The Battle of Ashburn took place Dec. 27-29 with 18 basketball games contested over three days in three gyms, all within five miles of each other. The gyms - the home courts of Stone Bridge, Broad Run and Briar Woods high schools - served as the sites for the games, where the boys’ and girls’ freshman, junior varsity and varsity squads from the three schools faced off against each other.

In varsity play, Stone Bridge’s girls and Broad Run’s boys captured the tournament’s ultimate prize, compiling 2-0 records against their neighborhood rivals.

The Bulldog girls breezed through their matchups—57-29 over Briar Woods and 50-28 over Broad Run—behind the strength of post players Megan Della Penna and Emily Brown combined with Nicole Prince’s point guard play.

“We’re starting to come into our own and play complete games,” said Thomas Gaffney, in his first year guiding the Bulldog program after a season as J.E.B. Stuart’s head man.

Gaffney said the Battle of Ashburn series was the first string of consecutive solid performances his team had put together.

The Spartans, powered by scoring point guard Nigel Johnson, encountered greater challenges. Despite double-digit margins in wins of 85-68 against Stone Bridge and 58-45 versus Briar Woods, both contests were still too close to call in the latter stages.

“Our team is improving. Nigel’s getting better and better every night,” Broad Run coach John Costello said. Johnson rang up nearly 50 points in his two Battle of Ashburn games.

Costello added that from the local tourney he learned his team cannot afford defensive lapses.

“We can’t take any possessions off, from a defensive standpoint,” he warned.

The coaches uniformly praised the level of competition the Ashburn-centric tournament brings, though the neighborly conflicts weren’t closely competed until the final day, when Briar Woods hosted a doubleheader with Broad Run.

Big finish

The nightcap Dec. 29 featured the boys in action before a noisy and vociferous crowd of supporters equally split between the two schools. The play was stunted throughout the first half as the teams’ defenses collected a multitude of fouls.

In the second half, Broad Run junior forward William Walker made use of his size, putting his head down to bull through the lane to the bucket in helping his Spartans build an 11-point cushion.

But in the final quarter, diminutive senior guard Myles Tate—undaunted from going against the taller Johnson all night—got hot from 3-point range. He nailed a shot from long distance to put his team within four, then hit another moments later to close within three.

The Spartans held on for the remaining minutes to come away with the hard-earned victory.

In the girls’ game which preceded, the Falcons’ Logan Ballard demonstrated her ability to get to the rim, slashing through the lane for layups. The Spartans countered with the length of six-footer Fatima Kamara and Alyssa Cabellos’ deft outside shooting to bounce the lead back and forth throughout the first half.

The Spartans edged out to an eight-point advantage, but a string of turnovers led to a slew of Briar Woods points. The Falcons found themselves down two points with 20 seconds remaining, but Ellen Ferguson calmly sank two free throws to lock up the win for Broad Run.

Coachspeak

Broad Run coach Chris Pasternak sees the challenges presented by the Battle of Ashburn as aiding in the growth of his junior-dominated roster.

“We’re a team that’s in progress right now. Any win we get is a good win,” he said.

As coach of the tourney’s only Group AA school, Briar Woods’ Dave Morris said that playing in such a holiday tournament as the Battle of Ashburn gives his team an advantage going into the new year.

“I told the girls that this was great for keeping us active over the holidays. I didn’t really care about wins and losses,” Morris said. “I think it will help us next week when we have two [Dulles] District games. Teams that don’t play over the holidays may be a little flat, and we’ll have played two games.”

Pasternak had praise for the three schools’ athletic directors who worked to make the tournament possible.

“I’m really glad they got all three schools in,” the Spartans’ coach said. “It’s great that this brings the teams together and allows them to experience the competitive nature here in Ashburn.”

The Battle of Ashburn

Boys
Broad Run (2-0)
Briar Woods (1-1)
Stone Bridge (0-2)

Closest game: Briar Woods 63, Stone Bridge 52

Girls
Stone Bridge (2-0)
Broad Run (1-1)
Briar Woods (0-2)

Closest game: Broad Run 48, Briar Woods 46

-All photos by Greg Nash