By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
The Oxford High School varsity basketball teams took home all three wins in last week’s games, including a double header at the Oakland University O’Rena on Friday.
The week began with a girl’s matchup on Tuesday the 25th at the Rochester Adams Highlanders’ home court, the Wildcats coming out on top, 42-39.
“The girls played well,” Rachel Breyer, varsity girls coach, said. “They did a nice job transitioning up the floor quickly, they took into consideration player personnel that we talked about and they executed well.”
Freshmen guard Allison Hufstedler and forward Nevaeh Wood had high-rebound games against Adams, their combined performances putting up about 20 points through rebounds.
Friday the 28th’s game was only a bit farther away, taking place as the first of two games at Oakland University’s O’Rena. The girls took on the Bloomfield Hills Blackhawks and won, 46-35.
“I was really happy with my girls and their ability to execute,” Breyer said. “Obviously we always have things that we want to tweak and change and get better at, but in that game specifically we focused on [Bloomfield Hills] #20, who was the post player. We really wanted to take her points away from her.”
The strategy focusing on #20 began by sending Wood to cover her, followed by sophomore forward Avery Feeney.
“Both of the girls — who are much shorter [than #20] — did a great job,” Breyer said. “They were basically a presence in the post for us.”
Once the girls walked off with the win, the boys stepped up against Troy Athens Red Hawks for a 60-57 overtime victory.
“It went really well,” Steve Laidlaw, varsity boy’s coach, said. “Like most of the games we turned the ball over too much at times, but we were really aggressive and played incredibly hard.”
One of the things Laidlaw was most impressed by was the team’s composure while tying up the score and pulling through overtime.
“A lot of times teams do not rebound emotionally very well after that, and I thought our kids did a great job regrouping and had a really spirited overtime session,” Laidlaw said. “I am really proud of the kids.”
In terms of individual performances, senior forward Mitchell Viviano and center Bryce Esman put up 16 and 13 rebounds respectively, Esman even landing a dunk in front of an electrified Wildcats student section. Laidlaw praised junior guard/forward Logan Rozanski for his second half defense, senior guard Alec Brown for his seven points in the fourth quarter and overtime, freshman guard Jake Champagne for his flawless 4/4 free throw record and junior guard/forward Lucas Bottene for his tie-breaking overtime 3-pointer.
Both teams play twice this week, but what makes this week special is the return of varsity basketball to the OHS Ian Smith Gymnasium.
“Oh, we are looking forward to Friday,” Laidlaw said. “Oh my goodness we are looking forward to it … We are taking back our school. And for the kids to be able to play in that gym and to have the community and their support, it is gonna be a big event.”
Both the boys and girls travedl to face the Rochester Falcons away on Tuesday. the Boys will host the Berkley Bears at OHS this Friday. The girls will host the Troy Athens Red Hawks on Thursday . All games start at 7 p.m.