So far this season, there has been no in-between for the McLean Highlanders when it comes to winning games.
The girls high-school basketball team’s six victories have been by lofty margins, including a 78-29 rout over the visiting Lewis Lancers on Dec. 22 in a non-district contest. That has been McLean’s biggest margin of victory so far.
Other wins have come by 39, 34, 13 and 12 points. The 78 points scored against Lewis were a single-game season high.
Leading McLean in those games have been top scorers Mia Fitzgerald, Kara Bremser, Brooke Thomas, Ava Stewart, Sevyn Walton and Shushan Krikorian.
Bremser scored 33 and made six three-pointers against Lewis, to go with five rebounds. Fitzgerald scored 14, had seven assists, four rebounds and two steals. Stewart scored eight with two steals. McLean outrebounded Lewis, 61-23.
The Highlanders own a 1-1 Liberty District record with a win over Marshall and a blowout loss to the Langley Saxons (7-1, 2-0).
Langley’s lone loss was 37-33 to the Centreville Wildcats in non-district action, as the Saxons shot poorly.
Top scorers for Langley have been point guard Annabeth Holsinger, Caitlyn Shumadine and Anya Rahman. to name a few.
Langley and the Herndon Hornets are tied for first in the district with 2-0 records entering holiday-tournament action, which does not include league competition.
* Langley High School senior guard Amr Areikat had a standout 37-point performance in the boys team’s 65-61 non-district overtime loss to the visiting Centreville Wildcats.
Areikat made seven three-point baskets in the loss to go with having seven rebounds and four assists.
The seven threes were not a personal best in high school. Areikat made eight against McLean last season.
The 30-point game was his second this season. Areikat scored 30 in Langley’s opening-season victory over the Oakton Cougars. He is averaging 21.2 points per game this season, and has made 11 three-pointers. The 37 points were his single-game career best in high school.
“Amr had a really hot shooting game against Centreville,” Langley coach Scott Newman said. “He’s a great shooter, but teams have been playing all kinds of defenses against him, so he really hadn’t made that many threes until Centreville. He’s the engine of everything we do.”
Langley fell to 5-2 overall with the loss to Centreville, but stands 2-0 and is in a three-way tie for first in the Liberty District.
“We’re an uptempo team and we have been playing well,” Newman said. “We are getting contributions from a lot of players.”
Brendan Mansinne is averaging 9.5 points per game for Langley, Arman Macchiavello eight and Ryan Bradshaw seven. Patrick Kelly and Garrett Hutchinson are Langley’s top post players this season.
Langley’s district victories have been on the road against McLean, 54-38, and Wakefield, 52-48.
The Saxons also had a big road win over Falls Church.
“We are right where we want to be as far as our district record,” Newman said.
* The Madison High School boys team (6-2) lost to West Potomac, 58-53, in non-district action to have a two-game winning streak snapped.
Point guard Bo Kuhblank had nine points, six assists and two steals for Madison. Andrew Gorkowski scored 12 and had four rebounds and three assists; Colin Sullender had nine points and four boards; and Aidan Falkner and Will Giery each had eight points and four rebounds.