In a non-conference varsity girls basketball game, Oakdale defeated the visiting Pitman Pride, 60-36. The game took place on Monday evening, Dec. 8. Oakdale never trailed in the home win.
The Lady Mustangs started the game off on an 8-0 run; including a fast break layup by Xitlaly Hernandez with 6:01 to play in the first quarter. Pitman then called a time out with 5:36 left in the first quarter. Following the time out, Pitman connected on a pair of three-point field goals to make it a 10-6 game with 2:13 left in the opening period and the Mustangs took a time out. Oakdale led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Brielle Lee powered her way through the paint and made it 20-15 with 5:12 remaining in the half. Less than 90 seconds later; Avery Gleason pulled down a rebound and used her speed to go up court and connected on a midrange jumper to extend the Lady Mustangs advantage to 29-17. Oakdale took a 35-20 lead into the locker room.
Natalie Powell helped keep the Mustangs momentum alive in the second half as she pulled down an offensive rebound and followed up with a basket to go up 41-22 with 5:18 left in the third quarter. Delilah Salas got the home crowd on their feet when she connected on a basket in the paint over two Pride players and their hands in her face with 1:21 left in the third quarter and gave the Mustangs a 20-point advantage. Claire Tolboe hit a buzzer beater as time expired in the third quarter to give Oakdale a 49-31 lead.
Gleason scored on a layup with 3:38 left in the game and made it 52-36. In the final minutes of the game Keira Kirkpatrick took over. She worked both ends of the floor as she came away with a steal and took it to the other end of the floor for a layup. She followed that up with the final points of the night when she connected on a long jumper with 16.4 left in regulation for the victory. Kirpatrick finished with 16 points. Powell scored 12 and added seven rebounds.
Oakdale improved to 7-1 on the young season following Monday night’s win.
Their only loss so far has come to East Union in preseason play, 49-28, while they have put solid wins on the books against Beyer, Hughson, Ripon (two wins), Sonora, and Beyer in addition to Pitman.
Oakdale will return to the court in tournament play beginning on Dec. 11.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Putting together a stellar start to the season themselves, the varsity Mustang basketball boys are outscoring their opponents by a large margin, with multiple players in double figures each game.
They have taken a 116-45 win over Rio Vista, 98-56 over Chowchilla, 96-29 against Waterford and a 77-45 win over Foothill.
After four games, the Mustangs were undefeated and were averaging 96.8 points per game. Leading the way has been Bryce Busam, averaging 27.2 points per game with a team high 34 against Rio Vista. He also had 30 against Chowchilla, 24 in the win over Watford and 21 against Foothill, leading scorer for his team in all four games. Donavyn Hernandez, Charles Benninger, Griffin Galuppi, and Niki Jones have all consistently been in double figures as well.
GIRLS SOCCER
Taking third place in their own Mustang Tournament recently, the varsity soccer girls are playing hard right out of the gate. They have had a couple of ties so far, against Sonora and Gregori, while crafting wins over Grace Davis, Central Valley, and Buhach Colony. In tourney play, they also battled El Capitan to a 3-3 regulation tie but got the win by a 4-2 verdict in the shootout.
BOYS SOCCER
Oakdale’s varsity soccer boys have had a busy preseason and have put a few wins on the books along the way. They have defeated Waterford, Sonora and Mountain House but have taken losses to Ripon (two times), Summerville, Delhi, Lodi and Linden.
Sports reporter Dennis D. Cruz and Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.
