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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Scotty Sports Corner, February 26, 2001
By Hollis Duncan
St. Margaret's School Staff Writer
Basketball, Soccer Win First-Round Games
Tappahannock, VA (February 26, 2001) - St. Margaret's gave St. Vincent's the one-two punch in the first round of the League of Independent Schools Division II Basketball Tournament - and St. Vincent's went down for the count. An unbeatable combination of assists by junior co-captain Kristina Bethea and baskets by sophomore starter Fola Ogundiran fueled a 70-18 Scotty victory on February 13.
Junior co-captain Kristina Bethea drives down the court after making one of 10 rebounds in St. Margaret's 70-18 victory over St. Vincent's.
"The Kristina-to-Fola connection accounted for more than half (40) of our points," said Head Coach Sue Saunders. "It was the best one-two, single-game performance I've seen at the high school level."
Ogundiran, the game's leading scorer, posted 28 points and 7 rebounds, while Bethea, a boarder from Randallstown, MD, made 12 points, 10 rebounds and 20 assists. Bethea credited both her coach and her teammates for helping her record the triple-double.
"Coach Saunders just told us to raise the level of our intensity and play hard…the entire team was running on all cylinders today," she said. "I made passes and my teammates scored."
In the tournament semi-final on Wednesday, February 14, the fourth-seeded Scotties faced a Blessed-Sacrament Huguenot team that was tied for first in the league with St. Anne's-Belfield. Playing on the Saints' home court in Richmond, St. Margaret's scored a season-low 5 points in the first half, losing by a 50-18 margin. Bethea, Ogundiran and junior Mary Burke Parker of Tappahannock led the offensive effort with 4 points each.
After beating Trinity 5-1 at home in the first round of the LIS tournament on February 13, fourth-seed St. Margaret's varsity soccer lost to St. Anne's-Belfield in Charlottesville in the semi-finals. The Scotties ended the season with a winning 7-6 overall record, thanks to the outstanding play of seniors Britton Faulkner of White Stone and Carol Combs of North Carolina.
A host of other girls, however, also contributed to a winning season: Washington native Tonia Arsala and Tappahannock resident Ann Kramer Osburn were second and third in team scoring, with 5 and 6 goals respectively. Senior goalkeeper Elizabeth LeBlanc posted 20 saves in a 0-1 nailbiter against league champions St. Anne's-Belfield. Britton Faulkner used her stamina to control the middle of the field in every contest, Danielle Magid and Tappahannock's Sarah Taliaferro combined to anchor SMS's stingy defense, and Kelly Proctor of Urbanna had the skills and flexibility to play multiple positions.
"We're thrilled to post a winning record, especially because of all the injuries that we've had to overcome this season," said Assistant Coach Whitfield Mastin. "I'm also very encouraged by the quality of our postseason play, which is a positive sign for next year."
