The regular season woes continue for the Oakdale Mustangs varsity boys basketball team.
Oakdale (14-8, 0-6) played a trio of games this past week including two on the road. The varsity Mustang hoopsters started the week off with a 67-39 road loss to Central Catholic (16-7, 6-1), followed by a home loss to Weston Ranch (20-1, 5-0) 81-46 and a heartbreaking 52-51 road loss to Kimball (10-11, 2-4).
At Central Catholic, Oakdale struggled from the beginning of the night and things did not get any better as the game moved along. The team trailed by as many as 36 points in the road loss.
At home, Oakdale took on first place Weston Ranch on Thursday, Jan. 17. Center Sam Medlin led the team with 15 points and freshman guard Kobe Nunes added 11 points in the loss. Oakdale kept it close in the first half, trailing 21-16 after the first quarter and they went into the halftime break down by just four points, 33-29. Weston Ranch, however, came out of the locker room inspired and made the appropriate adjustments and outscored Oakdale 33-9 in the third quarter. Oakdale only scored a total of 17 second half points in losing on the home court.
In their finale of the week, Oakdale played a Saturday afternoon game in Tracy against the Jaguars. In their competitive road game, Oakdale shot just 7-for-18 at the free throw line in the devastating league loss. Up 25-17 at the break and taking a 40-37 advantage into the fourth quarter, Oakdale was outscored 15-11 in the final frame. Senior John Foreman scored 23 points and Jonah Norman scored 13 points for the Mustangs.
The varsity boys continued their three game road trip this week when they took on Manteca on Tuesday, Jan. 22 following The Leader’s press time. The Buffaloes entered the game on a three-game winning streak (15-6, 4-1). On Thursday, Jan. 24 Oakdale will take on East Union (10-13, 1-6). In their meeting earlier in the season, East Union hit a buzzer beating three-pointer to defeat the Mustangs 55-53 at Oakdale. The squad returns home on Tuesday, Jan. 29 when they host Sierra (15-5, 3-3).
JUNIOR VARSITY
A thrilling 46-43 overtime road win over Central Catholic started the week off strong for Oakdale. The JV boys followed that up with a victory over Weston Ranch 63-39 but then fell to Kimball on the road, 62-53. In the loss to Kimball, Jason Rawe scored 23 points and Kaleb McDonald added 10.
FRESHMEN
The youngest Mustang boys team defeated Weston Ranch 64-35 at home. The Oakdale freshmen then fell to Kimball, 52-46.
