Oroville boys basketball has 'fantastic week' on the road

BREWSTER – Oroville Boys Basketball had a successful week on the road, beating Bridgeport and Pateros, then got their revenge for a major loss at home against Brewster.

“It was a fantastic week for the Oroville Boys Basketball team. We won at Bridgeport, then beat Pateros in our house and went down to Brewster and upset them,” said Coach Carl Iverson.

Oroville put paid to the Bears in a 56 to 53 defeat in their own den on Saturday, Feb. 5. Michael Garrett, who leads the league in scoring, was high point producer with 17, followed by CJ Mathews with 13; Preston Iverson, 11; Connor Hughes, eight; Zach Speiker, six and Luke Kindred, one.

“This was a great win for us. It is hard to win at Brewster and just two weeks ago they beat us by 50 points at our house. It was an amazing turn around from that horrific beating. I credit the team with this change,” said Coach Iverson.

The boys are playing as a team now and that makes them “dangerous,” Iverson went on to say.

“I am proud at the way we fought and played defense. We held one Brewter’s best players, Easton Dreissen. scoreless, after he scored 22 the last time. Winning this game put us in second place and that is a huge accomplishment,” he said.

In the game against Pateros the previous day, the Hornets beat the Goats 59 to 55. Speiker was high scorer with 18, followed by Garrett, 16; Mathews, 13; Hughes, eight and Kindred, four.

“Zach Speiker had a fantastic game with 18 points and superb defense against Pateros’ six-foot, five-inch center. Zach worked hard and played great on both ends of the court. We hit eight treys as a team and that opened the middle for Zach to do his magic in the key,” Iverson said.

Mathews and Kindred held the Goat’s leading scorer, Blayne Harvey, to just seven points after he scored 19 the last time he met the Hornets.

“This was a great win for us and we played as a team,” Iverson said.

In Oroville’s game against Bridgeport on Tuesday, Feb. 1, the Hornets beat the Mustangs 61 to 39.

Garrett put in 25 points for the Hornets, followed by Hughes, 13; Mathews, 12 and Speiker and Gil Ildefonzo, five each.

“Micheal Garrett shot lights out with five threes and ended with 25 points. We hit nine treys as a team and they were set up by Preston and CJ breaking down the defense. I was pleased with our defense. Luke Kindred is a freshman that is playing great defense and is learning more everyday,” Coach Iverson said.

The coach said his team is learning how to play against physical teams and this is the third game in a row the other team has been very physical with the Hornets.

“We have won five in a row and six of seven. We head down to Lake Roosevelt Tuesday and then end the regular season at home on Thursday,” said Iverson.