Connection Sports

Oakton center Maddie Royle’s physical conditioning has improved from her freshman to her sophomore season.

Now she’s working on the focus part.

“I think that my team helped me mature,” Royle said after Oakton’s Jan. 9 game against Westfield. “Coach [Fred] Priester [has] me down on a shorter leash. I think I’m more focused during the games this year than I was last year.”

Royle was locked in against the Bulldogs, scoring a career-high 18 points to go with five rebounds during the Cougars’ 63-46 victory at Oakton High School.

Royle, listed at 6 feet 1, teamed with 6-foot sophomore Delaney Connolly to give the Cougars a presence in the paint. Connolly finished with eight points and five rebounds. Each made plays on defense.

Connolly has been a consistent difference-maker for Oakton during the Cougars’ 12-1 start. Royle, however, is a work in progress, starting with her approach to the game.

“Delaney is playing exceptionally well,” Priester said. “She’s shooting the ball well, she’s playing good defense, she did a good job on [Westfield’s] inside game, she’s got that mid-range jumper, she’s not afraid to take the ball to the basket. She’s really come into her own.

“... Maddie is a great kid and we have a very fun-loving bunch, but she’s still learning how to stop at the line instead of going over the line. Last year, she was physically not in shape to play a lot of minutes. This year, she’s in much better shape, physically. Now we have to get her temperamentally, and mentally and psychologically ready to play a lot of minutes. Sometimes, that’s a little bit harder deal.

“She had great focus tonight, which has not always been the case. She’s had several good games, but she’s had other games where she wasn’t as focused as she needs to be.”

If Friday’s performance was an indication of things to come, Royle could be a major contributor as Oakton enters the Conference 5 portion of its schedule.

“I’ve known Maddie for a long time and we played AAU together before we even came [to Oakton], so coming into freshman year we were really close and I think that’s helped a lot,” Connolly said. “I love when she does well. We like working together and I’m glad that she came to Oakton with me.”

Royle and Connolly, friends off the court, work well together on it.

“We like assisting to each other,” Royle said. “[Connolly is] great to play with. I assist to her, she assists back and our team helps us get the ball in the paint and we try to help them in return.”

Connolly and Royle complement Oakton’s veteran backcourt. Senior guard Lindsey Abed, who will play for the University of Hartford, scored 16 points against Westfield. Junior point guard Alex Marquis knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and finished with six points. Senior guard Karlie Cronin, who will play for Southern Methodist University, had knee surgery in July and has missed most of the season. She is expected to return late in the regular season.

Oakton defeated Robinson 68-30 on Tuesday to improve to 13-1. The Cougars will host Centreville at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 16.