By Teddy Rydquist
Leader Staff Writer
When the season is finally able to tip, the 2020-21 season will mark a new era for Oxford Wildcat hoops.
Finishing 10-11 (4-8 Oakland Activities Association White Division) in 2019-20, the team fell to one of the state’s best, the Clarkston Wolves, in the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) District 5 semifinals on March 11.
Graduating Trey Townsend, the second-leading scorer in school history with 1,010 points and who is making an instant impact in the Horizon League for Greg Kampe’s Oakland Golden Grizzlies, and their starting center, Ethan Robinson, it was known there would be a couple of pairs of large shoes to fill this winter.
Unfortunately, the team was tasked with dealing with two unexpected departures, as well.
2021 guard Zach Townsend, Trey’s brother, elected to hang up the sneakers and focus on his soccer career. Continuing the family tradition, Zach is committed to play for Eric Pogue at Oakland.
Another 2021 guard, Pedro Bottene, who emerged as one of the team’s better three-point shooters and a capable scorer off the bench in 2019-20, moved to Arizona, where he is also pursuing playing soccer at the next level.
Despite these losses, there are a handful of experienced returnees for head coach Steve Laidlaw and assistants Joe Gallo and Mark Hazelwood, namely guard Mason Mulholland and swingman Palmer Speck, both of whom are seniors, and junior center Bryce Esman, a trio of players who will serve as team captains.
“We lost a lot, but we played a lot of kids last year,” Laidlaw said.
“We got five kids that have a lot of experience, or who have some experience, especially Mason and Bryce. Palmer Speck started quite a few games, Tristan (Bennett) played in every game but one, and Trent Brown started eight games.
“We would’ve been really good with Zach and Pedro from an experience perspective, but we got enough. That’s what I’m telling the guys, we have enough.”
Entering his 12th season, Laidlaw, an Oxford High School graduate, is the longest-tenured head coach in program history. In addition to Gallo and Hazelwood, junior varsity head coach Joe “Fed” Fedorinchik, freshman head coach Dave Brown, and freshman assistant Derek Osborne help with the team.
While the returning seniors will, expectedly, carry the largest load, there are also some underclassmen newcomers who could play an immediate role for the Wildcats.
“Mitch Viviano, Alec Brown will help us,” Laidlaw shared. “Logan Rozanski will help us, we brought up Dylan Stone from freshman, we think he can help us. Ben Cruz is on our team, and Manny Ortiz is on our team.”
Viviano, a junior who started at defensive end for Zach Line during the football season, stands 6-foot-5 and projects to help on the glass.
Only a sophomore, Stone figures to work into the backcourt rotation and Rozanski, the other sophomore, is listed at 6-foot-2 and compares similarly to Speck.

The roster features 12 student-athletes this season, down from last year’s 15. Having a smaller, tight-knit group has helped the team acclimate to one another quickly during this one-of-a-kind campaign.
“Our chemistry is very good, the kids really like each other,” Laidlaw said. “They want to play, that’s the one thing I’ve noticed with the quarantine and the pushing back. Our fall workouts were incredible, we were going seven days a week, we were ready to go and she (Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer) put a pause on it the day before.
“Then, we were all jacked up, ready to go early-January, right? She put another pause on it. So, it is what it is. We’ll get there.”
The team was slated to open their season on Thursday, February 4 at home against the Rochester Falcons. Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ (MDHHS) January 22 order, however, which requires “contact” winter sports – basketball, competitive cheerleading, hockey, and wrestling – to remain non-contact through Sunday, February 21, changed this.
How many games the season will consist of, and when it will conclude, are still being worked through, but Oxford does know they will be competing in the OAA Blue when contests do begin, where they will be joined by the Berkley Bears, Birmingham Seaholm Maples, Lake Orion Dragons, and Troy Athens Red Hawks.
Effective this school year, the OAA reimplemented their fourth division in boys’ and girls’ basketball, the Gold.
“We could’ve stayed in the White, but Rochester Adams wanted to stay in the White,” Laidlaw said. “They were supposed to go to the Blue, so we just said we’ll go to the Blue. It’ll be very competitive.”
Including the student-athletes and coaches from both teams, the MHSAA, in accordance with MDHHS guidelines, plans to permit 100 attendees at games, creating room for a limited number of fans who want to watch their Wildcats to do so.
For those not looking to attend in-person, Oxford’s basketball games are aired on Oxford Community Television (OCTV).
2020-21 boys’ basketball roster (numerical order)
– 1 – Alec Brown, junior, guard, 5-foot-7
– 2 – Mason Mulholland, senior, guard, 5-foot-9, team captain
– 3 – Silas VonAllmen, senior, guard, 5-foot-11
– 4 – Dylan Stone, sophomore, guard, 6-foot-2
– 5 – Ben Cruz, junior, guard, 5-foot-8
– 10 – Logan Rozanski, sophomore, forward, 6-foot
– 11 – Trent Brown, senior, forward, 6-foot-1
– 14 – Mitch Viviano, junior, forward, 6-foot-5
– 20 – Palmer Speck, senior, guard/forward, 6-foot-1, team captain
– 21 – Manny Ortiz, junior, forward, 6-foot
– 23 – Bryce Esman, junior, center, 6-foot-7, team captain
– 33 – Tristan Bennett, senior, forward, 6-foot