Oakesdale fights for win against Odessa

OAKESDALE - AFter a bit of a rough start to the game, the Oakesdale Nighthawks battled back to defeat the Oakesdale Tigers, 61-47, on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Odessa jumped to a 7-0 lead before Oakesdale could sink a bucket just under halfway through the first quarter. Senior Charlie Henning got the Nighthawks on the board.

Oakesdale also got into some foul trouble early on, having five fouls in the first four minutes of the opening frame. The Nighthawks were able to tie the score at 10-10 when sophomore Ryker Reed hit a 3-pointer and senior Dawson Lobdell got a steal and a breakaway layup with 2:30 to go in the first.

The Tigers then took a small lead and the score was 18-14 at the end of the first quarter.

"For a number of our guys it was their first varsity experience, so I think there were some jitters in the first half," said Oakesdale head coach Carl Crider. "Sometimes it's hard to turn that nervous energy into not second guessing yourself. This was an opportunity to do a better job at this point in time and play more confidently and not second guess the decisions we were making."

The Nighthawks began to find their footing in the second quarter, making crisper passes and finding the rebounds. With one minute to go in the first half, Oakesdale made a sideline out-of-bounds play with sophomore Jake Melhus passing the ball to fellow sophomore Avery Roper, who dished it back to Melhus for a field goal, tying the score. At halftime the game was tied, 29-29.

Oakesdale came out on fire to start the second half, rallying up the score and forcing Odessa to make key turnovers. The Nighthawks scored 11 points before the Tigers could sink a single bucket.

"I think pressing in the second half got us rolling," Crider said. "We struggled early and we came out and had a 5-0 run in the first 45 seconds so that was good to see."

At the end of the third quarter, the Nighthawks had built a 47-38 lead.Roper hit a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and Melhus sank another 3-pointer shortly after. From there, the Nighthawks controlled the clock and came away with the 61-47 victory.

"The biggest thing from my standpoint is the fact that we didn't get rattled by the fact that they were hanging with us and we were able to stay composed and finish them off in the second half," Crider said. "That was a big step for this group."

Reed led the Nighthawks with 20 points, followed by junior Emeric Anderson with 15 and Lobdell added nine. The team shot 58% from the free-throw line, sinking 7-of-12.

The Nighthawks were scheduled to play the Colton Wildcats on Saturday, Dec. 7, but the game was moved to Monday, Dec. 16, due to referee availability. Oakesdale will get week-long break before playing an away game against the Almira-Coulee-Hartline Warriors at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10.