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Two Road Games, Two Losses For Varsity Mustang Hoopsters
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Freshman Omar Baez leaps into the air for this basket against East Union on the road. DENNIS D. CRUZ/THE LEADER
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Trying to pry the ball away from this Lancer late in the fourth quarter were Payton Bradford and Wyatt Waterworth. DENNIS D. CRUZ/THE LEADER

The woes just continue for the Oakdale High School varsity boys basketball team in league play.

The Mustangs (14-10, 0-8) have yet to find a way to win in the Valley Oak League this season. The varsity boys played a pair of games in Manteca this past week, coming up short in both road contests. On Tuesday, Jan. 22 the boys played at Manteca (16-7, 5-2) and lost by a 59-48 decision. In the loss, Oakdale led 26-22 at the half and were down 39-38 entering the fourth quarter. John Foreman, a senior, scored a team high 20 points and sophomore guard Jonah Norman added nine points.

Thursday, Jan. 24 the boys returned to action to take on East Union (12-13, 3-6). Earlier, Oakdale fell to the Lancers in the regular season opener 55-53 on a heartbreaking three-pointer at the buzzer. However, three weeks later, the Mustangs ended up on the short end of the scoreboard once again. This time, the Lancers defeated the Mustangs 61-44.

Oakdale opened the game with a quick three point basket by senior Jeff Crawley, and seconds later freshman guard Kobe Nunes knocked down a long three to give Oakdale a 6-0 lead to start the contest. East Union answered back with a 13-2 run and led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter. Oakdale would climb back into the contest and a three point basket by Foreman tied the game at 24 with 3:29 left in the half. With less than 10 seconds remaining in the half, Nunes fired off a three point basket to tie the game once again at 29. As time was running out on the half East Union’s Christian Cuevas connected on a jumper to give the Lancers a 31-29 halftime lead.

The third quarter was not kind to the Mustangs. They made one field goal in the quarter and scored a total of four points. The disastrous third quarter was made worse when they got into quick foul trouble. East Union outscored the Mustangs 16-4 in that frame and Oakdale racked up seven personal fouls. The fourth quarter saw more of the same as the team had eight more personal fouls, including Foreman fouling out with a team high 16 points. By the end of the contest Oakdale racked up 15 personal fouls to East Union’s five.

The Mustangs hosted Sierra (15-7, 5-2) on Tuesday, Jan. 29 following The Leader’s press time. Earlier in the season the Timberwolves defeated Oakdale 67-35. Oakdale has three games remaining on their schedule as they will travel to Weston Ranch (21-1, 6-0) on Saturday, Feb. 2. Then they will finish the season at home as they host Kimball (11-12, 3-5) on Tuesday, Feb. 5 and wrap up the season on Friday, Feb. 8 when they host Central Catholic (17-7, 7-1). That night will be Senior Night where Oakdale will honor John Foreman, Jeff Crawley, Wyatt Waterworth, Sam Medlin and Evan Brush.

 

JUNIOR VARSITY

Oakdale split a pair of road league games this past week. On Jan. 22, Oakdale suffered a 41-40 loss to Manteca. Jason Rawe had 15 points and Kaleb McDonald added 13. The Mustangs bounced back with a 58-35 win over East Union where they never trailed and had a 30-15 halftime advantage. McDonald scored a game high 13 points and Rawe added a dozen.

 

FRESHMEN

Two games, two wins for the young basketball team. Oakdale defeated Manteca 58-51 behind Charlie Cripe’s 14 points. Omar Baez scored 11 and Landon Nunes added 10. On Thursday night, the frosh boys went to East Union and won 51-43 over the Lancers. Late free throws by Oakdale helped them pull away from the home team. John Kraude had a dozen points to lead the freshmen to the win.