Girls Basketball: Cougars Tough Out Tourney Win to Advance

Despite a lead that stretched to as much as 18 points, the Oakton Cougars kept waiting for the T.C. Williams Titans' comeback. Though it came, the Cougars had built enough of a lead through the first three periods to ward off the Titans for a 62-50 win.

The Cougars will advance to the Northern Region Tournament semifinals against Mount Vernon, scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Robinson High.

The Cougars opened up the scoring with a basket from Angela Sickels on an offensive rebound less than 30 seconds into the game. But neither team sank a shot in the next three minutes until the Titans' Johnee Lewis tied the game at 2-2 with 4:26 on the clock. Sickels would answer with two more points 20 seconds later, and the Cougars took the lead for good.

The first period ended with the Cougars up 16-6, and continued to squelch the Titans offense into the second. The Cougars went on a 10-4 run in the first four minutes of the second period, with six of those points from Katherine Coyer, who led her team with 16 points.

But after Fred Priester, head coach for the Cougars, had to pull Caroline Coyer afer she committed her third foul with 3:45 left in the first half, the Titans went on a five-point run that shut down the Cougar offense for more than two minutes.

The Cougars ended the half with the momentum in their favor as Sickels sank a 3-point shot at the buzzer to put the scoreboard at 33-17 in the Cougars' favor.

But the lead never quite felt comfortable, as the Cougars had seen the Titans' recent statistics showing their propensity for being outscored in the first period only to come back for the win. Even in their loss to West Springfield in the Patriot District Championship, the Titans offense fell behind 43-16 in the first half only to outscore the Spartans in the second half 47-35. They may have lost, but they demonstrated how their offense can explode at any minute.

"We knew going through the entire game that it was good we got out ahead, but we have to keep our focus because they're going to come back," Caroline Coyer said.

The Cougars kept the Titans at bay through the third period. But the fourth belonged to the Titans, who brought the game to within five points with less than a minute on the clock. The Titans began to commit fouls, and the Cougars did not let the scoring opportunity pass them by, netting five of six to give them the edge they needed to win by a comfortable point margin of 62-50.

"I think once they started to come back we freaked out a little because we were like, 'We knew this was coming, but we didn't think it was going to come this hard,'" Coyer said.

The Cougars will play in the semifinals Friday against Mount Vernon, who the Cougars beat by a 30-point margin early in the season for Mount Vernon's only loss of the season.

"They play hard. They're very aggressive," Priester said. "I'm sure they'll play us aggressively. ... I don't think they took too kindly to [the loss earlier in the season."

Another Game, Another Milestone

Caroline Coyer hit 1,500 points in the third quarter of Wednesday's game against T.C. Williams.

The achievement is one of a string of milestones for Coyer this season as she finishes up her high school career as a four-year varsity starter.

Earlier in the season, she then in Oakton High School basketball history. On Feb. 3, Coyer when she passed the ball to give her twin sister, Katherine, her 1,000th point.

"Obviously she's had a stellar career here. She's put up a lot of numbers other people haven't put up," Coach Fred Priester said. "I think what's impressive for me, and I've coached her for three years in AAU as well, is she just doesn't lose very often."

Coyer has a winning record of 105-5 in her career at Oakton. Her AAU record is 154-33.

Points: Katherine Coyer (16), Elizabeth Manner (12), Angela Sickels (12), Caroline Coyer (10), Karlie Cronin (9), Torri Marquis (3)