The 2024-25 regular season came to an end for Oakdale when the varsity Mustang basketball boys split a pair of road contests. On Wednesday night, Feb. 12 the boys defeated Patterson 51-45 but later in the week they came up short at Mountain House 47-41.
At Patterson, Griffin Galuppi’s steal and layup gave the Mustangs a quick 2-0 lead. Gavin Wyatt scored on a long three point shot to give Oakdale a 7-2 advantage with 4:41 left in the first quarter. Galuppi connected on a pair of free throws to go up 11-5 with 1:15 left in the first quarter. Oakdale had an 11-8 lead after the opening frame.
Bryce Busam’s assist to Jake Norris in the paint extended the Mustangs lead to 13-8 with 7:46 left in the first half. A Niki Jones steal and layup made it 19-13 with 4:22 left in the half. Oakdale went into the break up by a score of 26-18.
The strong effort continued by the Mustangs as Norris completed a three-point play at the free throw line to take a nine-point advantage 34-25 with 4:17 remaining in the third quarter. Busam’s assist to Norris made it a 38-29 Mustang lead with 2:14 left to play in the third quarter. Busam hit a deep three at the top of the key giving Oakdale a 41-28 lead with 1:16 left to play in the quarter and the visitors entered the fourth quarter with a 41-33 lead.
The Tigers went on an 9-0 run before Jones hit a floater in the lane to stop the run with 3:18 left in regulation for a 43-37 lead. Noah Zepeda hit a corner three for the Mustangs with 1:21 left to play, going up 46-39. Norris put the game out of reach as he climbed the ladder for a tip in following a miss to give Oakdale a 48-41 lead with less than a minute to play. Beau Kesterson put the finishing touches on the night as he knocked down a pair of free throws with 16.1 seconds left in regulation.
Three Mustangs scored in double figures as Jones had a game high 14 points. Norris and Zepeda each scored 10 in the win.
Friday night, Feb. 14, the varsity fell just a few points short against the Mountain House Mustangs.
Much like the varsity, Oakdale’s junior varsity split their final two games. Oakdale earned a big road win over Patterson 63-36 but fell to Mountain House 69-46. The freshman team won 58-26 at Patterson.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Oakdale’s varsity Lady Mustangs ended their season this past week, losing a pair of contests on the road. On Tuesday, Feb. 11 Oakdale lost at Patterson 50-21 and that contest was followed up with a Valentine’s Day heartbreaker loss at Mountain House, falling 61-20.
Oakdale took on the Tigers on Tuesday evening. They started the night out strong as the Mustangs had a 6-5 lead in the opening quarter before they went cold. To start the night Oakdale’s Cassidy Terry connected on a long three to give Oakdale a 3-2 lead with 7:02 left in the first quarter. Samantha Powell used her size to overcome a pair of Patterson players down in the paint and pulled down three offensive rebounds and made a basket down low to give Oakdale a 5-4 lead with 5:38 remaining in the first quarter. Skye Braaten dished out an assist to Terry to regain the lead 6-5 with late in the first quarter. Just before the end of the quarter Patterson connected on a long three pointer to end the quarter with a 13-8 advantage. The Tigers roared their way to a 15-0 run that came to an end when Braaten connected on a free throw midway through the second quarter. Oakdale trailed 26-9 at halftime.
Oakdale’s first field goal of the second half came when Terry hit a mid-range jumper, it was Oakdale’s first field goal since late in the first quarter. After Oakdale missed a free throw attempt, Natalie Powell was quick to get the rebound and basket to make it 33-13 with 3:02 left in the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter Oakdale was down 39-15. Sophomore Audrey Clark hit a couple of buckets for Oakdale late but the Lady Mustangs could not close the gap.
Terry and Natalie Powell had a team high six points apiece. Clark had four points and three rebounds.
The Mustangs finished the regular season with a 9-19 overall record and went 1-11 in Valley Oak League play, their lone league victory coming against Manteca on Jan. 28.
The JV girls also lost both games this week. A 35-17 road loss at Patterson was followed by a 52-17 road loss at Mountain House. The freshmen also suffered two losses to end their season. Oakdale lost 29-17 at Patterson and 48-33 at Mountain House.
