By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Manager
Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area
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Apparently, even 32 minutes of offensive execution was not enough for the Cougars.
School janitors were lining up to clean the gym floor and the Bulldogs had long since loaded onto the away bus.
But the Oakton players — many of whom were in street clothes, jackets and Uggs boots — walked through their offense sets, coming around pre-arranged screens, firing set shots against a simulated defense.
The scene — moreover the overt dedication — is a staple that has caused this team’s success to carry over, season after season, and keep the Cougars atop the Concorde District for going on five seasons.
That status was reasserted with the 51-43 home win for Oakton over Westfield at home on Thursday.
“It’s part of Oakton basketball,” said senior captain Erin McGartland (11 points), one of the Cougars already changed out of her basketball shoes. “You have to think about it every single day, no matter what. We’re taking that extra step when maybe other teams aren’t.
“We’re all about getting better. When other teams are resting, we’re practicing. We’re just trying to get a championship, really.”
While McGartland was not clear if Oakton is aiming for a district, regional or state championship, its recent resume makes all of the above a distinct possibility.
The Cougars (18-0, 8-0) have won the last four Concorde District championships — boasting a 63-1 record against Concorde teams in that span — and reached the Northern Region final twice (2005, 2007), winning it in 2005.
Oakton remains the only girls team in the Northern Region without a loss and is one of two teams — boys or girls — in the greater Washington, D.C., area that is still undefeated (Springbrook; Silver Spring, Md.).
“I know — and I’m sure [Bulldog coach Pat Deegan] knows that I know — if they get ahead in this situation, they’re going to hold the ball,” said Cougar coach Fred Priester, whose teams are a combined 141-14 in the last six seasons. “So we don’t want to be behind. The kids said, ‘How do we defend the delay game?’
“I said, ‘Don’t get behind!'”
Oakton obeyed.
It never trailed on Thursday. And when Westfield began the second half on a 7-0 run to cut Oakton’s lead to 25-23, the Cougars closed the third quarter on a 12-2 run.
But the Bulldogs (10-7, 5-2) are still pegged as the team most likely to prevent a fifth-straight district title season in Vienna.
Westfield is responsible for Oakton’s only Concorde loss in the last four-plus seasons — a 52-39 Bulldog home win one year, to the day, before Thursday’s game.
In fact, Westfield is the last team other than Oakton to win the Concorde District championship.
The Bulldogs beat the Cougars, 53-46, in the tournament final on February 20, 2004. That was during current Duke guard Jasmine Thomas‘ freshman season at Oakton.
“We’re at that spot where we’re pushing the envelope, but now we need to go ahead and seal the deal,” said Deegan, whose team had won eight of its last nine game entering Thursday’s match-up. “We pushed the envelope and then we came down and we made a couple mistakes. I told the kids that those mistakes are on the coaches and players alike and we need to take care of that in practice.
“I told them that if we take care of it in practice, then we just played the second best team in the region. I asked them who would be the best team and they said, ‘Us.’
“Sealing the deal is all about having confidence in what you’re doing.”
Both teams exude confidence — and with good reason. And both coaches conceded that the Bulldogs and Cougars have evolved — and improved — since their early-season meeting on December 16, a 68-57 Oakton win.
The prospect of a potential third meeting this year in the district or region tournament remains probable.
“Both teams showed the difference between a team before Christmas and a team after Christmas,” Priester said. “They’re further along in what they’re doing and we’ve added some things that they hadn’t necessarily seen before.
“If we happen to play them again — which seems likely at some spot along the line — both of us will be working to be different that time than we were this time.”
Added Cougar senior Brianna Johnson (six points): “Our team has definitely grown together and bonded as a team. [We] learned, with our incoming freshmen, how they play. We’re all getting closer as the season goes on.
“But I think, with every season, you learn how everyone plays. This is a different team.”
Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com
Westfield 6 10 11 16 — 43
No. 4 Oakton 14 11 11 15 — 51
Westfield — McNamara 5 0-0 12; Romine 3 4-5 10; Barondess 3 0-0 6; Knox 2 2-2 6; Andre 2 0-2 4; Sutton 1 0-0 3; Leon 0 2-4 2. Team totals: 16 8-13 43.
Oakton — C. Coyer 6 2-2 16; McGartland 4 1-1 11; Stephenson 3 3-4 10; Johnson 3 0-1 6; K. Coyer 1 2-3 4; Cummins 1 0-0 2; Borojeni 1 0-0 2. Team totals: 19 8-11 51.
Three pointers — Westfield 3 (McNamara 2, Sutton); Oakton 5 (C. Coyer 2, McGartland 2, Stephenson).
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