Oakdale High varsity boys basketball coach Jeremy Fields had a hunch the football team was in for a long postseason when he scheduled most of his preseason action for late in the year.

Good call.

Oakdale’s football program finished its16th and final game of the season at the state championship on Saturday, finally surrendering basketball athletes to Fields’ care for an array of nonleague contests as the Mustangs prepare for Valley Oak League play.

Oakdale’s basketball squad is 3-3 thus far in the 2012-13 season.

The team fell just 49-47 to visiting Atwater on Dec. 12, but rebounded with a 55-48 victory over host Pacheco two days later after a 35-point second half.

Austin Archuletta scored 20 points against Pacheco while Devin Donahue added 16 points in the win. Shaun Baxter chipped in 11 points while Gerardo Esparza added five and Kyle Osborne a lone three-point bucket.

Against Atwater, Oakdale scored 23 second-half points to come just short of the Falcons’ point total. Donahue led the team with 15 points while Baxter added 14 and Archuletta 13. Octavio Padilla (three) and Dylan Farquhar (two) also found the net.

Oakdale plays in the Ceres Tournament from Thursday, Dec. 20 to Saturday, Dec. 22 and opens the host Oakdale Rotary Classic on Thursday, Dec. 27.