Thwarted in finals
- Updated: November 25, 2021
Oxford goes 3-1 at Heritage Classic, beats Minor, then loses to Huffman in championship game
By East Alabama Sports Today
FAIRFIELD – Oxford basketball coach Joel VanMeter had a pretty good idea of the kind of team he was working with this season, but playing in the Heritage Classic this week “solidified” it for him.
Even thought they might be “far from a finished product,” the Yellow Jackets went 3-1 against a high-level field and got all the way to championship game before losing to Huffman 49-31 Wednesday night.
“It gives you a great idea of what you have, to be able to go over there and play in the championship game with all those great schools and that setting,” VanMeter said. “I think it just tells you a lot about what you have.
“I thought for a while that we had a chance to be a really good basketball team. I thought we’d go over here and play well. Your four games are J-O (Jackson-Olin), Pinson Valley, Minor and Huffman. You might play well and not win a game, but to be able to go 3-1 and losing in the championship game to Huffman … it makes you feel good about your team and the trajectory it’s on.”
The defensive battle that was the championship game was Oxford’s second game of the day. They defeated Minor 68-47 in the afternoon semifinals.
VanMeter said Huffman was just better this day. The Vikings were strong defensively, big and physical. They held the Jackets to single digits in every quarter. It was an 18-15 game at halftime. Rylan Houck was Oxford’s leading scorer with 12 points.
“We didn’t play bad, defensively we were good, but you’ve heard this before, when the ball doesn’t through the rim you get worse defensive as the game go along,” VanMeter said. “When the ball’s not going through the rim, defensively every basket they make is magnified tremendously.
“We weren’t bad offensively at ball. We didn’t shoot it well and we didn’t because Huffman guarded us.”
The Jackets reached the championship game by rallying from an early deficit to beat Minor. It took them a while to adjust to the Tigers’ 1-3-1 zone and they fell behind 9-0, but once they got on track they erupted for 52 points in the middle two quarters and carried a 26-point lead into the fourth.
Houck scored 15 of his 23 points in those middle two quarters, Kyler Wright scored 11 of his 14 and Mike McGraw scored 13 of his 15 and all three of his 3-pointers.
“The middle two quarters of the Minor game you got a glimpse of what we’re capable of offensively,” VanMeter said. “We got in a rhythm. This group is just so connected, like everything flows seamlessly. It did against Huffman but we didn’t make shots because they guarded us.”
Jag Classic
HOOVER – Antonio Kite scored 31 points and Anniston bounced back to beat Scottsboro 72-59 in the consolation game of Spain Park’s Jag Classic. Once again the Bulldogs played without three injured starters – Mark Toyer, Kam Sandlin and Tadyn Hall. Spain Park beat Homewood 46-27 in the championship game.
HERITAGE CLASSIC
Championship game
Huffman 49, Oxford 31
OXFORD (5-2) – Jaylen Alexander 1 0-0 2, Rylan Houck 3 6-10 12, Kyler Wright 1 0-0 2, Aaron McFarland 0 0-0 0, J.D. Jones 1 0-0 2, Mike McGraw 3 1-2 9, Jayden Lewis 0 0-0 0, Ashton Mitchell 2 0-0 4, Christian Gibson 0 0-0 0, Brock Reaves 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 7-12 31.
HUFFMAN – Artavous Jenkins 0 0-0 0, Jaquarius Sword 4 1-2 10, Peyton Wiggins 3 0-0 7, Christopher Blount 2 1-4 6, Jamarion Ezell 1 2-4 4, Antwon Canady 0 0-0 0, Jamel Williams 1 0-0 2, Brandon Tinsley 2 1-1 5, Michael Johnson 7 1-2 15. Totals 20 6-13 49.
Oxford 9 6 8 8 – 31
Huffman 7 11 17 14 – 49
3-point goals: Oxford 2 (McGraw 2); Huffman 3 (Sword, Wiggins, Blount). Total fouls: Oxford 13, Huffman 12. Officials: Hicks, Glover, Davis.
Semifinal game
Oxford 68, Minor 47
OXFORD – Jaylen Alexander 3 1-1 8, Rylan Houck 9 2-4 23, Kyler Wright 6 0-0 14, Aaron McFarland 1 0-0 3, J.D. Jones 1 0-0 3, Mike McGraw 6 0-0 15, Jayden Lewis 0 0-0 0, Ashton Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Christian Gibson 0 0-0 0, Brock Reaves 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 3-5 68.
MINOR – Carlos Moore 2 1-2 6, Nehemiah Streeter 2 0-0 4, Dedrick Borden 1 0-0 3, Darrian Jackson 6 0-1 18, Amarion Bowens 0 0-0 0, Quanterian Hill 1 0-0 3, Tyler Crawford 0 0-0 0, Ocie Howard 0 0-2 0, Desean Knight 6 1-2 13. Totals 19 2-7 7.
Oxford 10 28 24 6 – 68
Minor 14 12 10 11 – 47
3-point goals: Oxford 11 (Alexander, Houck 3, Wright 2, McFarland, Jones, McGraw 3); Minor 7 (Moore, Borden, Jackson 4, Hill). Total fouls: Oxford 10, Minor 8.
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