BOYS BASKETBALL: Oxford bounces Lake Orion to earn first district title since 1993

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

LAKE ORION — No one had to remind Steve Laidlaw of the significance of Friday’s basketball victory for Oxford.

After all, the Wildcats have not enjoyed much postseason success on the hardcourt in some 100-plus years of boys basketball campaigns.

Oxford continued its best season in school history with another benchmark, as the OAA Blue Division champions captured their first district title in 26 years with a 39-32 triumph over host Lake Orion in the newly-created Division 1 (formerly Class A).

The Wildcats’ last district title came back in 1993 and that was in Class B. Oxford became a Class A school in 1999-2000 and had never won more than one postseason game in a season in Class A until this year’s 3-game week.

Before that, Oxford has to go back to the 1940s to see its second most recent district title.

“This means a lot, very surreal,” admitted Laidlaw, who coached Oxford from 2003-2009 and came back in 2016 to lead the Wildcats. “It’s been a very long time since we’ve won a district. I am not naive, but we haven’t had a senior class like this since I think that ’93 team. We’ve only had 13 winning seasons over the past 40 years and there were years where Oxford wasn’t very good. These seven seniors have done everything to get us here.”

Lake Orion held a 28-26 lead entering the fourth quarter before Oxford (22-1) went on a 13-4 fourth quarter run to seal the deal and end decades of frustrations.

“I think it’s our defense,” said Laidlaw, who was an assistant on the ’93 team. “All season long we’ve played great defense. We struggled offensively in the first half and we’re only down to Orion by three in their gym. If it wasn’t for our defense, we could have been down double digits easily. Lake Orion is a good team and better than what their record (indicates). Jim Manzo has always done a great job with that program. We are very fortunate tonight to come here and win a district at their place.”

Junior forward Trey Townsend’s turnaround, fade-away jumper with 1:12 to play gave the Wildcats the lead for good and started a game-closing 7-0 run which sent Oxford into a long-awaited frenzy.

“We’ve wanted this all season and ever since I was a kid I pictured hitting the (go-ahead) shot,” said Townsend. “Oxford has always been a wrestling and football school and we’ve wanted to make it a basketball school for a long time.”

Townsend finished with a game-high 14 points, seven rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals in leading Oxford to its seventh straight win.

Senior forward Michael Raisch followed with 11 points and six rebounds, senior forward Connor Nicholson added eight points and four rebounds, while senior guard Logan Coughlin was held to three points but recorded five rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Wildcats.

Senior Nathan Talbot, a 6-foot-9 center headed for Division II Wayne State, led Lake Orion with 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Junior forward Dylan Boedigheimer followed with six points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Dragons.

“We had some good looks at the basket and even from three, but we just could never knock down shots with consistency,” said Lake Orion coach Jim Manzo. “You have to give credit to Oxford. Steve has done a great job there and they are a great team. They are 22-1 for a reason. But this hurts because we were in this game until the final minute. We lost on our home floor and it stings a little bit.”

Lake Orion (13-9) fought tooth-and-nail to hold a narrow 14-11 lead at the half, as both teams were a combined 11-for-49 from the floor over the first two quarters. Lake Orion outscored Oxford 8-2 in the second quarter and was 7-for-23 shooting in the first half, while Oxford a sour 4-for-26 from the field over the first 16 minutes.

Oxford held a 15-14 scoring edge in the third frame to pull to within two points at 28-26 entering the fourth stanza — setting the stage for the comeback.

The Wildcats finished the night shooting 13-for-44 from the floor, including just an uncharacteristic 4-for-17 from three-point range.

Lake Orion was forced into 15 turnovers and shot only 12-for-43 from the floor, 1-for-13 from 3-point range and 6-for-15 from the foul line.

Oxford will travel to Howell High School Tuesday and will face Milford (16-7), which upset Walled Lake Northern 45-43 in overtime Friday.

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