Aldie, Va. — Beating a rival is never easy. And it becomes even more difficult when you’re just a fourth-year team trying to take down a seasoned-program with state playoff credentials. So when the Lightridge High School girls basketball team hosted Freedom High School for an early season, non-league clash, the Bolts knew their work was cut out for them.
Despite the challenge in front of them, the Lightning never showed any hesitation as they weathered a second half rally by the Eagles to earn their first ever win over their rival, 42-35, on December 11 in Aldie.
“We were able to hold it together and get the win over a good Freedom squad. It’s always nice to beat a team we haven’t beaten before,” Lightridge head coach Ed Knox said. “We played well, and we got a little bit from a lot of people, and that makes a difference.”
The Lightning jumped out to an early lead as sophomore guard Jayln Childress knocked down a three to get her team on the board first. After the Eagles and Lightning traded buckets, Freedom senior forward Kaelin Cooke scored to make it 5-4 Lightning. From there, Lightridge used five different players—including two freshmen and two sophomores—to close the first half on a 10-0 run.
During that stretch, the Lightning blocked a shot, grabbed four defensive rebounds, snatched four steals, and forced five Freedom turnovers.
“We’ve been working really hard on the defensive side,” Knox said. “I thought especially in the first quarter we executed well.”
Lightridge looked to ride their momentum into the second quarter when senior guard Riley Hwang knocked down a three and made a layup to extend the Lightning lead. Meanwhile, Freedom junior point guard Allison Lisack was doing all she could to keep the Eagles in the game, scoring 6 of her team-high 11 points in the second quarter to help cut the Lightridge lead to 20-12 at the half.
That spark from Lisack and a healthy halftime conversation gave the Eagles some momentum coming out of the break. Led by Lisack and sophomore guard Lily Lizama, Freedom battled their way back into the game and eventually took their first lead of the night on a basket by Lizama midway through the third quarter.
“In the heat of the moment, we’re going to make mistakes,” Knox said. “Part of what we’re teaching the girls is how to battle through adversity; just because something is going wrong, doesn’t mean everything is going wrong.”
That lead was the first and only for the Eagles as Hwang made a layup to retake the lead at 24-23 for the Lightning and despite three more ties down the stretch, Lightridge never trailed the rest of the night.
“Riley is an unbelievable athlete and just gives us everything she can,” Knox said. “I have three seniors—including Riley—and all three of them are great leaders. They’re trying to help the rest of the team understand the culture we’re trying to build here.”
Taking a 28-26 lead into the fourth, the Lightning relied on that senior leadership, solid free throw shooting—going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in the fourth—and a three from Childress to keep them on top as Lightridge earned its first ever win over Freedom, 42-35.
Lightridge Stats
| Lightridge | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Jalyn Childress | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5-for-6 |
| Riley Hwang | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Gabriella Garcia | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Gabrielle Dillard | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Mikayla Bowe | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4-for-6 |
| Nhyla Morgan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Molly Bollhorst | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0-for-0 |
| Riley Thomas | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Samantha Taylor | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 42 | 25 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 10-for-14 |
Freedom Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Allison Lisack | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Christina Lisack | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Lily Lizama | 6 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Avery Strohecker | 4 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0-for-4 |
| Alexa Troiano | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1-for-2 |
| Luna Barker | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kaelin Cooke | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Emily Knowles | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brooke Ryan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Layla Ginty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 35 | 27 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 4-for-13 |