Friday night, Feb. 2, Oakdale’s varsity basketball boys squared off against Sierra in Valley Oak League action. The Oakdale student section was loud, the stands from both sides were full of energy and Pete Simoncini was courtside to call the thrilling action. In the VOL contest, it was Sierra outlasting Oakdale 62-57 in double-overtime.
Prior to tipoff Oakdale senior Bryson Boyd was honored during Senior Night 2024. Boyd was the team’s only senior. In true Senior Night fashion, he scored the first four points of the night for the home team Mustangs. He finished the game with a dozen total points. With 56.3 seconds left in the first quarter Noah Zepeda connected on a long three-point field goal to tie the game at 14. Sierra led 18-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Gavin Wyatt got the student section on their feet when he blocked Tim Sarginson with 5:27 left in the half. Sierra opened the quarter on an 8-0 run; it was broken up by a three-point field goal by Jake Norris with 3:11 left in the half. Norris had 12 points on the night. Sierra took a 30-24 lead into the locker room.
Oakdale’s offense was ice cold to start the second half, zero points until the 3:06 mark in the third quarter when Jacob Cavanaugh hit a three-point field goal ending an 11-0 Sierra run. Oakdale trailed 43-29 at the end of third quarter.
It did not take long for Oakdale to turn things around in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs scored five unanswered points in the first 59 seconds of the quarter, forcing a time out by Sierra. A pair of free throws by Cavanaugh made it 43-41 with 3:31 left in regulation. Sierra’s Josh Seals stopped the scoring drought for the visitors with 3:20 to play. The drought lasted four minutes and 40 seconds, and a 12-0 Mustang run. Down 47-45 with 28.2 seconds left, Oakdale’s Cavanaugh was called for traveling. Sierra’s Emil Esperanza had a chance to put away Oakdale from the free throw line but missed both free throw attempts with 20 seconds left. With two seconds left in regulation, Gavin Wyatt tied the game at the buzzer with a layup to force overtime with the teams tied at 47 points each. Oakdale outscored the visiting Timberwolves 18-4 in the fourth quarter.
Sierra started the first overtime period on a 4-0 run. Norris missed a free throw attempt, but Boyd pulled down the offensive rebound and putback basket to make it 51-50 Sierra with 2:45 remaining. A steal by Jacob Kindrick and corner three by Wyatt gave Oakdale a 53-51 advantage with 1:46 left, it was Oakdale’s first lead since the first quarter.
Sierra had a 59-57 lead with less than a minute left in the second overtime period and Esperanza stole the ball but was called for traveling, giving Oakdale another opportunity. Down 60-57 with 16.5 seconds left, Oakdale saw Esperanza steal the inbound Mustang pass and he then connected on a Sierra layup to close out the game.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
A pair of league losses for the Lady Mustangs went on the books in recent play. Early in the week, Oakdale fell to East Union on the road 47-31. Brooke Wheat scored a team high 14 points against the Lancers. Avery Gleason scored seven points in the loss. Thursday night, Feb. 1 the team hosted Manteca and lost 50-30. Wheat had six points and Grace Miller also scored a team high six points. Oakdale struggled in the first quarter as they fell behind 13-4. The Lady Mustangs have had a tough time putting games in the win column this season and were to close out the campaign against Central Catholic this week.
