| #7 - Oxford vs. Lafayette (1st Meeting) Girls Basketball 2007-08 - "The Holdout" This game was ugly, this game was low scoring, this game was exactly how the Lafayette Lady Commodores wanted it to be if they were going to beat the Oxford Lady Chargers for the first time in a long time. It almost happened. Oxford was leading 44-43 with 40 seconds to go and had the ball. Oxford had led the entire game but it was never by more than 8 points. Lafayette had called a timeout prior to the possession after making a bucket to get it to that score to set up the defense. Oxford in-bounded easily and trotted up the court. 35 seconds left, Oxford runs the stall offense with Lafayette in a press zone to try and force a turnover. 30 seconds left, Oxford is able to successfully make 3 passes in a weave back to OHS PG Tamera Wadlington. 25 seconds left, Lafayette is still pressing trying to force a turnover, understandable - they had some time to do that without fouling. 20 seconds left, LHS head coach Amy Sutton starts yelling at her players to foul after Oxford has managed to maintain possession for 20 seconds. Lafayette is now racing to strip the ball to maybe get a turnover but if unsuccessful would put Oxford at the Free Throw Line by fouling and surrender a point or two to get the ball back to tie or potentially win. 15 seconds left, Lafayette hacks twice but could not get the ball AND they did not get whistled for a foul despite the referees knowing the situation. Oxford nearly loses the ball but still able to handle it. 10 seconds left, nobody is sitting down, everyone is on their feet cheering hard for their respective teams on hoping that Lafayette is able to stop the clock and have a chance to win or Oxford to play keep-away for 10 more seconds. Oxford used all corners of the floor, nearly loses the ball twice but was able to get back to Wadlington to handle it in space without a Lafayette defender able to reach the ball-handler before being fouled. 5 seconds left, Wadlington dancing wildly to avoid the Lafayette defenders trying to milk every second off as LHS is trying to foul her. Buzzer sounds, Oxford wins 44-43. Charger fans go wild. The Lady Chargers did the unthinkable and managed to waste all 40 seconds off the clock without losing possession all while holding a slim one-point lead where one mistake could have cost them the game - but they never made that mistake. Lafayette somehow was not able to foul Oxford for the last 20 seconds they attempted to do so. For the first 20 seconds, they tried to force a turnover from Oxford who was clearly trying to waste the clock to all zeroes and not score a basket. That way they did not have to burn a foul to force Oxford to the FT line and would have had a chance to win the game if successful. It did appear that they fouled twice, but not to the referees on the court for that game. If Lafayette did foul and Oxford were to make the ensuing two free throws, it would've made the game at best 46-43 - a 3-point advantage (almost as if Oxford actually tried to score instead of burning the clock but....), but Lafayette would have had the chance to force Overtime with a 3-point basket on the next possession with at least some time on the clock. At this point, all the fans were waiting on the boys tip-off and got into the heat of the moment. These type of games just show why you need to attend BOTH Boys and Girls Basketball games - no most girls cannot dunk, but that is not reason enough to attend the other game too right? I attend all of them and this game in particular was exciting from start to finish (especially the finish) which is why this made it all the way to #7 in the Top 20 Games. |
#15 - Oxford vs. Lafayette |
| Anyways, in the middle of the third quarter, Oxford was leading by about 6-8 points, a foul was called that looked very questionable from the fans vantage point. Head Girls Basketball Coach Shane Stone really saw it differently and argued with the referee to the point where he received a Technical Foul for his efforts to try to reverse the call. Likely received it for saying a few magic words. About 10 seconds after getting assessed the first one, he threw a towel against his chair that had so much force behind it that it tipped the chair to the ground. That is when he was assessed the second Technical. When someone receives two Technicals in the same game - player or coach - you are ejected from the ball game. Not to mention that if a coach gets ejected, he has to pay a hefty fine for doing so. |
The tide did turn - in the other direction. The first play after Stone was ejected, Tamera Wadlington hit a deep 3 that shut the Lafayette fans up and got Oxford's fans going. Lafayette committed two straight turnovers that led directly to two Oxford layups. All of a sudden, Oxford built a 13-15 point lead and Lafayette had to call a timeout. It would not matter as Oxford went on to win 65-38, blowing out Lafayette by 27. Oxford outscored Lafayette by around 20 points after Stone was ejected in the third quarter. It seemed though that Stone accomplished what he wanted to do in terms of how the game went after that. The referees kept a watchful eye on things and the girls played like Stone was a teammate that got unfairly treated and thrown out (in a sense he was). The way Oxford responded to that game after their coach was ejected is why this made my top 20 list at #15. | |
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She is a player you can not leave wide open, come and watch her nail opponents with her deadly 3-point shot. Look for her to lead a young team this season that has a lot of inexperience at the Varsity level. Her and fellow Senior Alexus Malone are the only two returning players that have played significant minutes in the past.
