Purcellville, Va. — After splitting their regular season matchups, the Loudoun Valley and Heritage High School girls basketball teams knew they’d be in for a tough battle when they met once again in a Dulles District semifinal. Led by a balanced scoring attack and a few crucial runs, the Vikings took the lead early in the second quarter and never looked back en route to a 47-38 win over an emotional Pride team on February 13 in Purcellville.
Prior to the game, both teams honored 2023 Heritage graduate Rocky Elardo, who lost her five-year battle with Ewing Sarcoma—a rare form of bone cancer—just two days before the game.
“That was on their minds, which is really tough,” Loudoun Valley head coach Bill Reynolds said. “They were playing for something bigger tonight.”
Heritage started off the game strong as four different Pride scored in the first quarter. Then, Heritage freshman forward Keira Stanford knocked down a three to open the second quarter to give the Pride a 12-9 lead.
The Vikings, however, answered with their biggest run of the night. Loudoun Valley sophomore forwards Maggie Mills and Payton Mandichak got the run started with a layup each before freshman guard Jordan Phillips knocked down a three to extend the Loudoun Valley lead to 16-12. Sophomore guard Alyssa Tribino hit a three of her own before Mandichak capped off the 12-0 run with a nice finish off a pass from junior forward Lizzie Thornton.
“That was a big deal, because Heritage, like us, thrives off those runs,” Reynolds said. “We got that run at the right time which really helped us with the momentum.”
Late in the second quarter, Loudoun Valley senior guard Alex Phillips hit a three to extend the Loudoun Valley lead to 26-15, their biggest lead of the night.
The Pride looked to cut into that lead late in the second quarter as junior guard Addy Padgett hit a three to make it an 8-point game. Then with .3 seconds left in the half, Heritage sophomore point guard Riley Makitka drove to the basket and was fouled before knocking down both free throws to cut the lead to 26-20 heading into the half.
Coming out of the half, Heritage junior guard Rachel Stewart scored on a layup to cut the Loudoun Valley lead to just 4, however, the Vikings once again had an answer.
First, Thornton—who finished with a game-high 12 points, 7-rebounds, and 3 assists—scored on a dime from Tribino.
“Lizzie has concentrated and focused, and she’s making her layups this year,” Reynolds said. “She has the skills of a guard and the size of a post player, so she’s a tough matchup for a lot of teams.”
Then, Phillips knocked down back-to-back threes as the Vikings re-extended their lead to 36-26.
“Alex is our senior leader, and we follow her,” Reynolds said. “She was on it tonight, her spirits were high, and she was ready to go.”
Facing a 10-point deficit, Heritage junior forward Kaitlyn Puzenski went on her own 5-0 run to cut the lead to 36-31.
However, despite the late effort from the Pride, the Vikings’ height, balanced offense, and rarely used man-to-man defense kept Heritage off balance just long enough to secure the victory.
While the Pride’s season draws to a close, No. 2 Loudoun Valley (6-2, 15-6) will travel to No. 1 Tuscarora for the Dulles District championship game on February 15 in Leesburg. The Vikings and Huskies split their regular season matchups with the Huskies getting the better of the Vikings, 41-28, in their most recent battle on February 8.
“We beat them the first time, and we let them beat us the second time,” Reynolds said. “If we play our game, use the advantages we have with our height, contain Alysa [Carrigan] just a little bit, and score some points, we know we have a shot to win.”
Loudoun Valley Stats
| Loudoun Valley | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Lizzie Thornton | 12 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2-for-6 |
| Alyssa Tribino | 11 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2-for-4 |
| Alex Phillips | 9 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Maggie Mills | 6 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Payton Mandichak | 4 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Jordan Phillips | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Hailey Dunkerley | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 47 | 32 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 6-for-15 |
Heritage Stats
| Heritage | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Riley Makitka | 10 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 4-for-4 |
| Alyssa Stanford | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3-for-4 |
| Kaitlyn Puzenski | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Rachel Stewart | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Addy Padgett | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Keira Stanford | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Julia Ehrmantraut | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Myah Gross | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Anna Egnotovich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Skylar Zelman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Amaeya Trotter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Emma Beal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 38 | 29 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 7-for-8 |