In their only league game of the week, Oakdale High School’s varsity girls basketball team fell short 52-41. Their home contest took place on Tuesday night, Jan. 7 as they hosted Sierra in a Valley Oak League showdown.
Sierra opened the game with an 8-0 run but Gaby Acosta broke the run when she got a steal and a layup with 4:28 remaining in the first quarter. Breanna Platt scored on a jumper to make it 9-4 with 2:36 left in the first quarter. Oakdale turned defense into offense when Cassidy Terry stole the ball and Acosta got a layup to bring Oakdale within 9-8 in the final minute of the first quarter. Oakdale took the lead for the first time of the night when Natalie Powell pulled down an offensive rebound and put it in to give Oakdale a 10-9 advantage with 49 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Sierra roared back to start the second quarter on an 14-0 run making it 23-10 with 3:21 left in the half, forcing an Oakdale timeout. Terry ended the slump for Oakdale when she made a pair of free throws with 1:21 left in the half. Oakdale trailed 28-13 at the break. All three points for Oakdale scored in the second quarter came at the free throw line as Terry scored two and Brielle Lee added one more.
In the second half, Powell made a pair of free throws with 4:21 left in the third quarter as Oakdale was down 32-22. They trailed 38-25 after the third quarter. Down 44-33 with 3:43 remaining in the game, Oakdale took a time out. Lee completed a three-point play as she was fouled while making a layup making the score 48-38 with 2:09 remaining in the game.
Oakdale chipped away but could not make up for the strong Sierra runs, taking the VOL loss.
Lee scored a team high 12 points, Acosta had 11 points and Powell scored nine.
Getting back on the court Thursday, Jan. 9, the Oakdale girls did win a non-league contest, taking down the Golden Valley Cougars out of Merced by a 44-32 decision.
The Lady Mustangs were slated to return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 14 when they hosted Mountain House and will travel to Central Catholic on Thursday, Jan. 16 for tip off at 7:30 p.m.
JV GIRLS
Oakdale’s JV girls battled hard but fell by a bucket to the visiting Golden Valley team, 27-25. Golden Valley had an 8-6 lead after the first quarter but Oakdale took a 13-12 lead at the break. Golden Valley went on an 8-2 run in the third, Oakdale countered with a 10-7 scoring edge in the fourth but came up a couple of points short in the scorebook.
