It’s no surprise that the Oakton Cougars girls basketball team is off to a strong start this season.
With three returning starters from last winter’s Concorde District champion and 6D North Region tournament runner-up squad, the high-school unit (22-7 last fall) is expected to be a contender for those titles again this year.
Oakton improved to 7-0 Tuesday night (Dec. 17) with a 70-17 road win over the Lewis Lancers in non-district action.
The Cougars were in control right away, building a 12-0 lead, and were in front 24-6 at the end of the first quarter and 39-8 at halftime. Lewis fell to 4-2 with the loss.
The Lancers won their first four games, but then the schedule got more different facing good Chantilly (6-2) and Oakton teams from the Concorde District.
Leading Oakton in the win over Lewis was junior guard Sophie Toole. She was one of four players who scored in double figures.
Toole had 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Junior guard Brooke Chang scored 13 and had four rebounds.
Sophomore forward Jocelynn Kinlaw had a double-double with 12 points and as many rebounds to go with four assists and two steals, and senior forward Melissa Ally scored 11 with three rebounds.
Also for Oakton, junior forward Elliott Durham had six points and six rebounds; senior forward Bailey Zimmerman had three points, five assists and rebounds and four steals; and sophomore guard Sahana Komanduri had four points and three rebounds.
For Lewis, sophomore guard Donnie Goodwin scored 14 points with three rebounds, a block and a steal. She made three three-pointers. Junior guard Christina Mai scored three points and junior guard Morgan Lefevre had two steals.
Along with Oakton, which opens its district schedule in January, Chantilly, Centreville and Madison are expected to be strong in the district.
