Leesburg, Va. — For the second time in five days, the Loudoun Valley High School girls basketball team found themselves traveling to enemy territory to battle a LoCo Top 5 team. Backed by a career-high 31 points from freshman forward Louis Volker, the No. 1 Vikings found a way to win as they trumped No. 3 Tuscarora, 83-67, on January 21 in Leesburg.
“Louis is an incredible shooter,” Loudoun Valley head coach Bill Reynolds said. “She has that mid-range jumper, and when it’s on, it’s unstoppable. And she’s also got 50 moves that she can pull out of a repertoire. She was hungry tonight, so we just kept feeding her.”
Loudoun Valley and Tuscarora traded blows early in the first quarter as six different Vikings got in on the scoring action. Despite an early 8-8 tie, Loudoun Valley started to create some distance, thanks in part to their tenacious defense and ability to score in transition.
“We stuck to our press and sometimes they broke it,” Reynolds said. “I think we got more out of it than we gave up, so hopefully, that’ll happen again when we play them at the end of the season.”
A 23-15 first quarter lead, quickly turned to 25-15 to start the second quarter as Volker knocked down another mid-range jumper. After missing more than three minutes in the first quarter due to foul trouble, Loudoun Valley junior guard Jordan Campbell added 5 points in the second quarter and helped the Vikings force 14 first-half turnovers.
“Jordan’s motor doesn’t stop,” Reynolds said. “Anytime we have to pull her out and sit her down that’s the motor trying to cool down. Then, we have to get that motor revving again. She’s ready to go at any minute when we put her back in there. She’s the spark plug.”
That spark plug accounted for 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists on the night. Another major piece to Loudoun Valley’s defensive puzzle comes in the form of senior forward Megan Stevenson, who collected 7 rebounds and 8 steals to go along with her 15 points.
Louis is an incredible shooter. She has that mid-range jumper, and when it’s on, it’s unstoppable.
—Loudoun Valley head coach Bill Reynolds
After coming out of the locker room down 48-31, the Huskies found a second wind. In the third quarter alone, Tuscarora senior guard Isabellah Middleton and freshman guard Grace Middleton combined for 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.
“Isabellah is an amazing player. She’s strong. She’s fast. She can finish. But one player is not going to beat us,” Reynolds said. “She’s going to get her points, we just had to make sure that nobody else got theirs.”
The elder Middleton went on to lead the Huskies with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals, while the younger chipped in 18 points and 3 boards.
Girls Basketball: Loudoun Valley freshman forward Louis Volker finishes with 31 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks. Forward Megan Stevenson adds 15p, 7r, 8s. Guard Jordan Campbell adds 15p, 5r, 5a. @LVHSLadyVikes 83, @TuskyHusky_GBB 67 FINAL #LoCoHoops @LoCoSports
— Owen Gotimer (@BigO_Gotimer) January 22, 2020
“It was my first time ever playing against Isabellah, but I’ve heard a lot about her. Obviously, she’s amazing,” Stevenson said. “We played a 1-3-1, so it wasn’t just me guarding her. We just had to play good team defense.”
Any hopes the Huskies had of a comeback ran dry midway through the fourth as Volker turned in 8 of her 31 points in the final eight minutes to lead Loudoun Valley (5-0, 10-0) past Tuscarora (5-1, 10-4) for first place in the Dulles District.
“This year, we have a little bit of a different defense, and we’re all bought in,” Stevenson said. “We all want to win the state championship game, and I think we’re a lot closer than we’ve been in past years.”
Derrick Jerry captured 180+ photos at the game…
Loudoun Valley Stats
| Loudoun Valley | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Louis Volker | 31 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3-for-7 |
| Megan Stevenson | 15 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 3-for-3 |
| Jordan Campbell | 15 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4-for-6 |
| Alyssa Hassan | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2-for-2 |
| Jane Bodamer | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| Kate Brennan | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Sarah Thompson | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Sarah Cohoon | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 83 | 30 | 11 | 18 | 9 | 13-for-22 |
Tuscarora Stats
| Tuscarora | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Isabellah Middleton | 27 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6-for-7 |
| Grace Middleton | 18 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Camryn Worley | 12 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Lea Lesho | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2-for-2 |
| Aniaya Knight | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Madison Raborg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Lillian Scheivert | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Katherine Scheivert | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 67 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 8-for-10 |