On Monday night at home, the Oakton Cougars got 18 second half points from Noah Toole, and used a 16-1 third quarter run to pull away from the West Springfield Spartans and win for a 60-51 victory.
The first half of the non-district contest was mostly back-and-forth, with West Springfield leading at the break 21-20. The Spartans out-rebounded Oakton 17-11 in the first half, and the Cougars didn’t seem particularly sharp or energetic. Then to start the second half West Springfield guard Robin Casapao sparked a Spartan run, getting a steal and bucket and finding freshman Connor May open twice for threes. The Spartans led 31-22, forcing an Oakton time out.
“I hated the way we played in the first half,” said Oakton coach David Brooks. “We were fine the way we came out in the third quarter–they made some shots because they’re a solid basketball team.”
After the time out, West Springfield made no more shots from the field the rest of the quarter as Oakton embarked on its run. The Cougars (5-2) upped their defensive intensity and were much more aggressive on the boards, denying the visitors any second chances off misses. The Spartans only got four rebounds the entire second half.
And, Toole asserted himself offensively. The Cougars’ senior star had five assists in the first half, but after halftime was able to effectively attack the rim, often off passes from senior Owen Martin (five second half assists). When West Springfield fell behind the Spartans extended their defense, and Oakton was able to thread passes to cutters at the rim almost at will.
Toole, a three-sport athlete who will play baseball at Radford, finished with seven assists and six rebounds to go with his 22 points. Amare Hamid added 14 points and eight rebounds, while Martin had 11 points and six rebounds to go along with his assists.
West Springfield (1-4), which was missing coach Terry Henderson due to a stomach flu, was led by senior Inan Sharif’s 18 points. Casapao added 12 points and six assists, while May finished with 10 points.
“The first half left us very little margin for error,” Brooks said. “That being said I’m proud of the way we battled and the fact that we got a win.”
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| OAKTON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| MURRELL | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
| ROSSI | 2-2 | 1-2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | |
| MARTIN | 5-9 | 0-2 | 11 | 6 | 5 | |
| HAMID | 5-8 | 4-6 | 14 | 8 | 2 | |
| TOOLE | 8-12 | 6-8 | 22 | 6 | 7 | |
| Ampaw | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Mohamed | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Hansen | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 24-39 | 11-18 | 60 | 28 | 18 | |
| Threes: Martin 1-3, Murrell 0-1, Ampaw 0-1, Hamid 0-2, Toole 0-4 | ||||||
| WEST SPRINGFIELD | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| CASAPAO | 3-7 | 6-8 | 12 | 1 | 6 | |
| LESSER | 1-7 | 2-3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| SHARIF | 7-18 | 2-3 | 18 | 4 | 1 | |
| LOWRY | 1-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | |
| MAY | 4-9 | 0-0 | 10 | 4 | 0 | |
| Bat-Erdene | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Heaton | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| Pearson | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rapoza | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Weil | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 18-53 | 10-16 | 51 | 21 | 11 | |
| Threes: May 2-3, Sharif 2-7, Heaton 1-2, Pearson 0-1, Lowry 0-1, Bat-Erdene 0-2, Casapao 0-3, Lesser 0-3 | ||||||