It was a winning home performance; Oakdale High School’s varsity basketball boys defeated Enochs 69-62 on Dec. 9. The Mustangs were led by Bryce Busam with 33 points. The junior guard punished the visitors from the perimeter, the paint and at the free throw line. Busam made eight free throws on the night as part of his point total.
The first bucket of the evening came when Griffin Galuppi pulled down two offensive rebounds and then made a short distance basket with 6:08 to play in the opening quarter. Enochs went on an 8-0 run but Busam put an end to the drought when he connected on a layup to make it 8-4 with 3:49 left in the first quarter. Oakdale took the lead on a Busam three-point shot from the corner to go up 9-8 with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter. But Enochs then made a run and Oakdale trailed 14-9 after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw Oakdale outscore the Eagles 20-15. Oakdale tied the game at 14 when Busam hit a deep three with 7:27 left in the half and then gave Oakdale a 17-14 advantage when he hit another corner three-point shot seconds later. Busam shared the wealth as well when he stole the ball and then got an assist when he found Niki Jones for a layup to extend the lead to 24-16 forcing an Enochs time out. Galuppi got the home crowd on their feet when he stole the ball at mid court and took it hard to the paint for a layup to make it a 26-18 lead for Oakdale with 4:31 remaining in the half. The Eagles went on a run and tied the game at 29 with less than a minute to play in the half and the game went into halftime with a 29-29 game.
In the third, with the Mustangs down by six, Charles Benninger hit a deep three from the top of the key to cut it down to 46-43 with 1:12 left in the third quarter. Busam gave Oakdale a 47-46 lead when he completed a three-point play after being fouled on a layup with 44.4 left in the third quarter. Galuppi hit a buzzer beater to give Oakdale a 50-48 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Jones gave Oakdale a 56-48 lead when he powered his way through the lane for a layup with 5:22 left in regulation. Gavin Wyatt connected on both of his free throw attempts to extend the lead to 58-51 with 4:43 left to play. Busam continued his big night when he hit a corner three with just over two minutes to play giving Oakdale a 65-56 lead. Donavyn Hernandez put things out of reach for Enochs when he stole the inbound pass and layup to make it a 66-59 lead with 43.9 seconds left.
Oakdale then competed in a tournament at Pebble Beach over the weekend. The Mustangs lost to Rio Americano 78-67 in overtime to start the tournament. They finished the trip on a strong note, notching a pair of victories by defeating Templeton 84-45 and Stevenson 63-28.
They also roared past Los Banos on Dec. 15, taking a 92-53 victory, and are scheduled to host McNair on Thursday, Dec. 18 before going to the Chavez Tournament for Dec. 19 and 20 contests. They will host Sonora on Dec. 23.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Oakdale’s varsity girls took a loss to Rio Americano on Dec. 11, falling by a 58-43 final. The next day, they took the court and battled but fell short to Templeton, 46-38. They closed out their busy week with a Dec. 13 win over Stevenson, 48-35. Next up, they are scheduled to be at Golden Valley on Thursday, Dec. 18 and host Calaveras on Dec. 19 before traveling to Turlock for a Dec. 22 contest.
WRESTLING
At the James Riddle Memorial Tournament hosted at Oakdale on Saturday, Dec. 13, a trio of Mustangs came away with championships. Griffin Gerber, at 170 pounds; Xander Birakos at 190; and Matthew Cooley at 285 pounds were all winners of the tournament belts for first place performances.
Taking second were Brooklyn Harper, 126; Jake Simmons, 132; Wes Burford, 215 pounds. Third place honors went to Zeke Hernandez at 120 pounds. Also, Cody Soares was fourth at 175, with Zeke Meza fifth at 157 and Jesse Meza fifth at 165. At 106 pounds, Grant Dixon placed sixth and Israel Mercado also placed sixth at 157 pounds. Avery Jones was a seventh-place finisher in the 144-pound bracket, Niko Birakos was eighth in the 144-pound division.
The tournament brought together many of the top wrestlers in the region for the competition.
SOCCER
As the end of the year approaches, the Oakdale varsity boys soccer team has one more game on the schedule for 2025, as they prepare to host Summerville on Thursday, Dec. 18. They then have a break from competition for the holiday period, getting back into action on Tuesday, Jan. 6 as they host the Sierra Timberwolves in Valley Oak League play.
The varsity soccer Lady Mustangs, meanwhile, have had a break from the pitch in terms of games, though practices continue. They are scheduled to host Sierra on Wednesday, Dec. 17 to open up Valley Oak League play.
Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.
