Cougars Advance to State Semifinals

The Oakton Cougars came out victorious in a tug-of-war with the Monacan Chiefs to advance to the AAA Virginia High School League semifinals with a 73-65 final score.

The Cougars clinched the lead with less than four minutes left in the game after a two-pointer from senior and co-captain Caroline Coyer. Freshman Karlie Cronin extended the lead with two made foul shots, and Coyer followed up with a 3-pointer to put the score at 63-56.

The Chiefs then started fouling the Cougars to slow them down, but the Cougars shot 10 for 10 at the free throw line in the last minute of the game.

Coyer scored 16 of her game-high 27 points in the fourth period, six from the foul line.

"We played tough down the stretch and as a result we were able to pull out a really hard-earned victory," said Fred Priester, Cougars' head coach.

The game started with the momentum in the Chiefs' favor. They scored first within the first minute of the game, and held the lead for the last five minutes of the period to put the Chiefs up 17-13 heading into the second.

The Cougars surpassed the Chiefs in the second, though the lead switched back and forth five times in the period before senior Katherine Coyer solidified their lead for halftime by sinking two free throw shots with 19 seconds on the clock for a 29-26 to end the first half.

Katherine Coyer kept the Cougars in contention in the third period, netting 12 of her 22 points, including three points with three seconds left from sinking a layup while being fouled and scoring the extra point to give the Cougars a 49-48 lead after three periods.

For most of the season, the Cougars' defense has been rock solid, giving their offense room to make mistakes. But Friday, the Chiefs succeeded in scoring more points than any other team that has faced the Cougars all season.

"I think a lot of teams may be able to penetrate [our defense] but don't finish as well, so we don't really lock down on it. This team really finished well, we were fouling them. They were kicking the ball out, and we knew they had some shooters, so we had to guard them and I think that opened up our defense a little bit," Caroline Coyer said. "We're going to go to work tomorrow to figure out where the holes were and get it all tightened up for this week."

Priester also noted three players, including both Coyers, had three fouls before the end of the third quarter, which forced them to hold back on their aggression more than usual.

"[Monacan] also played very well, so I don't want to take anything from them. They spread us out a little bit and made it a little tougher on us than we'd like. We weren't our usual selves," Priester said.

The Cougars will face the winner of the Woodside-William Fleming matchup Wednesday at the Siegel Center in Richmond.

Oakton High has been to the semifinals five times since 2001, twice in the Coyers' first three years on varsity.

"[Katherine and I have] been here before and that's really cool that we get to go again, especially our senior year, but I think we're really excited for our teammates to go to and experience this with us," Caroline Coyer said.