If an undefeated record over the course of a dozen games qualifies as a strong start — and it does — the Oakton Cougars are off and running in the girls high-school basketball season.
Two lopsided victories in recent days and a 3-0 mark in its own holiday tournament give the Cougars a 12-0 record, the team’s best start since beginning 13-0 in the 2021-22 campaign.
After a rough start, the Chantilly Chargers finished second at the George Long Holiday tournament at Wakefield High School.
The boys basketball team finished fifth with a 2-1 record at the eight-team, three-day event held Dec. 26-28 in Arlington.
For a fifth straight season, the South County Stallions had a strong showing in the annual George Long Holiday boys basketball tournament.
The Stallions (5-2) finished third with a 2-1 record, defeating the host Wakefield Warriors, 53-37, in the consolation game of the eight-team, three-day event at Wakefield High School.
By nearly upsetting the host team, the West Springfield Spartans went from a much-welcomed 11th-hour replacement savior of sorts to a spoiler at the George Long Holiday boys basketball tournament at Wakefield High School.
The Spartans eventually lost to the host Wakefield Warriors, 55-53, in a seesaw opening-round Dec. 26 game of the eight-team, three-day high-school tourney.
As he continues head-coaching duties of a boys varsity high-school basketball team in Southern Maryland, Brad Leydig credits two people for influencing his career path.
Those impressions were made when Leydig was a student/athlete at Madison High School in Vienna, learning from the Warhawks’ late head football coach Lenny Schultz and current head boys hoops coach Kevin Roller.
On a turnaround 12-foot jump shot in the middle of the lane, Anya Rahman scored her 1,000th career point for the Langley Saxons girls basketball team in a recent high-school game.
The basket came with 2:39 left in the second quarter against the Bishop O’Connell Knights on Langley’s home court, giving the Saxons a 20-9 lead.
The Madison Warhawks and Marshall Statesmen had opposite results in their final boys basketball games prior to participating in holiday tournaments later this week.
Madison (6-2) routed visiting Independence, 62-39, in a non-district high-school game for its fifth-straight win on Dec. 20, while host Marshall (6-3, 1-1) lost to the Yorktown Patriots (7-1), 59-57, in a seesaw Liberty District contest on the same night.
With an out-of-town holiday tournament next on the schedule, the Flint Hill Huskies warmed up by winning a key local boys basketball game.
In that Dec. 19 high-school contest, visiting Flint Hill (4-3, 2-0) defeated its top neighborhood and Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference rival Potomac School Panthers, 81-64.
The McLean Highlanders certainly have played a difficult basketball schedule so far this season, and the experienced girls team has a 4-2 overall record to show for its efforts.
Among the high-school squad’s victories, the Highlanders have defeated defending Virginia High School League Class 4 state champion Woodgrove along with recent four-time defending Class 6 state champion Madison, as well as defeating perennially strong West Springfield.
The annual Cassel’s Holiday Classic at Oakton High School is scheduled for Dec. 27, 28 and 30, with six girls basketball games each day.
The Oakton Cougars (8-0) are the host team. Games begin at 11 a.m. and end with a 7:45 p.m. contest, which will always include Oakton.
