Oakton couldn't keep up with an early second half run by the Madison Warhawks, and the Cougars fell 52-40 on Tuesday night. The loss drops the Cougars to 4-4 on the year and moves the Warhawks to 4-2 during a non-conference schedule that has been defined by parity across the region.
Madison's Christian Prince hit two 3-pointers during the third quarter run, and the Warhawks played pretty much even with the Cougars the rest of the way, allowing the lead to drop below double digits just once with less than two minutes to play. Jason Mann finished with 10 points for Madison and Prince chipped in nine.
"We wanted to pick up the pace," Madison head coach Chris Kuhblank said. "We don't press very much, but we decided we weren't going to let them dictate the tempo. We got our tempo a little bit, and once we got the pace our way they had to come out and guard us."
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Neither team shot particularly well in a first half that saw just a combined 31 points. Passing was crisp by each team, but more often than not there was nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. After rushing some shots in the early going, the Cougars started to get comfortable running a faster-paced offense, highlighted by Robert Bacon's quick moves to get to the basket and Michael Fradette's tough inside play. Bacon led the Cougars with 12 points and Fradette added 11.
Oakton eventually erased an early deficit and took a 16-15 lead into halftime after Cory Harris hit a step-back three from the left corner with less than 30 seconds left. That would be the Cougars' last basket for nearly eight minutes of play.
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"Our defensive goal for them tonight was 43 [points]," Kuhblank said. "I don't want to say there was an edge in anything [particular]. We're going to defend and rebound, and if we hold a team to 40 points, we're going to win the game."
With most schools in the Northern Region just six or seven games into their schedules, no undefeated teams remain. In fact, defending region champ and state semifinalist T.C. Williams was the only team to reach 3-0 before falling to West Potomac on Dec. 13. The Liberty District, which has typically been considered a lesser basketball conference despite seeing its top team advance to the regional final four nearly every year of the last decade, appears to have more depth than years past.
Madison already owns a win over 2011 Concorde District champion Chantilly, and McLean knocked off last year's Concorde runner-up Westfield earlier this season. Despite the early paradigm shift, Kuhblank is still happy deflect attention from his own team.
"The Concorde's the big boys, right?" he posed. "I think it's just perception that the Liberty's not very good. I think there's teams in the Liberty that can be put up against anybody. [But] I'd rather fly under the radar."
