Austin Hamilton led a balanced Herndon High boys’ scoring effort as the Hornets defeated local rival and home team South Lakes, 82-56, last Friday night, Dec. 17 in Reston.
Hamilton, a guard, led all scorers with 24 points. Raleigh McKenzie contributed 14 points for the Hornets while teammates Jonathan Beltran (13 points) and Patrick McLaughlin (10) were also in double figures. DeAndre Thomas and Marques Berry both chipped in seven points for the winning team. Herndon (4-2) had also beaten the cross-town rival Seahawks a week earlier at Herndon.
South Lakes (2-3), in Friday night’s home loss, had big games from J.D. Wallace (18 points) and Mitchell Dempster (13). Brian Brinson added six points.
Herndon took control of the game early by outscoring the Seahawks, 20-5, in the first quarter. The Hornets had increased the lead to 47-20 at the half and never looked back on way to the non-district win.
The Herndon and South Lakes girls also played on Friday night as part of the girls’-boys’ double-header night of action. The home team Seahawks, who a week earlier had beaten the Hornets by two points in Herndon, won this meeting as well, 51-41, behind the 16 points and 11 rebounds of Gabby Schultz. Mary Severin scored 10 points with five rebounds for the Seahawks and teammate Ashlei Sutton scored nine points. South Lakes improved its record to 2-4.
Herndon, in the loss, was led by Deborah Headen’s eight points. Shaquilla Ferguson added seven points and Mayumi Shill had five for the 2-4 Hornets.
<b>THE SOUTH LAKES BOYS</b> earned a hard-fought 65-61 Liberty District home win over Madison last Tuesday, Dec. 14. D.J. Christian scored a game-high 16 points to pace the Seahawks, who are under new head coach Andrew Duggan this season. Joe Daye and Brendan Galbraith both scored nine points for South Lakes, and Darius Smith and Clayton O’Neill both had eight points in the balanced South Lakes attack. Dempster scored seven points and Wallace had five.
<b>Oakton Girls Remain Unbeaten</b>
Two-time defending Liberty District girls’ basketball champion Madison High is off to a good start to the new season. The Warhawks, going into this week, had lost their most recent game, falling to defending Northern Region champion and Vienna-area rival Oakton, by a 57-46 score this past Friday night, Dec. 17, at home. The setback put Madison at 3-2 thus far.
Madison, in the loss to Oakton, was led in scoring by sophomore guard Megan Leduc with 15 points. Annie Gauf, a senior forward, and freshman guard Katie Kerrigan both contributed nine points, and senior forward Carmen Mann had six.
For undefeated Oakton (6-0), senior shooting guard Zora Stephenson led the way with 14 points, while junior guard Caroline Coyer scored 12. Also for the Cougars, sophomore center Elizabeth Manner scored nine points, junior guard Katherine Coyer scored seven and senior forward Halley Cummins also had seven. Corrinne Holland, a senior guard, added five in Oakton’s balanced attack and senior guard Danielle Davis had three.
The contest between the non-district rivals was close the entire way with Oakton holding a 14-11 lead after one quarter and a 27-23 advantage at the half. The Cougars were up 39-34 going into the final quarter.
Oakton, a member of the Concorde District, has wins this season over visiting Langley, 90-20, on Dec. 3; visiting South County, 74-49, on Dec. 7; visiting Washington-Lee, 82-25, on Dec. 10; host Loudoun County, 61-39, on Dec. 11; host Jefferson, 71-23, on Dec. 14; and, on Friday, Madison. The 11-point win over the Warhawks was the Cougars’ toughest test of yet.