Oakton Zinzi
Senior Sophia Zinzi (12 points) drives to the hoop Friday night in her team's victory over Centreville.

#5 Oakton gets another “sum of its parts” effort to defeat #14 Centreville, 38-23

On a frigid night in Vienna, the No. 5 Oakton Cougars took the floor coming off their first loss of the season earlier in the week to No. 2 Madison, but you’d never know it as they took care of business against a short-handed No. 14 Centreville Wildcats team, 38-23.

It was an all-around team effort from the Cougars (14-1, 3-1 district). Guard Sophia Zinzi and forward Caitlin Crump were both in double figures scoring with 12 and 11, and junior post Maddie Kinsel crushed it on the boards with 22 rebounds.

“We don’t necessarily have people that are super-skilled at any one thing, but we know that the sum of our parts is greater. So everybody knows that they have to bring every little teeny thing that they can bring to the game,” said longtime Head Coach Fred Priester.

Junior Maddie Kinsel owned the boards against Centreville, pulling down 22 rebounds.
Junior Maddie Kinsel owned the boards against Centreville, pulling down 22 rebounds.

Although they led the whole game, Oakton got off to somewhat of a slow start with some missed layups and miscues early. The Cougars put their individual strengths to work, however, and managed to extend their lead in the second and third quarters to play a fairly comfortable last quarter and secure the win.

“It was very scrappy. This was a team where they’re about the same size as we are, on the small side. So you have kids out here scrapping hard. We were fortunate to come away with the win, but it’ll be that way the next time we play them, and the next time, because they’re gonna scrap, scrap, scrap–so we’re gonna scrap, scrap, scrap.”

In the competitive Concorde District, Priester knows that the margin for error is miniscule, and that his team has surprised some people early on with its results.

“Virtually every game we’ve played has been a 50/50 game. We want to feel like if you’re in a 50/50 game, we’re going to do everything we can to make that thing tilt our way. And so, this game got us back on the same track that had us undefeated before we played Madison,” he said.

Vianna Marion did some damage offensively, but it was tough sledding all night against the Cougars' defense.
Vianna Marion and the Wildcats did some damage offensively, but it was tough sledding all night against the Cougars’ defense.

“Every game is going to be decided by just a few points. And, by how much extra are you going to put in. So far, our kids have been able to come up with what they’ve needed to do to win.”

Speaking of surprises, Centreville (7-5, 2-2 district) has also surprised some people early on with their success. The Wildcats had a team effort in the loss as well, led by Ryleigh Thurston, Kaleah Wells, Vianna Marion, and Hannah Wakefield with an even distribution of points.

The Wildcats had to fare without freshman guard Kennedy Parrott who is sidelined the rest of the season due to injury, but impressed greatly in her first season. Centreville has had its fair share of solid wins, including handing the Langley Saxons their only loss of the season. The Wildcats will look to get back on track next week against South Lakes in another district battle.

–Max Nagle
@MaxWritesHoops