By Preston Williams
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 11, 2005

The Stonewall Jackson girls won their Falls Church summer league, finished second at a Pennsylvania camp and were runners-up in their West Potomac fall league.

So the Raiders are faced with the same question as other out-of-season success stories: Will June-through-October success translate into December to March success in the Cedar Run District?

"The girls really have an atmosphere of winning right now, something that was missing at Stonewall," second-year coach Nsonji White said. "They believe when they step on the court that they should win. I think we have them in that mode right now."

That is not a mode the Raiders have been in often. They have one winning season in the past 15 years, a 13-12 mark in 2001-02. The program's record during that span is 68-240.

The return of senior Barbara Davis, who has been offered scholarships to Virginia Commonwealth and Hampton, among other schools, is the main reason for that optimism, along with a new pressing defense.

"I think that will really carry us through a lot of games," White said. "Several times in the offseason we had a poor offensive performance and won the game."

One setback has been the loss of junior forward Nia Thompson to a season-ending knee injury. Thompson scored 24 points in the district semifinal overtime loss to Osbourn Park. Freshman Samantha Jordan will take her spot in the lineup.

Osbourn Park has reached the past three Northwestern Region tournaments and would seem to be a solid favorite to again advance, with top two scorers Courtney Hamner and Maryellen Derenda back and a host of other players who got a lot of playing time last year.

The Yellow Jackets might have a team that can post its second winning season in the past 10 years.

"This is just a different group than what we're used to having," Coach Rebecca Tillett said. "We're very quick and there are a lot of players who can feed off the strengths of the previous team."

Hamner broke her ankle last summer before AAU nationals, where much of the college exposure takes place, but has garnered Division I interest just the same.

Two of the Yellow Jackets' starters are the Triznas, Lauren and Katie, two of four quadruplets. The other two quads are boys.

"I told them I wished they were all four girls, but don't tell your brothers," Tillett said.

Osbourn , entering its 10th year in AAA, improved from 1-20 in 2003-04 to 10-14 last season, its most wins since 1996-97. That progress in part explains why the Eagles have been so disappointed by the early season snow-outs. They want to play.

"We felt like we had built something last year and we have more to build on," Eagles Coach Lauren Milburn said. "We definitely have more of a winning mentality than we have in the past. You can just see the mentality that they're ready to play and ready to bring it."

Senior Quynh Nguyen has emerged as more of a leader, and Tina Milillo and Alexis Hargbol are other senior returning starters. They were three of the team's top four scorers last year.

Six of Osbourn's 10 wins came against programs (Battlefield, Freedom and South Lakes) that won one game or fewer, but the Eagles also knocked off Hylton early in the season.

Battlefield had no seniors last year but returns just five players off that inaugural team, in part because of more talented girls who have entered the program. Four of the returning Bobcats were starters in 2004-05, including LaTonya Carter, the team's only senior.

"We're still really, really, young, with only five people back and a whole new group still getting to know each other," Coach Eric McCaslin said. "So it will take a while as far as chemistry goes."

The Bobcats beat Brentsville in their season opener. Sister transfers from California -- Raquel and Selina Mann -- have cracked the starting lineup, and Washington state transfer Danielle Crabtree also is in the rotation.