Leesburg, Va. — For several years, the Heritage High School girls basketball team has been in contention for a Dulles District title, but the prize has always eluded them. With a new coach this year who is no stranger to winning, the Pride entered the Dulles District tournament as the No. 1 seed after capturing the regular season title with an undefeated district record. After taking care of business with a 30-point victory against Dominion in a Dulles District semifinal on February 19, the Pride continued their winning streak on February 21 in Leesburg when they took down No. 2 Loudoun Valley, 41-29, for their first Dulles District tournament title and head coach Tayler Cook’s 100th career win.
“This win feels really good considering last year we lost to this same team, and it’s the first time in history that we’ve ever made it this far,” Heritage sophomore guard Keira Stanford said. “Starting from the pre-game talk in the locker room, we were talking about how we tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves when we play these tough games, so I feel like not putting too much pressure on ourselves was key today.”
The Pride established the early lead behind baskets from Stanford (11 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist) and junior point guard and Dulles District Player of the Year Riley Makitka (7 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals). Senior forward Kaitlyn Puzenski (7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals) chipped in with a few assists, points, and rebounds to further extend the lead. The Pride had 6 steals in the first quarter and forced 8 Loudoun Valley turnovers as they limited the Vikings to just two baskets to go up 14-4.
“They weren’t fully denying me, so whenever we got the steal, I would push up the court,” Stanford said. “I was cutting really hard to get the wide open layups.”
After a slow start to the second quarter, Loudoun Valley junior guard Alyssa Tribino (8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal) connected on a three to cut the deficit to 7. Although baskets from Stanford and Puzenski enabled the Pride to keep a decent cushion, Loudoun Valley junior forward Maggie Mills (10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks) finished inside twice, including a layup to end the first half with Heritage up 19-11.
“We wanted to really pressure, and we wanted to limit Tribino and Mills. I thought we did a pretty good job of that in the first half. We scouted hard all week for what a deny looks like if Mills catches it in the paint, and that was our preparation leading up to this,” Cook said. “We’ve been taking it one game at a time, so we didn’t talk about it until yesterday at practice. We’re just trying to force the girls’ hands a little bit for when we get into high-pressure situations where you have to learn quickly.”
While it was the younger Stanford sister who led the Pride in the first half, it was junior forward Alyssa Stanford (8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) who got the hot hand in the third quarter, scoring 7 of her 8 points behind assists from Makitka.
“I just try to get the ball to whoever is open. If one of the girls is going on a run, I will try to get them the ball because if they’re on, they should keep going,” Makitka said. “And even if they’re on and they miss a shot, I give it back to them and tell them to keep going because we’re all gonna miss shots, but at the end of the day, the more you shoot the more you’ll make.”
On the other side of the court, Mills was also heating up, contributing 6 of her team-high 10 points in the third quarter.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome the Pride, who outscored the Vikings 17-10 in the third and who out-rebounded the Vikings 35-20 on the night.
“At practice everyday, we’ve been working on rebounding since that’s one of the things we need to focus on, especially since our team is not very tall compared to Valley. So we’ve been working on rebounding a lot and crashing the paint every single time and not giving up,” Keira Stanford said. “I feel like rebounding is all about heart and not as much about skill, so we can easily push to get that rebound every single time.”
Heritage also used a 9-0 scoring run towards the end of the third quarter to reach their largest lead of the night at 36-18 after some big moments from players off the bench.
“I’m so proud of them. They really do work so hard. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited than Myah Gross’s corner three and the and-one three from Anna Egnotovich,” Cook said. “We told them all week that it can be anybody’s moment at any time, and we’ve been preaching that it’s a hard turnaround. We just had to sit them down and have a conversation that equal minutes probably isn’t gonna be a thing anymore. So this week we said, ‘Look, your role is changing a little bit, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important.’ And I think they did a fantastic job of coming in when I called their numbers, and they executed what they were supposed to, and that’s what we’ve been prepping over and over. You do your job to the best of your ability, and we’ll live with the results.”
Loudoun Valley senior guard Mirren Boswell (5 points, 1 steal) also contributed late from off the bench, but the Pride lead was too much, as they finished the game 41-29.
“In practice, our biggest thing is to make sure to be competitive with one another,” Makitka said. “So when we were preparing for this game we made sure to push each other and be mentally strong because it’s hard to beat a team three times. And even though we did beat them, anything can happen in playoffs. So we just had to keep the locked-in mentality and rely on each other. It was definitely a team effort.”
While the victory earned Heritage its first Dulles District tournament title, it was also a special night for Cook, who earned her 100th career coaching win.
“I’ll be honest, it was a little nerve-wracking. It was supposed to fall a couple games earlier, and I knew the girls knew, so I was just trying to not put any pressure on the situation,” Cook said. “Before the game I told them to go have fun and that there’s no pressure. It couldn’t have worked out better, but it was nerve-wracking.”
“I think the girls are playing really really well right now. They’ve bought in. I think they’re just very excited to continue to set records,” Cook said. “It’s a record-breaking season for them, and I think that’s awesome. Any time you get to celebrate those small wins each step of the way, it makes the ride that much more fun.”
Despite the loss, Loudoun Valley (6-2, 14-8) will move on to a VHSL Region 4C semifinal where they will face crosstown rival Woodgrove on February 25 for the third time this season. After splitting during their regular season meetings, it will be a win or go home scenario for both teams as they vie for a chance to play for the region title and continue on to states.
Heritage (8-0, 20-3) will host Loudoun County in the other region semifinal on the same night with the same stakes. This will be their first matchup of the year after their regular season meeting was canceled due to weather.
“We’re preparing for County right now. They’re young and feisty, and they shoot the ball really well. So we’ve already been prepping how to guard a three and then stay in the stance,” Cook said. “I think young teams are dangerous because they’re gonna lay it all out on the line. I’ve coached young teams, and I love young teams because they just don’t know any better. So I’ve basically been prepping the girls that we’re gonna have to match their work ethic. I told them, ‘You guys need to know that the way you know other teams, they’re gonna know you.’ And so it’s really gonna come down to who executes better in that situation. I think it will be a good game. I’m excited.”
Heritage Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Keira Stanford | 11 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Alyssa Stanford | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Riley Makitka | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kaitlyn Puzenski | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Myah Gross | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Anna Egnotovich | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Rachel Stewart | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Julia Ehrmantraut | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Layan Alhadi | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 41 | 35 | 13 | 13 | 1 | 4-for-7 |
Loudoun Valley Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Maggie Mills | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2-for-5 |
| Alyssa Tribino | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Mirren Boswell | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jordan Phillips | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Anna Ramos | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Payton Mandichak | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Ava Cassella | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 29 | 20 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 3-for-7 |