100 reasons to smile

For Valentine's Day, Lauren Milburn got a milestone.

The Liberty Eagles girls basketball team gave Milburn the 100th win of her coaching career Tuesday by beating the Kettle Run Cougars, 56-31, in the semifinals of the Evergreen District tournament at home in Bealeton.

That victory also allowed the regular season district champion Eagles to advance to play Thursday (after Times-Democrat deadlines) at home in the Evergreen tournament final against Warren County, which beat Brentsville in the semifinals Tuesday.

As though that weren’t enough, Milburn, a social studies teacher, was also showered with gifts all day leading up to the Liberty (21-1) game against Kettle Run (4-18).

She found 100 balloons in her classroom and 100 cotton balls in her desk drawer. She received 100 emails from members of the school staff. Students handed her 100 Hershey kisses, and 100 Tootsie Rolls and 100 packages of 100-calorie cookies.

Liberty assistant girls basketball coaches and social studies department staff members organized the parade of pomp.

“It was very nice of everybody,” Milburn said. But “it was really over the top….I’m sitting there going, ‘We haven’t won [yet].’”

Milburn also received a basketball with 100 signatures on it from people at Liberty, and she got a cake with 100 birthday candles. During the game, Liberty fans held up pieces of paper with “100” written on them.

“It’s definitely not in the top-five priority list, but it’s kind of cool,” Milburn said of winning her 100th game. “It speaks to a lot of my kids and all the work they put in; not just here, but over at Osbourn.”

Milburn, who lost a chance for her milestone when a Feb. 8 game with Sherando was canceled, now has a 100-106 career record. She has a 69-22 record in four seasons at Liberty after leaving Osbourn with a 31-84 record over five seasons.

“It’s really good that she finally gets a little appreciation and a little recognition,” said Liberty senior Liz Wood, who won the Group AA Division 4 state title under Milburn last season. “She’s taken this program and gone to the state championship, and we’re doing really well this year. A lot of times the coach gets overlooked.”

The festivities surrounding Milburn’s accomplishment didn’t distract the Eagles. They finished the first quarter with a 25-2 lead over Kettle Run, led 38-5 at halftime and finished the third quarter with a 52-12 lead.

“I was a little nervous how we would come out because all of their emphasis today was all about this 100 thing,” Milburn said. “I was blow away by our focus in the first quarter.”

Wood led all scorers with 21 points, while Aubri Crummett had 14 and Bri Croushorn had 11.

Wood added 10 assists and six steals, while Crummett had four assists and four rebounds, and Croushorn had 11 rebounds (four offensive).

For the Cougars, whose season ended with the loss, Melissa McCann had 14 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, while Sami Vance had eight points and three points, and Lindsay Merriken had eight points.

Milburn’s record

LIBERTY
2011-2012 21-1
2010-2011 22-5
2009-2010 15-5
2008-2009 11-11
TOTAL 69-22

OSBOURN
2007-2008 2-19
2006-2007 7-16
2005-2006 11-14
2004-2005 10-14
2003-2004 1-21
TOTAL 31-84

COMBINED 100-106

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