The very latest Fauquier County news ... in brief

Wednesday, Feb. 22 | 11:56 AM | Business

Sharon Slavin joins Times Community Media advertising team

Sharon Slavin joined Times Community Media as the NOVA Division's advertising manager, TCM Executive Vice President Jack Brady announced today. Slavin Sharon comes to the Loudoun Times-Mirror with a mix of media experience. She is a veteran sales professional with more than 20 years in the Washington, D.C., market, with a background in sales and sales management in media, encompassing radio and cable. She has recently come from COMCAST where she focused on building a foundation of solid relationships with clients, leaders, businesses and potential advertisers, Loudoun County being one of her territories. Slavin lives in Reston, with her husband, Paul Curtin. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Wednesday, Feb. 22 | 11:01 AM | Sports

Liberty beats Brentsville to advance to girls basketball region semis

The Liberty Eagles beat the Brentsville girls basketball team for the third time this season Tuesday to advance to the Region II Division 3 tournament semifinals. Liberty beat Brentsville, 54-20, in the quarterfinals at home in Bealeton. The top-seeded Eagles (23-1) will host No. 5 Tuscarora (17-8) in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Thursday with a bid to the Group AA D-3 state tournament on the line. Against Brentsville (5-17), Liberty got 14 points, five assists and four steals from Liz Wood, while Aseanti Jones had nine points and four steals. Bri Croushorn added eight points and seven rebounds, while Erin Morant had seven points, three rebounds and three steals. The Eagles previously beat Brentsville, 59-15, on Jan. 27 and, 54-11, on Jan. 10. Follow Jeff on Twitter. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Tuesday, Feb. 21 | 11:26 PM

Monticello ends Liberty’s boys season in region quarters, 67-63

One of the finest three-year runs in Liberty High boys basketball history ended Tuesday night with a 67-63 loss to Monticello in the Region II quarterfinals in Bealeton. After making the Group AA Division 4 state tournament in Richmond the last two years, the No. 2 seeded Eagles saw their season and 11-game winning streak ended by the high-flying No. 7-seeded Mustangs of the Jefferson District, who pulled out a tense game with clutch play in the fourth quarter. Monticello and the Eagles (17-6) battled evenly through the first half, with the Eagles drilling five 3-pointers, but trailing 36-34 at halftime. Liberty played a strong third quarter and seized its largest lead at 49-45 on a Ryan Ramirez layup with two minutes left in the quarter. But the Mustangs recovered to tie it at 52-all with 5:34 left. Reserve forward Chris Horvath twice gave the Eagles leads of 54-52 and 56-54 with 3:40 left. Monticello responded with a 9-2 run to lead 63-58 with 1:34 left thanks to the scoring of talented junior guards James Banks (18 points), Jhalil Mosley (17 points) and Denzel Terry (18 points). Down 66-63, Liberty had a chance to tie on Nick Ramos’s 3-point attempt with 10 seconds left, but the shot rimmed out. Xavier Colbert led the Eagles with 16 points. Rashawn Latimer scored 12, Ramirez 11 and Aaron Patterson 10. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Tuesday, Feb. 21 | 10:20 PM | Sports

Charlottesville boys basketball team ends Fauquier’s season

The Fauquier Falcons’ size finally caught up with them. Unable to keep the Charlottesville boys basketball team from controlling the paint, Fauquier’s season ended Tuesday with a 62-52 loss at home in Warrenton during the quarterfinals of the Region II Division 3 tournament. The fifth-seeded Charlottesville Black Knights (15-7) advanced to play No. 1 Fluvanna in the semifinals on the road Thursday, while No. 4 Fauquier’s season ended with a 13-11 record. With a starting lineup that included four players who stood at least 6-foot-3, Charlottesville exploited the Falcons size disadvantage with excellent post passing to score easy layups. Deshaun Blakey led the Black Knights with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Daquan Jones had 14 points and six rebounds, helping Charlottesville out-rebound Fauquier, 38-22. Fauquier senior guard Darius Stanford kept his team close early with excellent penetration and passing, but Charlottesville turned a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter into a 28-23 lead at halftime and an advantage as large as 55-43 in the fourth quarter. Stanford led the Falcons with 15 points, six assists and four steals, while sophomore Dameon Davis had one of his best games this season with 10 points, six rebounds and two steals. Alan Marchese, a 6-foot-6 senior center, played minimally after missing a practice leading up to the game, but finished with eight points, five rebounds and two steals, while senior Timmy Reinaldo had seven points, five rebounds and two steals. Fauquier had only 12 turnovers in the game, compared to 23 for Charlottesville, but the Black Knights’ dominance around the basket negated that turnover ratio. Follow Jeff on Twitter. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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Tuesday, Feb. 21 | 3:06 PM | Public Safety

