Multimedia:

Click here to see the slideshow

For most of the players on the Oakton Cougars girls' basketball team, playing in Saturday's AAA state tournament quarterfinals against the Stonewall Jackson Raiders at Robinson Secondary School was no big deal. The majority of the team's starters, which include sophomore guards Caroline and Katherine Coyer and junior guard Zora Stephenson, had been there before.

"I knew what was coming," said Caroline Coyer, who scored 32 points in the Cougars' 74-58 win over the Raiders. "I knew what I was playing in. I've been here before. It was a lot easier."

Even head coach Fred Priester, who notched his 501st career win, didn't have the same level of anxiety he has had in years past.

"Maybe I'm getting older now and I don't have quite as many nerves," he said. "We started off strong and that made it easy for me."

Last season, the Cougars finished with a 30-1 record, winning the Concorde District and Northern Region titles before advancing to the Virginia High School League state finals. The Coyer twins and Stephenson were along for that ride, as was junior forward Brieneke Matthes.

Junior forward Danielle Davis didn't have that luxury.

"Oh yeah, there were butterflies," said Davis, who was playing in her first AAA VHSL tournament game.

Davis, who moved into the area from Chicago last summer, heard about the Cougars' run in the state tournament last year. Now she is an integral part of the team.

"Danielle has just gotten better and better. She was a good player when she came to us, but it takes awhile, I don't care how good you are, to fit into a new system," Priester said.

Against Stonewall Jackson, it was Davis -- butterflies and all -- who set the tone in the Cougars' 16-point victory. The junior hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter, helping Oakton (24-1) jump out to a 22-11 lead. She would add another 3-pointer in the second, finishing with 10 points on the day.

"We are a team that once we get on fire, you can't shut us down," Davis said. "I knew that coming out those 3s would hype up the team, get us all excited."

Priester said Davis does the Cougars' "grunt work," fighting for rebounds and playing unforgiving defense in the paint. But when she gets her opportunity to take a shot, she rarely disappoints.

"She always steps up and hits the big shots," Caroline Coyer said of Davis. "She has come so far this season."

For Davis, her improvement over the course of the year started with her teammates' trust.

"They accepted me right off the bat. They trust me, that's the best part," she said. "We are a great team together. You wouldn't know that I was new. We all want to win so we know that we need to work together and get it done."

With Caroline Coyer and Stephenson averaging 16 points per game and Katherine Coyer chipping in nine, Davis sometimes gets lost in the box score. Her teammates, however, notice her contributions.

"She is so important to our team," Caroline Coyer said.

As for Davis' butterflies, those disappeared once she stepped on the court.

"We've all trained well and we are excited for this," she said. "You just have to calm down and play your game."

The Cougars will take on Princess Anne in the AAA VHSL state semifinals at 2 p.m. today at Virginia Commonwealth University's Siegel Center in Richmond. Princess Anne, the defending AAA VHSL champion, defeated Oakton, 71-61, in the tournament finals last season.