Ladies go 2-2 for the week
By Diana Royal Staff Writer

Allie Lewis, left, and Katie Atkinson put pressure on a Lady Jag in their 41-34 victory over Thomas Jefferson last Tuesday. STAFF - DIANA ROYAL

Edmund Burke's Lady Spartans dropped two and won two last week, bringing their record to an overall 7-2.

The girls lost to Briarwood Academy, 68-41, Monday, Dec. 10, and won over Thomas Jefferson Academy 41-34 the following night. They won again against Curtis Baptist 45- 40 Friday, Dec. 14, and fell to David Emanuel Academy 32-14 on Saturday.

Head coach Todd Layton said Carly Saxon's ankle injury hurt the team under the boards against Briarwood, and that his girls "hit a speed bump" after winning five in a row. "We look to improve our defensive intensity," he said.

Katie Kittrell led in points with 23, while Allie Lewis picked up the most rebounds with 7.

The following night Layton says the girls played a great game in order to defeat a muchimproved TJA team. "Katie Atkinson played a very good game," he said. "She did all the little things it takes for a team to win."

Kittrell was again the Lady Spartans leading scorer with 20 points (including 2 three-pointers), and Lewis and Saxon had 14 and 9 rebounds, respectively.

Kittrell also had 5 steals.

The Lady Crusaders of Curtis Baptist provided a "tough, physical ballgame" in their second match-up against EBA, but Layton said his girls showed a lot of heart in the victory, which he called a "very gutsy performance by the Lady Spartans."

Kittrell had 35 points, including going 14-14 from the freethrow line in the fourth quarter. Lewis had "another phenomenal game," according to Layton, where she grabbed 14 rebounds and "handled the ball well against pressure."

After a long week of prac- tices and four games in six days, the Lady Spartans faltered on Saturday night. They mustered just 14 points against DEA, with Kittrell leading the effort with 7.

Layton said the Lady Spartans fought to score, especially with Kittrell struggling with two hurt knees and a lower back injury and Krislyn Lee also being out with a knee injury.

"We will have a lot of tough games in the second half of the season," he said, "but overall to be 7-2 at this point, I am so proud of the girls' attitude, effort and enthusiasm."

For the first half of the season, Kittrell has racked up 250 points, averaging 23 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals per game. Lewis is posting an average of 11 rebounds per game.