Deputies investigating damage and theft of public school property

The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office is investigating damage and theft of public school property at Auburn Middle School. The school reported several display cases recently placed at the outdoor classroom in the marsh land adjacent the school were damaged. Each display case, valued at $150 each, had been broken, and another one is missing. Anyone with information regarding this incident or others is encouraged to contact Fauquier County Crime Solvers at 540-349-1000 or the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 540-422-8650. A caller’s identity can remain anonymous and Crime Solvers offers a reward up to $1000 for information. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Tuesday, Feb. 21 | 11:56 AM | Government | Education

Murray suggests county cuts to boost school spending

The former Center District school board member offered a novel way to boost education funding. Eliminate Fauquier’s department of economic development and temporarily suspend funding for the county purchase of development rights program (PDR), which pays qualified property owners to keep their land rural. The county then could take the approximately $900,000 budgeted for such uses and give it to schools, said Sally Murray, who lost her Center District seat last November to Brian Gorg. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Tuesday, Feb. 21 | 11:52 AM | Business

Painless pet treatment

Painless pet treatment In short, quick strokes Devon Settle waves a microphone-shaped laser wand over two large wounds on the back of Bridget, a nine-year-old Beagle mix whose owners believe suffered a coyote attack last month near their Hume home. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Tuesday, Feb. 21 | 11:50 AM | Education | Sports

Funding found to salvage middle school soccer season

The spring middle school soccer season will begin as scheduled after all. About 10 days ago, Superintendent Jonathan L. Lewis cancelled the season largely for financial reasons. But a local nonprofit group has agreed to contribute $2,700 to cover the season’s shortfall, according to Tim Schulke, board president of the Fauquier County Soccer Club (FCSC), which manages the program for the school system. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Sunday, Feb. 19 | 3:12 PM | Sports

Liberty boys and girls, Fauquier boys head to Region II playoffs

Three Fauquier County high school basketball teams will begin play in the Region II Division 3 tournament Tuesday. Read more here. Follow Jeff on Twitter. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Saturday, Feb. 18 | 9:37 PM | Sports

Fauquier wrestling team places 5th at AA state meet

Evan Oddenino and Bennett Payne advanced to the finals of the Group AA state wrestling tournament Saturday at the Salem Civic Center in Salem to help the Fauquier Falcons place fifth in the team standings with 97 points. Christiansburg won with 205 points, while eight of Fauquier’s nine state-qualifiers earned top-eight medals. Oddenino (30-5) made the 285-pound finals, but lost to Lord Botetourt’s Mike Jones (37-0), 6-3. Payne (39-4 record) also made the finals, but lost to Poquoson’s Jeffrey Ogburn (25-3) at 126, via pin in 2 minutes, 41 seconds. Also for Fauquier, Marco Tcheukado placed third at 106 pounds, Tyler Budd (40-5) finished fourth at 138, Matt Raines (39-6) took fifth at 113, Jake Raines (15-7) placed seventh at 152, Max Strum (28-6) finished seventh at 170 and Landon Dean (34-13) took eighth at 145. Kettle Run’s Caleb Yost went 1-2 at 126 pounds, making him the first wrestler in school history to win a state match. Teammate Wes Mirro went 0-2 at 138. Follow Jeff on Twitter. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Saturday, Feb. 18 | 3:17 PM | Sports

