Districts are the next stop for the Varsity Boys Basketball team as they closed out their regular season this past week.
In their final game of the season against Holly, the Wildcats lost a 68-58 decision on Friday, Feb. 25.
The Wildcats were led by senior Gary Wurtz with 15 points and three steals. Junior Chris Calvin had 13 points and six rebounds and senior Mike Bertling contributed with eight points and 16 rebounds.
‘We played a tough team in their gym,? said Head Coach Paul Marfia.
With the score being tied at 32 at halftime, Holly game out and started hitting three-pointers, which put the game out of reach for Oxford.
The Broncos scored 18 of their 24 points in the third quarter from beyond the three-point line. Meanwhile, Oxford was only able to muster 15 total points in the quarter.
‘This game could be boiled down to three,? Marfia said. ‘The moment we gave them a little bit of room they went out and made them. I honestly feel they won the game. They had to go out and make the 20 foot jump shot, and sometimes 23 foot jump shots.?
Overall, Holly was 10-17 from the three-point line.
Marfia was proud of the way the team kept battling, despite the fact that Holly was hitting nearly 60 percent of their three-point shots.
The boys claimed their final victory of the regular season with a complete 32 minute effort against Linden, defeating the Eagles 74-56.
Oxford jumped out to a 14-8 lead after the first quarter, and they never looked back.
Oxford had a 33-26 lead to start the third quarter, but instead of taking it easy, the kept their foot on the gas and extended their lead to 51-36 by the end of the quarter.
Bertling led the Wildcats with 21 points, while Wurtz had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the victory.
‘It’s probably the best all-around game that I’ve seen Gary play,? said Marfia.
In 26 minutes, Wurtz finished 9-9 from the field, 2-2 from the free-throw line, and had no turnovers to his previously mentioned five assists.
Oxford finished the game shooting 27-51 from the field, including 3-8 from the three-point line
Marfia noted that the thing he was proud of the most was the team’s free-throw shooting; they finished 17-22.
Junior Ken Coffman was 2-2, junior Josh Bell was 2-2, sophomore Mark Hazelwood was 2-2, Wurtz was 2-2, Bertling was 3-3, senior Kevin Cramer was 3-4 and Calvin was 3-7 said Marfia.
‘It wasn’t just one kid going 10-10 for us, it was the whole team and I think that is something we are going to draw upon when it comes tournament time. You have to be able to make your free-throws down the stretch,? said Marfia.
The Wildcats finished their season with a 7-13 overall record, and 7-11 in their final season in the Flint Metro League.
They will be at Rochester High School for their opening round district game on Monday, March 8 starting at 7 p.m.