After opening the week with a disappointing loss to Notre Dame Prep, the Oxford Wildcats regrouped quickly on Feb. 20 to sweep the court for the second time with Linden.
On Feb. 17, Notre Dame Prep defeated the Wildcats 57-48. The turning point for the night occurred with 6:57 on the clock in the fourth and Oxford up by four.
“We made a couple mistakes down the stretch and a couple of free throws were missed at that time,” said Coach Steve Laidlaw.
However, the almost 10 point gap in the final score is deceiving. Oxford’s varsity cagers fought Notre Dame hard, even closing the gap to a two point difference with two minutes to go, but the Cats couldn’t pull through.
High scorer for the game was Ryan Stull with 18 points. Also putting points on the board were Dave Wendt with 12 and Brad Dugan with 10. Bryan Mattack contributed 10 assists.
Despite the upset, Oxford returned on Feb. 20 to once again defeat Linden with a final 68-62.
“This is the first time we’ve swept Linden in four years,” said a proud Laidlaw. “This was a real big victory for our program.”
Stull once again led the pack with a significant 27 points. Wendt also played one of his best games with 12 points and nine rebounds. Adding their own points were Joe Fedorinchik with nine, Dugan with eight and Mattack with eight.
“Brad Kubina really had a nice game for us coming off the bench,” added Laidlaw.
The Wildcats are starting to wind down the season as they prepare to take on the Holly Bronchos this Friday at home.