BOYS BASKETBALL: Oxford advances in D-1 state tournament with first regional win since 1948; Roseville rolls by Troy
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
HOWELL — What is more recent? The end of World War II or Oxford winning a regional game in the sport of boys basketball.
If you chose the latter, you would be correct.
But barely.
World War II ended in 1945, while Oxford last won a regional contest in the sport back in 1948.
The unranked Wildcats are truly making up for lost time, winning a regional semifinal game Tuesday night for the first time in 71 years. Oxford rolled past Milford, 59-38, in a Division 1 regional semifinal at Howell High School to advance to the regional finals for the first time in over seven decades.
The Wildcats will play regional host Howell on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the regional finals and will try to capture their first regional title since 1926 — in the early stages of the MHSAA state tournament. Howell pulled away from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the second semifinal, 59-46.
Moving On: Oxford senior forward Michael Raisch and the Wildcats cruised past Milford 59-38 Tuesday and into the regional finals. Courtesy Photo | Oxford Athletics
“I think our defense and shooting was very good again,” offered Oxford coach Steve Laidlaw, who last week guided the Wildcats to their first district crown since 1993. “We hit 10 threes and anytime you make that many threes you don’t lose very often. On the defensive end, we did a great job pressuring them into a lot of turnovers and we never let them get (into a rhythm).”
Oxford (23-1) built a narrow 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, but blew the game open with a 15-2 spurt in the second quarter — good for a 28-16 halftime advantage.
The Wildcats continued to surge ahead with a 23-8 third quarter run, which put Oxford in the driver’s seat at 51-24 entering the final frame.
Milford (15-8) outscored Oxford 14-8 in the fourth quarter, but the damage had already been done. The Mavericks were making their first appearance in the regionals since 1998.
Junior Trey Townsend, a 6-foot-5 junior all-everything player, led Oxford with a game-high 23 points on the strength of four three-pointers. Senior forward Connor Nicholson added 13 points, senior forward Michael Raisch twined nine points despite foul trouble, while senior guard Logan Coughlin added six points for the Wildcats, who sank 10-of-23 triples in the contest.
“We played with a lot of confidence. Even though Michael Raisch got two quick fouls to open the game, that didn’t bother us,” said Laidlaw. “We overcame that with our bench and wore them down with our defense and shooting. We gave their big only one dunk and we made them work for every point they got. We played some really good basketball in the second and third quarters.”
Defensively, Oxford held Milford 6-foot-7 senior center Gunner Gustafson to just 12 points and one dunk. The Wildcats also held the Mavericks to only a trio of three-pointers — all in the fourth quarter after the game was already decided.
MORE DIVISION 1
ROSEVILLE 83, TROY 42: Roseville dropped out of the Division 1 state rankings in mid-February and are listed as honorable mention in the Associated Press polls.
Tell that to Troy.
Roseville opened up with a 24-9 run and never looked back in rolling by Troy Tuesday in this Division 1 regional semifinal by 41 points at New Baltimore Anchor Bay.
By halftime, the Panthers (19-4) were in control with a 35-20 advantage.
Roseville, which set a school record for wins, erupted in the third quarter, using a 25-10 spurt to build a commanding 60-30 lead entering the final frame. The Panthers closed with a 23-12 run.
Darien Banks scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the third quarter for Roseville. Lazell Judge aided a balanced effort with 17 points, Martell Turner scored 14 and John Ukomadu was the fourth player to reach double four figures for the Panthers with 11 points.
Troy, which won three straight districts, was ousted in the regional semifinals for the second straight season. The Colts were paced by senior Clay Sebastian’s 14 points, while sophomore Brody Parker chipped in with 12 points.
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