Oakdale’s varsity girls basketball team hit the road this week for a pair of Valley Oak League contests. On Tuesday, Jan. 24 the Lady Mustangs (12-9, 2-6) visited the first place Manteca Buffaloes (11-9, 8-0). Oakdale led 14-13 at the half, but struggled in the second half. Manteca outscored the Lady Mustangs 15-4 in the third quarter and did not let up. Zoe Gillen posted a double-double for Oakdale scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 boards in the loss. Krissy Lolonis also turned in an impressive stat line scoring nine points, eight assists and recording three steals.

Two nights later, Oakdale headed back to Manteca to take on East Union (15-6, 4-4). The Lady Mustangs squeaked out a 36-33 road win to earn their second league win this season. Grace Higle scored 10 points and added six rebounds and four assists. Sarah Borher and Lononis each scored seven points, and Gillen dominated the defensive side of the ball pulling down 11 rebounds and collecting five steals.

“Our team plays incredibly hard every night; however, against East Union they not only played hard, but they played smart as well. Our team executed the game plan very well and implemented the changes we made in practice,” second year varsity coach Julie Ford said. “Most notably, our two sophomore guards stepped up and combined for 17 points and took excellent care of the ball even amidst full court man pressure the duration of the game, and we had an excellent team defensive performance. The entire team contributed to the win, and it truly was a group effort that is indicative of the unselfish and hard-working team they are.”

The Lady Mustangs hosted Sierra (2-18, 0-8) on Tuesday night, Jan. 31 following The Leader’s press time. Oakdale travels to Weston Ranch (8-11, 2-6) on Thursday night with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Oakdale hosts Lathrop (12-8, 2-6) on Saturday, Feb. 4 with a 7 p.m. tipoff time. The Lady Mustangs will also host Kimball (15-6, 6-2) on Tuesday night, Feb. 7 with a 7 p.m. tipoff.

JUNIOR VARSITY

Oakdale’s junior varsity girls split their two road VOL games this past week. On Tuesday night the girls defeated Manteca 41-33 and then lost to East Union 58-47 on Thursday night.

FRESHMEN

The youngest of the three female hoops squads for Oakdale fell to Manteca on the road 41-15.