By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
The Oxford High School varsity girls basketball team lost a nail bitter rematch against Lake Orion High School, falling to the Dragons 44-40.
Oxford previously defeated the Dragons 48-33 on Jan. 30 at Lake Orion.
The Lake Orion team came out of the gate strong with a number of steals from the Wildcats to keep them from scoring for most of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Oxford ladies managed to keep pace with Lake Orion and a final three point buzzer shot reinvigorated the Wildcats heading into the locker room at halftime.
At the start of the third quarter, Oxford began a comeback, tying the score up with just a few minutes left in the quarter. But a last second three point shot from Lake Orion put the Dragons up by five.
At the very beginning of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats tied it up with Lake Orion again.
An impressive Dragon defense and several three point shots subdued the Wildcats but only for a bit as the Oxford team closed in on the Dragons with just a few seconds left.
The Wildcats hoped to force a turnover by intentionally fouling Lake Orion player Izzy Wotlinski twice, yielding two extra points for the Dragons to put Lake Orion up 43-40. With just two seconds left, the Wildcats fouled Lake Orion’s Ryann Pawlaczyk, who added another point for the Dragons.
The final score at the buzzer was a close 44-40.
Top scorers for the Wildcats were junior Allison Hufstedler and freshman Mia Champagne with eight points each. Senior captain Peyton Richter added seven and senior Braydee Elling chipped in five.
The Wildcats are 2-5 in the OAA Red division and 9-8 overall.
Oxford hosts the Clarkston High School Wolves on Tuesday after Leader press time for the final OAA Red matchup of their regular season.