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Lady Mustangs Drop Fifth Straight Game
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Senior Emery Sipe made her presence felt on both sides of the court against Lathrop. Sipe, shown setting a screen for teammate Sarah Bohrer (20) during the fourth quarter, scored eight points, pulled down eight rebounds and added two steals for Oakdale. DENNIS D. CRUZ/THE LEADER

 

The varsity Lady Mustangs basketball program fell to a pair of Valley Oak League opponents this week, dropping them to 8-12 overall and 1-7 in league play. Oakdale’s woes came on a 47-39 home loss to Lathrop and a heartbreaking 56-53 road loss to Central Catholic. As a result, Oakdale has now lost five straight league games with five games left in the regular season.

In their home game against Lathrop, junior Kristen Murphy tied the game at six with an offensive rebound and put back early in the first quarter. Murphy finished with two points, six rebounds and a steal for Oakdale. Sophomore Sara Bohrer gave the Lady Mustangs a 10-8 advantage with a left handed lay up with 2:41 left in the first quarter. With the game tied at 13 after the first quarter, Lathrop opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run. Senior Micaela Maaske overpowered two Lady Spartans with a lay up in traffic to stop the run. Lathrop outscored Oakdale 14-5 in the quarter to take a 27-18 halftime lead.

Second half adjustments were made and Oakdale’s defense held Lathrop to five third quarter points. Bohrer scored six of her team high 14 points in the third quarter as she connected on two three-point shots to close the gap to 30-28 with 2:03 left in the third quarter. The Mustangs entered the fourth quarter down 32-28.

Senior guard Colleen Ibasco slashed her way through the lane for a reverse lay up to bring the score to 35-33 Lathrop with 4:29 remaining in the game. Bohrer continued to stay hot from long range as the sophomore hit her fourth three-pointer of the evening to give Oakdale their first lead of the game since early in the first quarter, to take a 36-35 lead with 3:41 remaining in the game. Oakdale’s lead was short lived as Lathrop connected on back-to-back three’s to regain the lead 41-36 with 2:33 left. The deficit was too much to overcome, and Oakdale’s final field goal came on an Ibasco jumper with 1:04 left to play in the game. Ibasco finished with eight points and two rebounds.

Following The Leader’s press time, Oakdale hosted two more VOL games. On Monday, Feb. 1 Oakdale hosted Sierra, and on Tuesday, Feb. 2 the team welcomed Weston Ranch. The Lady Mustangs defeated Weston Ranch 56-50 earlier in the season for their lone league win.

This week Oakdale will travel to Kimball on Friday, Feb. 5 and on Tuesday, Feb. 9 the girls will host Manteca. Tip off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. for both games.

 

Junior Varsity

The Lady Mustangs fell to the undefeated Lathrop Spartans on Tuesday, Jan. 26. Oakdale battled but could not overcome the Lady Spartans as the JV fell 39-21. The girls clashed with Central Catholic on Thursday night, Jan. 28 but no scores or stats were reported by The Leader’s press time. The girls also hosted a pair of VOL games on Monday and Tuesday night, Feb. 1 and Feb. 2. Their next game will be Thursday, Feb. 4 when they host Kimball. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.

 

Freshmen

The freshman girls hit the hardwood for a pair of home games this past week. On Tuesday night the girls fell to Lathrop 36-32. Oakdale trailed 18-11 at the break and stormed back to take a two point fourth quarter lead, but could not close it out. Caroline Hamilton and Bethany Metcalfe each had eight points for the youngest of the Lady Mustangs. Teammates Madelyn Ruthman and Erika Nichols each added seven points. Two days later the girls earned a 29-12 victory over Central Catholic. Brianna Montoya led the way for Oakdale with 12 points, while Hamilton turned in an eight-point and nine-rebound performance. Nichols passed the ball well for Oakdale and dished out four assists. Metcalfe showed off her defensive skills with five steals. Oakdale is in the midst of a four game home stand that began on Monday night against Sierra. Oakdale will host Kimball on Thursday night with tipoff sch