Ashburn, Va. — Opening the game on a 17-3 run, the Briar Woods High School girls basketball team was feeling confident early. But the Falcons knew their rival Stone Bridge High School would make a run. That Bulldog run started late in the third before Stone Bridge cut the lead to as little as four late in the fourth quarter. Briar Woods, however, shot 52% from three and knocked down their free throws late to hold off the surging Bulldogs, 49-44, on February 4 in Ashburn.
“It was all about confidence, because shooting with confidence is critical. We want them to know that they can miss a couple but keep firing away,” Briar Woods head coach Mike Gallagher said. “Once we hit a couple shots early, we were able to relax and play more freely. Starting that way put us in a really good position to be successful.”
Briar Woods freshman shooting guard Tanisha Srinivas opened the scoring when she knocked down a three off an assist from junior forward Brianna Zaher.
A couple possessions later, Zaher extended the Falcons’ lead to 6-0 when she buried a triple of her own off an assist from junior point guard Tanvi Kancharla.
Stone Bridge finally got on the board more than halfway through the first quarter when freshman forward Keeley Billings made a layup.
“Our defense has evolved a lot throughout the season,” Zaher said. “We’ve become very confident in our defensive rotation and how we play throughout the game.”
The Falcons had an immediate response as Zaher found Srinivas in transition for another three to go up 9-2.
Briar Woods sophomore guard Nina Keltz rounded out the first quarter scoring as she knocked down the Falcons’ fourth three of the game on another assist from Kancharla, ending the first frame up 12-3.
“Since our team is undersized, we work a lot on our three-point shooting. We like to shoot threes and work as a team to find the open three-point shooters,” Srinivas said. “When you see a couple go in early, you have the confidence to make more shots.”
The Falcons added to their lead quickly in the second quarter when Kancharla found sophomore guard Sadie Auch inside for two.
The next four minutes proved unfruitful for either team, before Briar Woods struck again on another Zaher three.
Not only were the Falcons shooting the ball well, their defense held the Bulldogs to just one field goal in the first quarter then scoreless through the first five minutes of the second quarter.
“We planned to change defenses often, but because it was working so well, we just stayed with it,” Gallagher said. “Our girls were working hard to get out on shooters then get back to rebound.”
Stone Bridge senior forward Angela Newton finally knocked down a three-pointer with less than three minutes to play in the first half, sparking a Bulldog run that cut the Briar Woods lead to 6.
However, before the halftime buzzer sounded, Keltz hit another three to re-extend the Falcons’ lead to 20-11.
Starting the second half with a 9-point lead, the Falcons were ready for the Stone Bridge attack. On their second defensive possession of the half, Zaher blocked a Billings’ shot attempt. Two possessions later, Zaher blocked a shot attempt by Stone Bridge senior guard Katherine Streaker, setting the defensive tone for Briar Woods.
“Obviously, they were bigger than me, so I had to adapt and just stand there and take the contact,” Zaher said. “I just needed to take the pressure and have the confidence that I could guard them.”
Off the second Zaher block of the night, Auch grabbed a defensive rebound and found Kancharla in transition for a three. Kancharla then stole a pass and found Keltz for two, giving the Falcons their largest lead of the night at 27-11.
An and-one finish by Billings, a Newton three, and back-to-back transition buckets by Stone Bridge sophomore point Sheila Suarez cut the Briar Woods lead to 29-22 heading into the fourth, where again Zaher was quick to establish her presence with another blocked shot to start the final frame.
Following her fifth block of the night, Zaher got active on the offensive end, knocking down a pair of threes off assists from Keltz as the Falcons added some important cushion, 35-24.
On the other end, Newton found senior forward Sienna Lawyer for two before Suarez and Kancharla traded triples to make it a 9-point game.
Suarez then found Streaker beyond the arc before a Suarez steal-and-score cut the Briar Woods lead to just 4 midway through the fourth quarter.
Just when it looked like Stone Bridge had stolen the momentum, Keltz found a wide open Srinivas in transition as the freshman sharpshooter buried a three to thwart the Bulldog run.
Despite late threes by Streaker and Billings, the Falcons connected on 8 of their 10 free throw attempts down the stretch, holding off the Bulldogs, 49-44.
“Stone Bridge is a really good team and they never give up. We knew they were going to go on a run, and we just needed to weather that storm,” Gallagher said. “Handling that type of pressure will be a great building block for us going forward.”
Going forward, Briar Woods (4-3, 10-8) will look to crack into the top two of the Potomac District when they host Potomac Falls on February 7. Meanwhile, Stone Bridge (3-4, 8-10) will look to bounce back when they travel to Independence on the same night.
Derrick Jerry captured 125+ photos at the game!
Briar Woods Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Brianna Zaher | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0-for-0 |
| Tanisha Srinivas | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Nina Keltz | 11 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3-for-4 |
| Sadie Auch | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5-for-6 |
| Tanvi Kancharla | 6 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Nina Stummer | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Rishithasree Poshala | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Rianna D’Souza | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 49 | 21 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 8-for-12 |
Stone Bridge Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Sheila Suarez | 15 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1-for-2 |
| Keeley Billings | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| Angela Newton | 8 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Katherine Streaker | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Sienna Lawyer | 5 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| #35 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Layla Brownlee | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Reagan Skorupski | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 44 | 34 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 5-for-13 |