Reprinted from The Washington Post. Jan. 22, 2000

Newport School's Anastasia Goncharova usually doesn't get many chances to shoot three-pointers. The 6-foot-1 senior forward is predominantly an inside player, but with leading scorer Roslyn Vernoy unavailable - she is scheduled to take the Scholastic Assessment Test today - Goncharova took the the perimeter and made the most of her opportunity.

Goncharova made four three-pointers and scored a game high 22 points as the Kensington private school held off Dunbar, 60-57, in Northwest.

"She's a great pure shooter," said Newport Coach Tiffany Green, whose Tigers improved to 13-5. "Unfortunately, we play her most of the time in the post. But with Roslyn out, I told all my players that we needed to step it up. Anastasia is capable of taking those shots and sticking them. And she did it.

Goncharova scored 12 points in the first half as Newport took a 32-21 lead into the intermission.

I was just feeling the shot," she said. "I'm very happy with the way that I played. There were a lot of open spots in the zone and my teammates found them. We took the opportunities given to us."

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" I was forced to improvise today, [said Dunbar Coach, Johnnie Walker]. "And we aren't used to seeing anybody in the inner city league - except for Anacostia and Woodson - who can make that three-point shot with as much consistency as [Goncharaova] did all night."