Leesburg, Va. — Great players show up in big moments. And there hasn’t been a bigger moment this year than the Dulles District championship game, so when the teams took the court for a rematch between rivals on February 17 in Leesburg, Tuscarora High School senior point guard Grace Middleton knew just what she’d have to do to lead the Huskies to the crown.
On their very first possession of the game, Middleton knocked down a three to give the Huskies the lead. Heritage responded with a three on their next possession, before Middleton hit another triple to once again give her team the lead.
“I figured they would play zone, and her hitting that first three just gave her so much confidence,” Tuscarora head coach Tayler Dodson said. “When she sees the ball go in, she’s hard to guard from that point on.”
From that second three-pointer on, Tuscarora never again rescinded the lead as Middleton put the Huskies on her back—finishing with 33 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals—in their 57-46 Dulles District championship win over the Pride.
“She just did what she does. She took over from the start and made her presence known,” Dodson said. “She put the ball in the hole, and she played very consistently for four quarters.”
[adrotate banner=”54″]After knocking down her first two three-pointers of the night, Middleton then turned to her bigs as she found junior forward Alysa Carrigan for a bucket before dishing an assist to senior forward Lillie Scheivert as the Huskies quickly extended their lead to 10-5.
Middleton then got to the basket and finished to put Tuscarora up 12-5 before hitting her third three of the night to open up the Huskies’ first double-digit lead, 15-5.
A pair of free throws late in the first quarter gave Middleton her 12th and 13th points of the game as the Huskies held a 17-12 lead after the first quarter.
Despite the opening tear by Middleton, the Pride hung around as freshman point guard Riley Makitka made her presence known in the second quarter, keeping Heritage within striking distance at the half, 34-27.
“Shout out to Heritage; it felt like they brought all of Leesburg with them,” Dodson said. “It felt like a playoff environment, so the game felt so intense and so high energy; that’s a credit to Heritage and their staff and their girls for playing as hard as they did for four quarters.”
Middleton opened the second half just as she had the first by burying her fifth three-pointer of the evening.
With their offense in system, Tuscarora started to turn up the defensive intensity. The length, height, and athleticism of Carrigan—who finished with 9 points, 12 rebounds, 6 steals, and 3 blocks—allowed the Huskies to force multiple turnovers and control the boards as the Pride fought to stay in it.
Down the stretch, Makitka pulled Heritage within five points on two different occasions, but the athleticism, experience, and scoring ability of Tuscarora proved to be too much as the Huskies claimed the Dulles District championship, 57-46.
Tuscarora (15-0, 23-1) will look to ride their momentum into their VHSL Region 4C semifinal against Northwestern District runner up Millbrook on February 21, while Heritage (11-4, 17-8) travels to Northwestern District champion Sherando on the same night with hopes of setting up a rematch with the Huskies. Both games will tip off at 6 p.m.
“We’re very excited, because this is what we’ve been working towards all season,” Middleton said. “We just need to lock in and have two good practices before we see Millbrook on Tuesday.”
Mike Ferrara captured 125+ photos at the game!
Tuscarora Stats
| Tuscarora | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Grace Middleton | 33 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4-for-6 |
| Alysa Carrigan | 9 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3-for-5 |
| Lillie Scheivert | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3-for-4 |
| Colette Morris | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3-for-6 |
| Camryn Worley | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Shaylen Rivera-Jones | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Paige Hahn | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 57 | 35 | 7 | 14 | 5 | 13-for-21 |
Heritage Stats
| Heritage | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Addy Padgett | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Riley Makitka | 14 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Ayanna McNair | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-2 |
| Alyssa Stanford | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Julia Ehrmantraut | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Kaitlyn Puzenski | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Emma Davidson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Rachel Stewart | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Anna Egnotovich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 46 | 22 | 10 | 14 | 4 | 8-for-11 |