ST. JOSEPH — Just two weeks into the boys basketball season, the Oakwood Comets have won the Tri-County Thanksgiving Tournament and on Saturday night, they suffered their first loss in nine games as St. Joseph-Ogden defeated Oakwood 74-42 in the title game in the Toyota of Danville Classic.
“I like our team. We have some ability,’’ said Oakwood coach Jeff Mandrell. “We just didn’t execute and turned it over too many times.
“We are better than we showed tonight.’’
And those turnovers helped the Spartans (4-0) go on a 17-0 run in the first quarter turning a 1-point game (9-8) into a 26-8 lead at the end of the first eight minutes.
“All credit to their defense,’’ Mandrell said. “We just turned it over too many times and we buried ourselves early. Against a team like that, you just can’t do that.
“They came out and they set the tone. We just threw it away, while they made some shots and we didn’t. When that happens, pretty soon, you find yourself trailing by double digits and that was all she wrote.’’
Oakwood (8-1) has basically played one-third of regular-season games in a two-week stretch.
Mandrell admitted that’s a unique situation.
“We’ve only been able to practice a couple times and that’s the rough part of our schedule. We haven’t really been able to change things,’’ he said. “Now, we only have a handful of games in the next three weeks, so we’ll have time to make some adjustments that are needed and also to get better in a couple of areas.’’
That lack of practice time, along with being a little tired after playing eight games in 11 days was not a good combination for the Comets against the Spartans.
“That’s part of it, but you have to give them a lot of credit because they are really good,’’ Mandrell said. “We, now, have to find some answers for how we play going forward and look for answers to make our team better for matchups like this one.’’
Mandrell admits winning eight of nine games, claiming the Tri-County title and still having plenty of areas to improve is a good thing.
“Every team is different and we are going to look at some different things,’’ he said. “It’s a pretty good felling to be 8-1 at this point of the season.
“During these first two weeks, we have seen some combination of players that work better than others, and certain shots that our kids are better at. But, there are some defensive things that we need to get better at.’’
Carson Dudley scored a team-high 15 points for the Comets. Dudley along with senior Alec Harrison were all-tournament selections for Oakwood.
St. Joseph-Ogden senior Tanner Jacob, the MVP for the Toyota of Danville Classic, scored 18 of his game-high 19 points in the first half for the Spartans.