Do not forget after Basketball season that she runs in Girls Track, a program that she was involved in all three State Championships they have so far. In fact so far in her high school career, there has not been a year where they have not won the State Championship in Girls Track. She is normally running the sprinting events like the 100m dash, 200m dash and their respective 4x100m and 4x200m relays.
She is a four-time State Champion, once with Girls Basketball, thrice with Girls Track. You have no excuse to not watch her win another one.
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He will lead a young Charger team that lost every starter outside of Brown. Oxford Basketball has been a powerhouse for many years, winning the division crown more often than not, but it has been since 2001 that Oxford Boys last won a Gold Ball. Oxford may be young going into next year, but when has that ever stopped this school in any sport? Look for Brown in Basketball to step up and be the Senior Leader Coach Drew Tyler is expecting him to be. He might miss the first few games, depending on how Football does, but let's hope he's carrying the Football Championship Trophy when he does enter the Thunderdome for the first time this season.
| #7 - Nick BrownNick Brown is the floor general for the Oxford Boys Basketball Team, but did you know you could be seeing him play as early as August? He is one of the newest additions to the Football Team this Fall as a Wide Receiver and the way he is impressing coaches could start on both offense and defense at Defensive Back for the Football Chargers. Prior to this year, he had not played a down of Varsity football. He will certainly be an important part of the Wide Receiver Corp. come Football Season as Oxford lost its top two leading Wide Receivers to graduation, QB Parker Adamson is going to need someone to pass it to. Something to watch for before he goes to the Basketball court this season. His main sport though is Basketball. He returns with the most experience on the team having started most of the games the past two years. He will lead a team that lost in the first round of the playoffs last year, however it was to eventual 5A Champion Callaway in which Oxford gave them their stiffest test of the playoffs inside their own building. He also leads a team that lost a lot of height last year with Justin Fondren and Romeo Johnson lost through graduation. |
* (Taylor McGraw has recently posted an article to the Oxford Eagle on this very issue on Wednesday June 6th, you can sign his online petition for more Basketball Courts here ->) | | |
All of the sports mentioned has improved in their facilities around Oxford in recent years except basketball. Soccer, Flag Football, Softball and Baseball have FNC Park and because of the move in those sports, Football has a place to practice for the young guys out there. Tennis had several renovations done around Avent Park which has 4 courts and the Activity Center which has another 8. Basketball though has remained untouched for more than the last 15 years.
Outside of those, even with Ole Miss right there, there are not that many public courts in Oxford. There is the Turner Center on the Ole Miss campus but you need a Turner Center ID (which you have to be at least an Ole Miss Staff member or be a Student to get) to enter those 4 courts. Oxford and Lafayette High School each have a court but of course not open to the public. Only the students there are able to shoot on those courts and only when they can. Tad Smith Coliseum, Gillom Sports Center and the Basketball Practice Facility on the Ole Miss campus are obviously not open to the public either. The remaining three courts are at First Baptist Church and the church right next to it, and North Oxford Baptist Church. North Oxford and First Baptist may be open to the public (I'm not too sure on that), but if not are usually for church members that go there and they use those places for much more than just Basketball very often.
Oxford's only choice to go usually for basketball is at the Activity Center to use the courts. The majority that go over there cannot get into the previous places mentioned or cannot even get in the Activity Center because the courts are full. This screams the need for even just a couple of public outdoor basketball courts. Every place that has a basketball court is either private or require an ID and most places are not very accessible either.
Taylor McGraw, a former OHS standout in sports, graduate of and Hall of Fame member at Oxford and Ole Miss has set up a website to petition the need for Basketball Courts in Oxford. The petition requires 1500 signatures. (Sign the petition here: http://www.change.org/petitions/outdoor-basketball-in-oxford?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=share_page_mobile) As of June 8th, it has 160 signatures.
Oxford and Lafayette has a total of 7 Gold Balls won (OHS Boys have 2, LHS has one they won way back in 1981 - the first championship they won for any sport by either Oxford or Lafayette, OHS Girls have 4 and recently won one this past year with its first undefeated championship run in Basketball) I would like to see that number increase, and two good outdoor Basketball Courts would surely help.
The camp is for players that just finished Kindergarten-8th Grade. Early registration (by May 19th) is $100, while registration at the door on May 22nd between 7:30-8:30AM is $110.
The camp runs from 8AM-Noon each day. It is designed for individual instruction with emphasis on positive attitude, work habits, self discipline and fundamentals of the game like shooting, passing, ball handling and rebounding.
Each camper will receive a camp T-shirt, a regulation basketball, a 2012 Charger Camp medallion and special awards for competition winners. Competitions include a 3-on-3 Tournament, Hot Shot, Free Throws and for older groups a 3-point contest.
To register, swing by the Oxford schools or University Sporting Goods on the square. For more information, contact Tyler at the high school (234-1562).
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