re not the same team nor are we. That was the third game of the season for us and about the same for them,” Newkirk said. “When it was critical, especially late in that first game, we lost track of their shooters. We’re going to have to contain their shooters this time. I’m like a kid at Christmastime; I’m really looking forward to it.”
Michael Ferrara captured more than 60 photos at the game…
Tuscarora Stats
| Tuscarora | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Isabellah Middleton | 25 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5-for-9 |
| Rosi Santos | 13 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5-for-9 |
| Alyssa Cabassa | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4-for-4 |
| Shakima Machulski | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| Ava Carll | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Claire Troiano | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Lea Lesho | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1-for-2 |
| Randi Evans | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Katie Scheivert | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Grace Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Huskies Totals | 50 | 44 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 17-for-30 |
Potomac Falls Stats
| Potomac Falls | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Ashley Pandelides | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2-for-2 |
| Ashley Allen | 10 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4-for-7 |
| Natalie Brennan | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4-for-5 |
| Paige Anderson | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0-for-1 |
| Hope Palmer | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Ella Valente | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Abigail Suchoski | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Vanessa Eichensehr | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Natalie Swarm | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Sara Miller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Panthers Totals | 35 | 35 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 14-for-21 |
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