Girls Basketball: Cougars Champions of Own Tournament

The Oakton Cougars cruised to a championship win in their own Cougar Holiday Classic tournament after defeating Stone Ridge 66-31 in the finals Thursday.

The Cougars' offense dominated from the beginning, with the first period ending with a score of 23-9 in Oakton's favor. Heading into halftime, the Cougars had a 25-point advantage. 

Fred Priester, head coach of the Cougars, began to play more of his bench in the second half. The scoring spree may have slowed, but the defense remained. The Gators were held to 13 points in the second half.

Caroline Coyer led the Cougars and the game with 25 points. Teammates Katherine Coyer and Elizabeth Manner followed with 15 and 12 points, respectively. 

"Stone Ridge can be very patient. They'll run time off the clock and suddenly the game is over and the score is in the 30s. I knew that if the score was in the 30s, we weren't winning it," Priester said. "So I told the girls we had to get out on top early."

The Cougars won all three of the tournament games handily, averaging a win margin of 29 points in the Cougar Holiday Classic. 

The large point advantage is par for the course for the Cougars, as they have won by an average of 33.67 points leading up to this week's tournament.

"We've been able to play a lot of people and give them substantial minutes," Priester said. "I think every kid on our roster has played in every game except the Georgetown Visitation game [where we won by 1]. That helps with not only our depth for this year, but also next year."

The Cougars begin Concorde District competition next week, starting with a matchup against Herndon High at 7:30 Friday. 

Points scored: Caroline Coyer (16), Katherine Coyer (15), Elizabeth Manner (12), Karlie Cronin (6), Meredith Burroughs (3), Jazmine Carter (3), Helen Roberts (3), Angela Sickels (3), Hayley Hawkins (2), Nesli Ozcan (2), Torri Marquis (1)

Day 2 stats:

Caroline Coyer (21), Elizabeth Manner (12), Torri Marquis (8), Katherine Coyer (7), Angela Sickels (6), Karlie Cronin (4), Helen Roberts (3), Jazmine Carter (1)

Day 1 stats:

Katherine Coyer (13), Caroline Coyer (11), Elizabeth Manner (11), Helen Roberts (7), Torri Marquis (6), Kate Dawson (4), Meredith Burroughs (2), Nesli Ozcan (2)