The Oakdale varsity girls basketball team traveled to Turlock for a three-day tournament this past week. The Lady Mustangs went to Turlock for the sixth annual Pitman Holiday Classic Tournament. Oakdale fell to Livermore on Thursday, Dec. 27 in the opening round 51-48 but regrouped and defeated Central Valley 46-23 the following day. They closed out the tourney with a 50-44 loss to Merced on Saturday, finishing in sixth place.

In the opening round, Oakdale had a six point lead at the half but could not sustain the momentum in the second half.

Krista Anderson connected on a jumper with 2:01 left in the first half to give Oakdale a 25-16 advantage. Livermore took their first lead of the game with 5:19 left in the third quarter when they went up 32-31. Their lead did not last too long as Oakdale’s Amber Robinson connected on a midway jumper to give Oakdale a 33-32 advantage. The Lady Mustangs led 42-32 after three quarters. Robinson tied the game at 46 with 3:12 left to play on a reverse layup. She finished the game with 10 points. Later in the quarter, Anderson made a long jump shot to bring Oakdale within one (49-48) with 23.8 seconds left to play. Anderson finished her day with six points. On the team’s final possession, Oakdale turned the ball over and lost the game 51-48. Alicia Platt led the team with 16 points.

The next day, Oakdale made short work of Central Valley. Grace Higle scored a game high 18 points and Kayden Legan scored eight points in the win.

Higle paced the effort against Merced on Saturday, putting in 17 points in the loss, and Platt was also in double figures with 13. Legan added eight more to the team total.

Teams participating included Oakdale, Lodi, Sonora, Hughson, Pitman, Merced, Central Valley and Livermore.