South Lakes Bolts To Early Lead But Can’t Hang On In Concorde District Matchup At Oakton

By BRIAN McNICOLL

South Lakes High scored the first eight points of the game then never really got on track offensively again in falling to Oakton, 52-42, in a Concorde District boys’ basketball game at Oakton.

The Seahawks went up 8-0 on two baskets by senior point guard Machai Ramos and two by junior forward George Zarechnak. They led 14-7 seven minutes in and didn’t relinquish the lead until Oakton forward Deylen Jones made a runner with 5:08 to go in the first half.

Unknown at the time was that South Lakes already had made eight of the 16 baskets it would make all night. The Seahawks got one basket in the first 3:42 of the second quarter, then went nearly seven minutes without a field goal beginning in the third quarter and extending into the fourth, then made just one basket the final 5:26 of the game.

“It’s not just the energy,” said freshman David Landeryou. “It’s the execution. We start off executing well. We have to continue to do so.”

South Lakes coach Mike Desmond said the previous week he had never had a team he coached play a scoreless quarter after South Lakes pulled off that feat then overcame it to defeat Madison, 53-51, in overtime. But the two droughts against Oakton could not be overcome.

South Lakes recovered from the first drought and trailed by only three at the half thanks to sophomore Emerson Finney, the made South Lakes’ only three-pointer of the night with 1:52 to go in the half, and a steal and basket by Ramos with 32 seconds left.

It was just 32-30 Oakton as late as the midpoint of the third quarter, but three baskets in a row by the Cougars pushed the lead to 39-30, and South Lakes never got within six after that.

The Cougars, off to a 3-0 start in the Concorde and a 13-2 record overall, got 18 points from Swarthmore-bound Bennett White and 12 from Jones, who dominated physically inside.

Ramos had 19 for South Lakes, which fell to 7-9 overall, 1-2 in the district. Only Ramos, a senior, Brady Theis, a senior who had six points, and Landeryou, who had four, scored more than one basket for the Seahawks.

It wasn’t that the Seahawks shot that badly – they were 50% in the first half and 40%, including desperation shots at the end in the second half. It was that they couldn’t get clean looks and ended up with 21 turnovers.

Desmond said a lot of teams will get their first victories over South Lakes in a long time, and Oakton was one of them. The Cougars had not beaten the Seahawks during Desmond’s 7-year reign before Friday night. But he also said Friday night’s loss confirmed what he has been thinking for some time and that change must now come.

“This is not a championship team, and we have to face that,” said Desmond, whose last two Seahawks teams won the state championship. “We can’t start our seniors anymore. You’ll still see Theis because he’s such a leader and does so many good things, and you’ll still see Ramos because he’s the only one who can score. But it’s time to start looking forward. We’re stealing minutes from our future.”

Desmond said he could do things to mask the problems such as play zone and keep playing the current lineup. “We could do a lot of things. But you don’t win championships playing zone. We’re not going to do stuff like that. We’re going to do stuff right.

“This year everyone is going to have a party and a parade if they beat South Lakes. I want it to make our younger kids angry. I want them to remember it. That’s how we get better.”