By accomplishing a couple of program firsts in having a career 1,000-point scorer and winning a state-tournament game, the 2021-22 girls high-school basketball season was one of the best in history for the Oakcrest School Chargers.
The campaign ended for Oakcrest with a 1-1 record in the 12-team Division II private-school state tournament. The Chargers (13-7 overall) were the No. 7 seed and defeated 10th-seeded Fredericksburg Christian School, 57-45, in the first round, then lost to No. 2 seed Steward School, 72-40, in the quarterfinals.
Oakcrest trailed Steward just 11-10 at the end of the first quarter. Elisabeth Dunch scored 15 points to lead the Chargers in scoring, Gabby Byrne added 13 and Natalie Major five.
In the win over Fredericksburg Christian, Major scored 21, Byrne 17, Dunch six and Liz LeMaster and Catherine Dunch five each. The Chargers trailed 26-23 at halftime, then outscored Fredericksburg Christian, 17-7, in the third quarter.
The state-tourney victory was the team’s first in program history. It was the third straight season Oakcrest played in the state tournament.
During the regular season, Elisabeth Dunch, a senior guard, became the first player in Oakcrest history to score 1,000 career points. She finished with 1,100.
Major was the second-highest scorer this past season with 243 points. Byrne also had a productive campaign. She recovered from a soccer injury to play with the basketball team, finishing her hoop career at Oakcrest with 866 points, the third highest number in team history.
One of the team’s biggest regular-season victories was a 53-51 overtime win over Seton of Manassas. Byrne scored 17, Elisabeth Dunch 16, Major 10 and Adele White six. The Chargers rallied after trailing 27-8 at the end of the first quarter, outscoring Seton, 31-10, in the third and fourth periods.
Another season highlight was Major scoring a single-game season high 28 points in the team’s final regular-season game. The single-game, season-high for Elisabeth Dunch was 25 points.
“As the season went on, the girls became confident in who they were as players and as a team,” Oakcrest coach Stella Safari-Ray said. “They played together and they set the tone of the game. They started to trust each other on the court and had great communication.”