On a night where Homecoming royalty was crowned, the varsity boys basketball team capped off the night with a 50-42 victory over East Union. This was the team’s third Valley Oak League win of the season and it was a satisfying win over the visiting Lancers to put an exclamation point on the Homecoming celebration. A combination of stellar defense, high energy from the crowd and a 20-point effort by Noah Zepeda carried Oakdale to the win.

The Mustangs got off to a rocky start, however, as they were in foul trouble early. Five team fouls in the first quarter and two team fouls within the first two minutes of the second quarter looked like it could spell doom for the Mustangs. A low scoring affair in the first half, both offenses struggled to get anything going. The first points of the second quarter came on a reverse layup by Mustang Beau Kesterson with 4:48 left in the half. Oakdale went into the locker room up by just two points, holding on to a slim 20-18 lead.

The second half was much different for Oakdale. They minimized the fouls and found confidence on the offensive side of the court. Senior Bryson Boyd scored six points in a 90-second span giving Oakdale a 26-20 advantage in the third quarter. Boyd finished with eight points on the night. Oakdale built up a 31-27 lead to end the third quarter.

Jake Norris got the crowd on their feet with a basket down low in the paint with 6:46 left to play in the game. Zepeda also connected on a trio of three-point field goals to help the host team pull away in the fourth quarter.

Friday night, Feb. 2 Oakdale will host Sierra at 7:30 p.m. for the final home game of the league season.

For the girls, the varsity basketball squad dropped a pair of contests this week. They fell to Kimball 64-19 and then suffered a 45-33 loss to Sierra. Next up on the schedule, the Lady Mustangs will host Manteca on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m.; this will be the team’s final home game in league play for the season.