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Boys Hoops Teams Have Impressive Tournament Outings
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Jonah Norman, a junior, sends off the jumper in tournament action against Davis to open up the Oakdale Rotary Classic on Dec. 26. Norman was named to the All-Tournament Team. Jeremy Center/The Leader

A busy three day stretch for the Oakdale High School boys basketball program saw all three levels – freshmen, JV and varsity – involved in tournament competition.

The 49th annual Oakdale Rotary Club Holiday Classic began on Thursday, Dec. 26 and wrapped up on Saturday night, Dec. 28. Oakdale’s varsity boys finished in third place with a thrilling 43-40 victory over Ceres on Saturday night.

Oakdale began the tournament on Thursday night with a 59-37 victory over Grace Davis. Jonah Norman, who made All-Tournament honors, finished the opening round game with 20 points to lead all scorers. Michael Echavarria contributed 11 points, and a total of seven Mustang players scored in the game.

The following night Oakdale took on South Tahoe but fell 65-53.

In the finale on Saturday, in the third place game, Oakdale edged the Ceres Bulldogs behind Norman’s 23 points. Oakdale trailed 21-20 at halftime but used a 14-point third quarter to help boost the second half rally. Ceres had a final shot but missed it at the buzzer, allowing host Oakdale to come away with the third place honors from the tournament.

In the championship game, Ripon Christian got a tip-in at the final buzzer to defeat South Tahoe, 59-57, for the tournament title.

This week Oakdale’s varsity opens up Valley Oak League play. On Thursday, Jan. 2 the Mustangs travel to East Union to face the Lancers. Jan. 4, the boys host Manteca. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.

In junior varsity action, the Mustangs took first place in the three-day tournament as they defeated Grace Davis 66-27, Tokay 63-29 and in the thrilling finale Oakdale defeated Pitman 39-36.

“We knew it was going to be a tough and physical game going in and would be a great test for us against a really good team before league play,” said Oakdale JV head coach Kelly Power. “Our guys play so hard and I’m really proud that we were able to step up, compete at a high level and execute down the stretch to finish the game.”

In their opening round win, 11 different JV Mustangs scored to carry them over Grace Davis. Johnny Wylie scored a game high 13 points and Jonathan Kraude scored a dozen. Against Tokay, Wylie scored 16 points and Jacob Guignard added seven points. In the championship game Wylie scored 10 points while Brecken Campbell scored nine points.

The junior varsity team opens up league play on Jan. 2 at East Union and their home opener will be on Saturday, Jan. 4. The games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

The freshmen played in the Grace Davis tournament between Christmas and New Year and took third place. They fell to Ceres in the opening round 52-26 but rebounded with a 42-26 win over Calaveras and a 41-31 win over host Grace Davis. Looking ahead to VOL play, the Oakdale frosh boys will take on East Union on Jan. 2 at 4 p.m. and host Manteca on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 4 p.m.

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Sophomore Jake Kettering goes up high against the Davis defenders during opening round competition in the three-day Oakdale Rotary Classic hosted at OHS from Dec. 26 through 28. Jeremy Center/The Leader