Oakdale High School’s varsity basketball girls recently took the court for the final time this season.
On Monday, Feb. 4 the girls hosted Weston Ranch in their final home game and then traveled to Tracy to take on Kimball in the season finale. Oakdale dropped both games, on the short end of scores of 53-47 and 59-43.
In their home game, two seniors were recognized for their contributions to the program. Grace Higle and Madelyn Ruthman were the two seniors on the team and both made a big impact on the team’s success and helped provide guidance for younger players. In the home loss, Higle had a dozen points and Ruthman added six.
The Lady Mustangs (14-14, 2-10) hosted Weston Ranch (12-14, 5-7) in the final home game. The visiting Cougars opened the game on an 11-3 run and did not look back. A layup by Amber Robinson broke up the run at 3:26 left in the first quarter. Turnovers haunted Oakdale early in the game but the team took better care of the ball as the game went on.
Oakdale trailed the whole game and by as many as 11 in the contest. The Lady Mustangs did make it interesting at times as they did bring the deficit down to single digits in the second half.
Kayden Legan was the team’s leading scorer with 17. Her most impressive stretch of the game came in the fourth quarter were she scored 11 points in under two minutes of play. Legan’s offensive outburst got the home crowd fans on their feet as the score was 49-47 with 3:25 remaining in the game. Oakdale did not make another basket in the final 3:25, however, unable to complete the comeback. Legan scored all eleven of the team’s points in the final frame.
In their last game of the season, a slow start doomed the Lady Mustangs. Down 18-2 to end the first quarter, Oakdale trailed 25-14 at the half and 47-28 after three quarters. In her final high school game, Higle finished with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. Legan completed her season scoring a team high 15 points, and added four rebounds and three steals against the Valley Oak League champion Jaguars (22-5, 10-2).
JUNIOR VARSITY
The junior varsity girls basketball team won the 2018-2019 Valley Oak League championship as they defeated Weston Ranch 46-29. Abby Cogburn scored a game high 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Aiden Hill added 14 points and Madison Jones helped with seven points, six rebounds and four steals. Two days later the girls defeated Kimball 60-32 on the road. Up 32-27 at the half, the JV Lady Mustangs defense held the host team to just five points in the second half. Hill had a game high 21 points while Cogburn fell just short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Jones pulled down 14 rebounds and added eight points in the win. Oakdale finished the season 22-7 overall and a perfect 12-0 in Valley Oak League action.
FRESHMEN
The girls capped off their first season of high school action with a pair of wins. The girls defeated Weston Ranch 53-34 and had a 32-24 road win over Kimball. In the home win over Weston Ranch, Ruby Fink had 21 points and Savannah Borba had 15 points. In the road win Borba had a dozen points and Hannah Beth Norman added six. The girls finished with a 19-9 overall record and were 7-5 in league play.
