On Tuesday night, Dec. 17 the Oakdale High School girls basketball team hosted Buhach Colony. The non-conference showdown saw Oakdale lead from start to finish and as the final buzzer sounded it was Oakdale walking off the floor with a 51-15 victory.
The Lady Mustangs started off fast as Gabby Acosta earned an assist when she found Breanna Platt for a basket for the first points of the game with 7:06 left in the first quarter. Cassidy Taylor hit on a mid-range jumper to go up 7-0 with 4:41 remaining in the opening quarter resulting in a time out for the visitors. The 7-0 Mustang run was broken up on a free throw with 4:02 to play in the first quarter. Terry then dished an assist to Natalie Powell in the paint for a basket to extend the Mustangs lead to 11-1. Buhach Colony scored their only field goal of the first quarter as the final buzzer sounded. Oakdale led 15-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The Thunder carried some momentum to start the second quarter as they went on a 6-0 run to make it 15-7; but the run came to an end when Acosta scored on a layup with 5:39 remaining in the half. Acosta continued to share the ball and found Powell down low for another basket with 3:38 left to play in the half and gave Oakdale a 22-7 lead. Acosta finished the half off with a pair of free throws to send Oakdale into the locker room with a 34-10 lead. Acosta had four assists in the first half and Powell had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the first half for Oakdale.
Oakdale’s defense continued to punish the Thunder as the visitors did not score a point until the 6:37 mark in the third quarter.
“I think we rebounded well tonight and made some key stops as well,” said Oakdale head coach Kelly Nasrawi. “These types of games help build our confidence and allow us to use our strength (which is rebound and play down low). I think we can use this as a building opportunity moving forward in the preseason and into league play.”
Oakdale was scheduled to close out the preseason this week at home against West. They open Valley Oak League play on Thursday, Jan. 2 against East Union.
Soccer Girls
The 2024-2025 Valley Oak League soccer season is upon us. For the Oakdale High School Lady Mustangs, it was a successful opener as Oakdale shut out Manteca 4-0. The opener was held on Monday, Dec. 16 when they hosted the Buffaloes. Oakdale scored two in the first half and followed up with a pair in the second half to put away the visitors.
A trio of freshmen helped lead the way for Oakdale as Kaia Cox, Ceci Cotton and Ashlyn Splettstoesser all scored goals in the win. The other goal came from sophomore Dakota Burford. Oakdale was passing the ball the well as three of the four goals came off an assist. Assists were made by Kaela Dahm, Taylor Lemke and Jocelyn Gradilla.
In between the posts for Oakdale were Avery Alves and Cassidy Mitchell.
On Wednesday, Dec. 18 the girls hosted Golden Valley in a non-league showdown. It was a 4-0 home win for Oakdale. Shelby Mitchell, Kyleigh Melconian, Burford and Splettstoesser all scored goals for Oakdale. Gradilla had a pair of assists, and Mitchell and Burford each added one for Oakdale. Both Mitchell and Alves had a pair of saves as goaltenders.
Oakdale will return to Valley Oak League action on Jan. 8 when they host Sierra; the girls are off until then for the holiday break.
Soccer Boys
Oakdale played their second Valley Oak League match on Thursday, Dec. 19 at Sierra. There, they lost to the Wolves 4-0. The Mustangs are now 1-1 in league play and will be off for the next couple of weeks with the holiday break. Oakdale returns to league play on Tuesday, Jan. 7 when they travel to Modesto to play the Central Catholic Raiders.
Wrestling
This past weekend Oakdale High School wrestling was represented in the Reno Tournament of Champions. The event took place Friday and Saturday, Dec. 20 and Dec. 21. Oakdale had three grapplers place in the top eight. Gideon Gerber, Wes Burford and Jesse Meza all took home medals.
Gerber placed second among 175-pound wrestlers. He lost to Isal Fernandez of St. John Bosco. Gerber won his first match 12-1, then advanced with scores of 3-0, 10-1, 6-3 and reached the finals with a 3-0 victory.
Burford finished in third place among 215-pound wrestlers with victories of 3-0, 7-0, 3-0 and 12-1. He lost 22-5 to end his weekend.
Meza, who wrestles in the 144-pound division; placed eighth to round out the weekend for the Mustangs.
Oakdale will now shift gears to their next event which is set for Friday, Jan. 3 when they travel to the Doc Buchanan Invitational at Clovis High School.
