After more than 30 seasons without a playoff win and more than 20 seasons since their last appearance in the postseason, that changed this year for the Oakdale High School varsity boys basketball team.
The Mustang boys earned a play-in game for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III Tournament.
Oakdale hosted Los Banos for the Feb. 18 play-in game. In front of a large crowd, the Mustangs cruised to a 74-56 victory. The host squad never trailed in the game. Niki Jones got things going for Oakdale when he made a basket in the lane and finished the three-point play at the free throw line to give Oakdale a 3-0 lead. The Mustangs added to their lead when Jake Norris connected on a corner three and seconds later Griffin Galuppi got a layup on a fast break to go up 8-2 with 5:59 left in the first quarter. Los Banos roared back and tied the game at 10 but Oakdale went on a 7-0 run to end the first quarter. Beau Kesterson connected on a deep three pointer just before the first quarter ended and Oakdale held a 17-10 lead. Norris doubled the Mustangs’ lead 20-10 when he hit a deep three-pointer seconds into the second quarter. Oakdale’s run continued when Galuppi spun around a pair of Los Banos players in the paint for a layup to go up 24-10 with 5:22 left in the half. Los Banos ended the run when they hit a corner three with 5:02 left in the half to make it 24-13. Minutes later Oakdale went up 31-16 when Noah Zepeda hit a corner three. Oakdale entered the half with a commanding 39-20 advantage as Charles Benninger hit a deep three at the horn.
Oakdale continued to thrive in the second half as Jones had a fast break layup to give Oakdale a 48-30 advantage. Bryce Busam got the Mustang home crowd on their feet when he stole the ball and scored on a layup to give Oakdale 58-33 advantage with 2:34 left in the third quarter. Busam continued to have an impressive quarter when he scored on an offensive rebound and put back at the buzzer and Oakdale entered the fourth quarter with a 58-33 lead.
In the fourth quarter Oakdale’s Noa Conception scored on back-to-back buckets to go up 65-36 with 5:38 left in regulation. Jacob Cavanaugh hit a deep three with less than four minutes left to play to give Oakdale a 70-46 lead.
“This was a special night, for sure,” said Busam following the game. “All day long we looked forward to this and to play as well as we did is very rewarding.”
Busam had a game high 14 points.
The next night Oakdale went to Sacramento to face off against the top seeded Christian Brothers Falcons where their postseason came to an end with a 71-47 road loss in the DIII opening round. Down 2-0 Gavin Wyatt tied the game with 6:18 left in the first quarter. Christian Brothers went on a 12-0 run that was broken up by Wyatt with a layup late in the first quarter. Wyatt scored all four Mustang points in the first quarter and Oakdale faced a 14-4 hole entering the second quarter. Late in the second quarter, Norris made a pair of free throws to make it 18-8. Minutes later Norris made a layup but Oakdale faced a 30-13 halftime deficit.
In the second half, Norris got an offensive rebound and was quick to put it in the basket to make it a 30-15 game with 7:07 left in the third quarter. Zepeda hit a deep three to go down 33-18 with 6:08 left in the third quarter. With 4:17 left in the third, Busam completed a three-point play at the free throw line to make it 39-23. Jones’ offensive rebound and putback made it 45-30 with 1:51 left in the third quarter. Jones then made a pair of free throws late but the Mustangs were down 51-34.
Fourth quarter scoring included Zepeda making two-out-of-three free throws; a Jacob Kindrick three-point play; Cavanaugh dishing out an assist to Norris; and Norris hitting a deep three late in the game to close out the Oakdale scoring.
Top seed Christian Brothers, however, prevailed by the 71-47 final to end the season for Oakdale. The Mustangs were 14-15 for the campaign.
