Ashburn, Va. — Weathering one run can be hard enough and weathering two is daunting at best, but the Stone Bridge High School girls basketball team was up for the challenge.
After opening the game up 6-0, the Bulldogs hit a rut offensively as rival Briar Woods went on a 14-2 run to close the first quarter and open the second. Stone Bridge battled through that run to take a 27-18 lead into the half.
Then, heading into the fourth quarter with a 44-30 lead, the Bulldogs once again hit a brick wall offensively as the Falcons cut the lead to just 2 with 2 seconds to play and an opportunity to win.
However, backed by an 11-point, 11-rebound double double by senior guard Leah Harden and five threes by sophomore guard Addie Hafer, the Bulldogs outlasted the Falcons and celebrated senior night in dramatic fashion, 46-44, on February 7 in Ashburn.
[adrotate banner=”54″]Trailing 14-8 early in the second quarter, Stone Bridge turned to Hafer who quickly buried a couple of threes to tie the game up at 14-14. A few possessions later, Hafer hit another three before hitting one final second-quarter triple late in the half to extend the Stone Bridge lead to 23-16.
“She’s a young sophomore, but when she gets in a rhythm she’s unstoppable from three,” first-year Stone Bridge head coach Emily Thompson said. “I keep telling her to stop pump faking and just keep shooting the ball.”
In the third quarter, Harden’s defensive play continued to stand out as she added to her 11-point, 11-rebound double which also included 4 assists and 3 steals.
“We expect a double-double every night out of her,” Thompson said. “She’s a great defender, a great rebounder, and a great scorer. No one can really guard her when she goes to the rim, because she has such a great first step.”
Heading into the fourth quarter, Stone Bridge had built itself a 14-point lead. On a night when they were celebrating their seniors, the Bulldogs were in complete control with just 8 minutes to play.
But because basketball can’t be easy, Briar Woods turned up the intensity and battled back as sophomore forward Hope Drake hit three threes in the fourth quarter alone to eventually cut the Stone Bridge lead to just 2 with 2.0 seconds to play.
After taking a timeout, Stone Bridge went to inbound the ball underneath the Briar Woods basket, where freshman guard Krista Tehan took a charge before the ball could be inbounded, giving the Falcons the ball underneath their own basket with two seconds to play, trailing 46-44.
On the ensuing inbound, Tehan got an open look from three, but her shot missed long as the Bulldogs held on to celebrate senior night.
The win was the first close victory for the Bulldogs, who had dropped their first five single-digit games of the season. But with seniors Kat Cassidy, Gianna Cunningham, Sam Dyer, Madison Moon, Ellie Swain, and Harden leading the way, Thompson is confident the close win could pay dividends as the postseason starts next week.
“All six of them are really close which brings the team closer together. They’re a really special and really competitive group,” Thompson said. “I look for that senior leadership down the stretch to control the game and also to bring the younger players along. We just have to keep doing what we can do. If we do that, we can hang with all the teams in our district.”
Stone Bridge Stats
| Stone Bridge | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Addie Hafer | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Leah Harden | 11 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3-for-4 |
| Madison Moon | 9 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3-for-6 |
| Reagan Skorupski | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| Emily Hughes | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ellie Swain | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Gianna Cunningham | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Bergan Needles | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Sam Dyer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 46 | 27 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 7-for-16 |
Briar Woods Stats
| Briar Woods | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Hope Drake | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5-for-6 |
| Tia Chen | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Noelle Cabiness | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4-for-6 |
| Giuliana Bohmer | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Taylor Price | 2 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-3 |
| Jadyn Shin | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ainsley Veatch | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Krista Tehan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Sienna Casillas | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Avery Maltese | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-2 |
| Caprice Bohmer | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 44 | 34 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 12-for-21 |