A four-year stretch of success culminated in a big finish for an Arlington girls basketball team.
The Arlington Travel Basketball (ATB) eighth-grade A Division squad won the season-ending Fairfax County Youth Basketball League tournament title with a 3-0 record — each time in convincing fashion.
Arlington topped a team from Fairfax Police Youth Club, 31-17, in the final. Arlington had routed Great Falls, 57-27, in the semifinals and Arlington-Gray, 36-10, in the first round.
Overall, the Arlington squad compiled a 15-2 record this past winter.
The Arlington team played together for four years during the winter’s ATB season, and in the spring when the team was called the Hurricanes.
As a fifth-grade team, Arlington also won the Fairfax County Youth League A Division title with a 15-0 mark. The squad finished with a combined 130-43 record over those four years.
The team will now disband, as many of the players begin their high-school basketball careers this coming winter, a number at Yorktown High. Alex Eisenberg coached the team all four seasons.
“The players were all wonderful people. That was the best thing,” Eisenberg told ARLnow. “Everyone knew their roles and contributed. They shared the ball well, they rebounded well and caused a lot of turnovers on defense. It was awesome to see how much the players all improved over the years and understood the game.”
Nora Langley was chosen the Most Valuable Player of the Fairfax County Youth League for Arlington. Lily Porter was chosen as the tournament’s MVP. They were two of the team’s top scorers and rebounders, along with all-league selection Maggie Klauder.
Other big contributors for the team were Kayla O’Toole, Chloe Lomas, Riley Krohl, M.J. Ly, Nathaly Blanco, Annie Buczek, Lillian Battcock and Abigail Battcock.
