Eagles Escape Tiger Assault 72-65

By Terry Futrell – December 7, 2018

By the skin of their teeth (or should we say beaks) might be the best way to describe the Oakdale Eagles 72-65 victory over the visiting Sunbright Tigers Friday night. In a fiercely fought game that showed just how competitive the District 3-1A race is likely to remain throughout the season, the Eagles pulled this one out at the last minute.

With less than one minute to go, the Tigers trailed Oakdale by only two, 65-63, having come back from a 6-point deficit. In one of the wildest finishes we can remember, it was one minute of basketball that included two key Sunbright players fouling out, ejection of a Sunbright fan, a technical foul against Oakdale, and an intentional foul against Sunbright.  With ten seconds to go in the game, Sunbright trailed by two, 67-65, and had the ball with an opportunity to tie or win. A costly turnover gave the ball to Oakdale, who took advantage and quickly closed out with five additional points. The game was definitely closer than indicated by the final score.

The game began with Sunbright taking an early lead. Oakdale’s heralded full-court pressure defense did not work effectively as Tiger Josh Langley repeatedly dribbled right through it. This allowed Sunbright to control the tempo of the game and play their half-court offense. After a couple of lead changes, Oakdale had a 1-point advantage at the end of the first quarter, 14-13.

The Tigers regained the lead early in the 2^nd period, with all five players scoring, and took a 32-30 lead into the locker room.

Sunbright came on strong during the 3^rd quarter, building their lead to five with a 3-pointer by Jacob Freytag. The Tiger lead swelled to nine points at 48-39. Eagle Clayton Smith entered the game and sank two treys on consecutive possessions to cut the Tiger lead to 50-45. Garrett Best closed out the period with a score that cut the Eagles deficit to four, 50-46.

Oakdale came out strong in the 4^th quarter, scoring ten straight to take a 56-50 lead. In a severe blow to Sunbright’s offense, Josh Langley fouled out. Langley had been instrumental in overcoming Oakdale’s pressure defense and slowing down the tempo of the game. The Tigers lost another player to fouls, Jacob Freytag, but still closed the gap to two at 67-65 before that final, fateful minute of play. During the final minute, Sunbright lost both Wes Bohanan and Colton Nitzschke to fouls, making a total of four players who fouled out.

The Eagles went to the dressing room with a hard fought 72-65 victory, but the stats suggest that the Eagles should still have concerns. While committing 22 personal fouls of their own, the Eagles successfully shot only 19 of 46 free throws (41%) in the game. The superlative pressure defense that worked so well against Harriman just a week ago failed to create Sunbright turnovers that would allow Oakdale to take control of the game. One can only wonder if the Eagles were still reeling from the blowout 4^thquarter and shocking loss at Wartburg on Tuesday.

For the Sunbright Tigers, it was another heart-breaking loss in which they came so close, only to see victory snatched from their hands at the last moment. Fouls were a major factor in the loss, as the Tigers were charged with a total of 35 personal fouls and four players fouled out. In spite of the loss, the Tigers are showing better distribution of scoring and continued development of young players like John Robert Freels. Look for some surprises from these Tigers down the road.

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