Author: Dave Facinoli

Dave Facinoli grew up in Prince George’s County, Md. and attended Friendly High School. After attending Prince’s George Community College and James Madison University, where he covered sports on both college papers, he launched a local newspaper career that included roles as the sports editor of the Alexandria Gazette, the Arlington Sun Gazette and GazetteLeader, and other local papers.

Sports

Flint Hill, Potomac School teams ranked in state basketball polls

By Dave Facinoli
Zora Burrell, left, and Sabrina Anderson play for Potomac School (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

The initial girls and boys Division I private-school state basketball rankings of the 2024-25 high-school season includes a number of teams from Northern Virginia.

In the girls poll, the Potomac School Panthers of McLean are ranked fifth. The Panthers finished second in the Division I state tournament last season, losing to St. Paul VI Catholic in the title game.

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Sports

Potomac School senior scores 1,000th point in girls basketball

By Dave Facinoli
Catherine Letendre scored her 1,000th point (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

A standout high-school lacrosse player, Catherine Letendre also has proved her athletic talents on the basketball court.

The Potomac School Panthers senior scored her 1,000th career point in a recent game for the girls private high-school team. She is the fourth player in program history to reach that milestone.

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Sports

Marshall hoop team drops physical one-point game to host Wakefield

By Dave Facinoli
Marshall's Trey Lonardo and Anderson Krisko play defense (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

As occurs frequently when they meet, the Marshall Statesmen and Wakefield Warriors played another of those low-scoring, physical boys basketball games that more closely resembled a hard-checking NHL playoff match.

Host Wakefield won the Jan. 13 Liberty District seesaw high-school contest, 35-34, when Marshall’s Osteen Fraser missed a baseline jump shot at the buzzer.

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Sports

Langley improves to 3-0 in district basketball with recent victory

By Dave Facinoli
Anya Rahman is a top scorer for Langley (photo by Deb Kolt)

The Langley Saxons (9-3) improved to 3-0 in the Liberty District with a difficult road victory over the Yorktown Patriots in a Jan. 10 girls basketball game.

Langley led throughout the high-school game, but couldn’t pull away from Yorktown. The Saxons led 7-2 after the first quarter and 18-14 at halftime.

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Sports

Marshall runners have strong showing at track & field meets

By Dave Facinoli
Marshall's Samantha Dabich placed in two races (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

Runners for the Marshall Statesmen were successful at two different track-and-field meets this past weekend, helping the girls and boys teams win titles at one of the competitions.

Marshall won championships at the high-school meet among Fairfax County teams at Thomas Jefferson Community Center in Arlington. The girls won with 86 points and the boys with 82.

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Sports

McLean High graduate still a scorer at the next basketball level

By Dave Facinoli
Elizabeth Dufrane playing at the college level (courtesy of Roger Williams athletics)

She isn’t the prolific scorer like in high school, but Elizabeth Dufrane is still a significant point producer in women’s college basketball.

The McLean High School graduate is a starting senior guard for the Division III Roger Williams University team in Rhode Island. Through 13 games this season, Dufrane is the Hawks’ second-leading scorer, averaging 11 points per game and 4.4 rebounds.

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Sports

Centreville sweeps basketball doubleheader from Madison

By Dave Facinoli
Centreville's Kennedy Parrott (24) waits for the ball (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

It was the girls in a blowout and the boys by a whisker as the host Centreville Wildcats swept a varsity basketball doubleheader against a Concorde District rival Friday night (Jan. 10).

The Centreville girls (10-2) won 62-31 and the boys (7-6) rallied for a 56-55 victory over Madison Warhawks teams. The games were the district openers of the season for all four squads.

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Sports

Potomac School girls win holiday basketball tournament in Florida

By Dave Facinoli
The Potomac School champions (courtesy of Potomac School basketball)

In their busy early-season schedule, the Potomac School Panthers have played basketball opponents from all over at various locales through 14 games.

The Panthers (8-6) won three girls high-school games in Kissimmee, Fla,. to come out on top in the recent KSA Events Holiday Tournament. The McLean private-school team also has played two times in Maryland, once in D.C. and, in Virginia, has competed in Ashburn, Richmond and Virginia Beach.

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Sports

Flint Hill among boys hoop teams finding success in recent action

By Dave Facinoli
Madison was 1-2 in holiday tourney action (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

The Flint Hill Huskies have come up mostly winners of late, whenever and wherever they have played in boys basketball action.

Most recently, the experienced high-school team won on the road in D.C., defeating the host Maret Frogs, 61-49, to improve to 7-4 overall and 3-0 in Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference action.

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