It was as if a switch turned on at halftime for the Oakton Cougars.
In the second half, the boys basketball team seemed to play harder and with more purpose, rallying to score a victory.
Trailing the host West Springfield Spartans, 19-16, at halftime, Oakton (3-2) got the lead for good late in the third quarter and won 40-37 in the Monday night (Dec. 16) non-district high-school contest.
As part of an 8-0 run late in the third, Oakton took the lead at 27-25 on two foul shots by Jack Jones (eight points, four assists). The Cougars led 33-28 at period’s end.
The lead stretched to seven (38-31) in the fourth before West Springfield rallied to within 38-37 on a three-pointer by Aaron Lowman.
After the teams traded turnovers, Oakton’s Zachary Hansen helped clinch the win by making two foul shots with six seconds to play.
Hansen finished with a double-double to lead Oakton, scoring 11 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. He added a couple of assists and steals. The Cougars survived six fourth-quarter turnovers and 17 for the game.
Also for Oakton, Benjamin Ainsworth had eight points (two three-pointers), James Burke scored seven and Hamza Mohamed had six points, six rebounds, four steals and blocked two shots.
For West Springfield (2-2), Athan Martin scored 14 points and had six rebounds; Lowman had 11 points and four steals; Seth Pearson scored eight with six rebounds and four steals; Nicolas Scanlan had three points and five rebounds; Brennan Rapoza had five rebounds; and Noah Ghirmay added a point and had six boards.
Oakton never led in the first half, when it shot just 23 percent from the floor. The Cougars shot 41 percent in the second half.