Six Fauquier wrestlers medal at AA state tourney, two make finals

Six Fauquier Falcons earned medals Saturday in advance of the Group AA state wrestling tournament finals, which will begin at 6 p.m. at the Salem Civic center. Bennett Payne will face Poquoson's Jeffrey Ogbum in the 126-pound final, while Evan Oddenino will face Lord Botetourt's Mike Jones in the 285 final. In the consolation finals Saturday afternoon, Fauquier's Marco Tcheukado placed third at 106 pounds and Tyler Budd finished fourth at 138. Elsewhere, Matt Raines took fifth at 113, Jake Raines placed seventh at 152, Max Strum finished seventh at 170 and Landon Dean took eighth at 145. Tcheukado had the most thrilling match for Fauquier. He trailed Tabb's Richard Hardwood, 7-2, but won via pin in 4 minutes, 19 seconds. Follow Jeff on Twitter. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Friday, Feb. 17 | 10:32 PM

Liberty boys throttle Fauquier, 63-49, to win district tourney

The Liberty High boys basketball team continued its recent mastery of local rival Fauquier with a 63-49 win over the Falcons in the Evergreen District tournament championship game Friday in Bealeton. The regular season champion Eagles (17-5) trailed just once in the game at 6-4 before building a solid halftime lead at 32-21, and fending off a Fauquier comeback bid in the third quarter. Led by Caleb Lantz’s two 3-pointers and two free throws by Dameon Davis, the Falcons closed to 32-29 three minutes into the third quarter. But Aaron Patterson (14 points) drilled a long 3-pointer and Ryan Ramirez (14 points) later added the first dunk of his career while being fouled by Ta’Sean McBride as Liberty rebuilt its lead to 45-33. Xavier Colbert (13 points) scored five quick points to open the fourth quarter as Liberty charged ahead 50-35 with 6:50 left; the Eagles led 56-39 with 4:07 to go. Davis scored 11 for the Falcons; Lantz had 10 and McBride nine. All-district first team guard Darius Stanford was held to four. It was the teams’ fifth meeting of the year, with the Eagles winning the last three, including a 77-70 win over FHS just six days earlier (Feb. 11) in a special tiebreaker to determine the regular season champion. Friday's matchup had no bearing on the Region II playoffs as both teams had their seedings locked up. The No. 2-seeded Eagles (who have now won 12 games in a row) will host No. 7 Monticello Tuesday at 7:30, while the No. 4 Falcons (13-11) will host either Western Albemarle or Charlottesville. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Friday, Feb. 17 | 1:37 PM | Sports

Wakefield’s Sipes named 2012 Athletic Administrator of the Year

Wakefield School athletic director Paul Sipes was recently named the 2012 Athletic Administrator of the Year in the independent schools classification by the Virginia Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (VIAAA). He will be honored March 30 at the VIAAA State Conference in Norfolk. In 2011, Fauquier High activities director Allen Creasy was given the VIAAA award for Athletic Administrator of the Year in the Virginia High School League Group AA classification. Mike Tribus of Atlantic Shores Christian School got the 2011 independent schools award. Sipes arrived at Wakefield in 2005. He oversees 18 varsity sports and 36 teams for a school that has an 82 percent student participation rate for athletics. Sipes is also the Wakefield girls basketball coach who has led the Owls to five consecutive Cavalier Athletic Conference championships, a Delaney Athletic Conference regular season title and a DAC tournament championship. His team has a 20-5 record this season and is ranked No. 3 in Division 3 of the latest VISAA poll. Follow Jeff on Twitter. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Friday, Feb. 17 | 12:26 PM | Public Safety

Drive-by shooting in Bealeton

The Fauquier County Sheriff's Office is investigating a drive-by shooting in Bealeton. At approximately 8 p.m. Thursday, officers responded to shots fired on the 6600 block of Schoolhouse Road in Bealeton. A homeowner told the officers that his house had been shot at and an unknown vehicle was heard speeding off. Several other witnesses said they heard the same thing. According to Lt. James Hartman, the house, which was occupied by several adults and a small child, was struck with several small-caliber rounds. No one was injured. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Friday, Feb. 17 | 11:12 AM | Public Safety | Government

Boil Water Notice for Bealeton lifted

Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority announced Friday morning that the Boil Water Notice in the Bealeton region has finally been lifted. The notice was issued on October 27 after high levels of coliform bacteria was discovered in the system,requiring Bealeton residents to purchase bottled water or boil their water. – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)