By Teddy Rydquist
Leader Staff Writer
Improving to 5-2 (4-1 Oakland Activities Association Blue Division), the Oxford Wildcats girls’ basketball team won all three games they played from February 23-26.
Dating to their February 18 victory over the Berkley Bears, this run of success extended the team’s season-long win streak to four games.
Following a road triumph over the Avondale Yellow Jackets, an OAA Blue foe, on February 23, the Wildcats traveled to Troy Athens two days later, February 25, to battle the Red Hawks, another divisional opponent.
With the entire game played within a five-point margin, Oxford was able to grind out a hard-fought win, 42-38.
Senior Mackenzie “Mackie” Methner led the Wildcats with 14 points, with classmate Emma Morris tallying 12. Sophomore Miranda Wyniemko finished with seven and buried a big 3-pointer with about 1:45 to play to stretch the lead to five points.
Skylar Emerson, a sophomore, paced Troy Athens with 12 points.
Playing their second game in as many days, Oxford returned to the Ian Smith Gymnasium on February 26 to welcome in the Romeo Bulldogs, a member of the Macomb Area Conference’s (MAC) White Division.
Racing out to a 15-point halftime lead, the Wildcats cruised to a 47-27 victory to complete their unbeaten week. Head coach Rachel Bryer’s team made life difficult for the Bulldog offense all evening long, holding them to just 11 points in the first half, including just two in the second quarter, which came on a pair of free throws by junior Sarah Ross.
Morris and freshman Payton Richter registered a team-high eight points apiece against Romeo, and senior Makenzie Brown and Wyniemko both pitched in seven.
Senior Ava Muschong was the high-scorer for Kathy Bosheer’s Bulldogs, recording 12 points on four 3-pointers.
“It’s clicking, it’s making sense,” Bryer said. “The girls are finally learning how to play with each other, they’re working hard at practice to figure things out, which, I know being thrown into it, everybody is kind of in a scramble right now, but it finally feels like it’s getting back to normal.
“That’s what I’m most excited about, just finding that starting five, and then get in my subs, and being able to have that good rotation. That’s what we were looking for, that good rotation, and I think we finally found it.”
The starting five Bryer and assistant coach Allison Karpinski have been recently employing consists of Brown, Methner, Morris, Richter, and Wyniemko.
Richter, one of just two freshmen on the team, along with Lexy Yankee, seems to be finding her groove at the varsity level, totaling 14 points in the last two games, six against Troy Athens and eight in the Romeo clash.
Brown, despite generally being one of the smaller girls on the floor, is an effective rebounder and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time.
“Kenzie Brown, she rebounds, she hustles, and she gets after it,” Bryer said. “She may not score a lot, but the number one thing she brings to a team is she can get after it on defense and she wants that ball on rebounds, that’s why she’s getting her minutes.
“Payton Richter, she’s just going to keep on growing. She has phenomenal hands, great court awareness, and she catches everything. She’s a freshman, she’s got years to grow, I have three or four girls coming back, I’m excited.”
Oxford returned to the court on the road on Monday, March 1 against Berkley, results were not available in time for this issue, but will be covered in the March 10 edition.
The girls have another away game on Wednesday, March 3 against the rival Lake Orion Dragons, before beginning a five-game homestand with tilts with the Lapeer Lightning on Thursday, March 4 and Avondale on Tuesday, March 9.