Leesburg, Va. — If you follow girls basketball in Loudoun County, you know one thing: Freedom High School is the team to beat. Coming off a trip to a VHSL 5A State semifinal in 2018, the Eagles are loaded with talent and are paving their path for a return to the state tournament. Of the teams standing in Freedom’s way of repeating as Potomac District champions, Tuscarora High School probably posed the biggest threat.
But on January 18 in Leesburg, the Eagles made it clear who the front-runner was, dominating the Huskies, 77-48.
For Freedom, it starts on the defensive end, as the Eagles forced 28 Tuscarora turnovers and had eight different girls with a steal – including senior point guard Kamryn Meador, who had a game-high 5 steals.
“I challenge them: let’s keep this team under [a certain number of points]. I know we can score, so if we keep the team under this point total, I know we’ll be successful,” Freedom head coach Teddy Whitney said. “They accepted that challenge tonight. They’re playing with energy, they’re playing with intensity and they’re just feeding off each other.”
[adrotate banner=”19″]While Meador gave the Huskies problems on the defensive end, she was also the engine that made the Freedom offense go. With all the scoring weapons the Eagles have, Meador distributes the ball all over the floor and dished out a game-high 12 assists.
“I played point guard, so I told Kamryn, ‘Your points are assists. If Batts scores 22, you have 11 of them,’” Whitney said. “She’s starting to buy into that system and staying within the game plan.”
Thanks in part to Meador’s unselfish play, the Eagles had four girls in double figures, none of which were their Boston College commit Jaelyn Batts – who finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 monster block.
“When Batts is on the floor – even if she’s not scoring – everyone is comfortable,” Whitney said. “She could be a selfish player, but she is not. She understands assists, points, rebounds; she does what needs to be done for the team. She makes my job easy.”
Freedom senior guard Morgann Harden led the Eagles’ scoring with 18 points; junior forward Brenna Haley contributed a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double; senior forward Rose Burnham added 15 points and 9 boards; and senior shooting guard Jalyn Scales scored 13, including a trio of back-breaking threes in the third quarter.
Girls Basketball: Four Eagles finish in double figures. Meador 7 points, 12 assists, 5 steals. @freedom_gbball 77, @TuscaroraGBB 48 FINAL #LoCoHoops @LoCoSports
— Owen Gotimer (@BigO_Gotimer) January 19, 2019
For Tuscarora, junior guard Isabellah Middleton was held to a season-low 12 points but still factored mightily in the rebounding game, picking up her ninth double-double of the season with 13 boards.
“We executed. We stayed with our game plan. We tried to keep the ball out of Bellah’s hands, and we tried to play her to her weakness,” Whitney said. “We challenged her on everything tonight and gave her no easy shots. She’s good, she’s going to hit shots, but if we can hold her under 25, we did a good job. She’s a baller.”
With six games left in their Potomac District schedule, Freedom (8-0, 16-0) will be in the driver’s seat down the home stretch. Tuscarora (6-2, 12-3) travels to Stone Bridge on January 22 to try to keep hold of second place in the Potomac District.
“We have to keep believing in each other and keep working hard for each other,” Whitney said. “We just have to keep working hard, keep communicating and keep staying positive.”
Savannah Reger captured more than 40 photos at the game…
Bill Vocke captured more than 30 photos at the game…
Freedom Stats
| Freedom | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Morgann Harden | 18 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2-for-5 |
| Brenna Haley | 16 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4-for-5 |
| Rose Burnham | 15 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3-for-5 |
| Jalyn Scales | 13 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2-for-5 |
| Kamryn Meador | 7 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 5-for-10 |
| Jaelyn Batts | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2-for-2 |
| Marissa Vicchio | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Corinne Murphy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Mia Durham | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Megan Pelletier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Emily Maier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Emma Strohecker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Hannah Clark | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Eagles Totals | 77 | 31 | 22 | 17 | 1 | 18-for-33 |
Tuscarora Stats
| Tuscarora | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Rosi Santos | 14 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Isabellah Middleton | 12 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4-for-5 |
| Alyssa Cabassa | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Ava Carll | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Katie Scheivert | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Claire Troiano | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Lea Lesho | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Shakima Machulski | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Grace Smith | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Randi Evans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Huskies Totals | 48 | 27 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 7-for-9 |
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