Year after year, the Brentsville District girls basketball team manages to find a way to successful.

When they had a team loaded with super-stars, winning came naturally. That’s what happens when your team has the district and regional most-valuable player and coach, not to mention an all-region supporting cast.

For the last two seasons, the Tigers fielded shorter and, even though some senior veterans like Kayla Baltimore have evolved as players and leaders in four years, less well-known offensive powerhouses.

Yet the Tigers still managed to sneak their way into the regional playoffs last season and now sit on top of the Evergreen District, primed to return to regions and possibly the Group AA state tourney for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

Brentsville (10-2) rolled past Group AAA Battlefield 42-33 last Wednesday night in Nokesville, outscoring the visiting Bobcats 24-9 in the first half before temporarily letting up with a lackluster third quarter.

Battlefield closed the 15-point gap with a 14-5 advantage in the third quarter to pull within six points by the start of the final period.

Trailing by nine points with less than 1:40 remaining, three consecutive successful foul shots by BHS center Annie Jones (10 pts) seemed to mark a momentum shift toward the Bobcats as they only trailed by two to three open court shots.

However, junior forward Kelsey Taylor (9 pts) came up big in the clutch by sinking an open-court 10-foot pull-up jumper as she attacked the basket from the left side. Coupled with Baltimore (15 pts) sinking two late foul shots, the Tigers could simply outlast the Bobcats until the clock ran out.

"Well, our coach tells us start from the beginning and finish it all the way through, so I think we just went out there and said, ‘Don’t think about it. Play. Shoot with confidence and just finish the game out,’" said Taylor.

According to coach Rob Weaver, "we didn’t shoot as well as I wanted us to at the free throw line, but at the end of the game, the guards that I have: I have confidence in them. And I told them, ‘If the three-pointer’s not working, get closer to the basket and shoot the mid-range jump shot.’ They have the green light to shoot any time that they’re open because I want them to have confidence and that confidence that I have in them. ‘Shoot: I believe in you.’"

He explained that he wanted the Tigers’ to attack the basket against the taller Battlefield team when the Bobcats (3-11) came out to defend around the three-point arc. That approach, in part, is how guards Kelly Jacobson and Emily Johnson managed to each score six points.

"We’re going to find the creases and attack and if you try to (double team) them, then I’ve got three-point shooters I have confidence in, that have the green light, that can shoot at any time, that have the open shot."

According to Taylor, the Tigers effectively utilized their smaller-is-quicker style of play.

"Well, we know that they’re a little slow, so me and Kayla have the advantage that if we’re up top, we can take them off the dribble and go strong to the basket, and that’s what I think we tried to do: take advantage of (our) quickness and use it to our advantage."

Weaver mentioned that he noticed Battlefield seemed off-rhythm in the first half, but recovered well in the second half as BDHS, with its 15-point lead, did not attack aggressively. Also, BHS coach Eric McCaslin changed the set-up of his team’s approach toward the Brentsville press and used his taller players’ heights to an advantage as they kept the ball up and over the BD defense "in different locations.

"Now, he made a good adjustment in the second half, and the press wasn’t as effective," said Weaver, who mentioned that his team’s "biggest weakness (is) that … we get into these lapses where we don’t box out. When we box out, we’re good. When we don’t box out and we have done a good job against bigger teams boxing out… and you see when we do, we rebound well. Our option is as soon as you rebound, kick it and go. We beat bigger teams up the court."

A timely three-point attack by Battlefield guard Taylor Cordle (9 pts) and strong free throw shooing by sophomore Amber Lewis (9 pts) helped the Bobcats to shave the second-half deficit to single digits.

"In the fourth quarter, we picked it up. In the third quarter, (they) were not aggressive and allowed (Battlefield) to get back into the game," said Weaver.

The Tigers are set to play four more games, including three district match-ups, before the district tournament begins next month. Brentsville controls its own destiny and can take the top-seed by winning out.

From here, the goal is to "never take anybody for granted and just keep playing hard and keep coming out and never take anybody lightly," said Taylor. "Just completely annihilate teams that we can and play hard against the other teams. And so I think that’s the key to getting us where we want to go."