The Oakwood boys basketball team is officially 20-0 in Coastal Division play, after completing its second straight sweep of league competition with a 63-31 win over Anzar on Wednesday.
The Hawks have not lost a league contest since Feb. 7, 2013 and have bulldozed their way to another championship.
“It’s a complement to the players who work 12 months out of the year to get better,” said coach Kort Jensen.
Though Oakwood won by 32, it wasn’t the best the Hawks have looked.
Oakwood’s shooting, especially from behind the 3-point arc, was not particularly great.
“It was a rough shooting night,” Jensen said. “We’ve shot the ball really well for a while. I don’t know, maybe (it was) the last home game, maybe the guys got a little too focused on CCS as opposed to focusing on who the opponent is. It could be a number a factors, but normally you don’t see that.”
Even so, the Hawks had four players finish in double figures, led by Nate Schilling with 13 points.
Youssef Eshra followed with 12 points with Miles Batey and Ekene Success each scoring 11.
Success led Oakwood with nine rebounds.
Oakwood at times had glimpses of its usual high level of play, including Eshra throwing an over the shoulder pass to Evan Richards on a fast break leading to an easy layup.
They also had times where a wide open alleyoop or a pass along the sideline missed badly leading to a turnover.
Oakwood outscored Anzar 12-5 in the first quarter and promptly doubled that lead within the first three minutes of the second.
The Hawks took a 35-14 lead at halftime thanks to a 23-point quarter.
Oakwood put things into cruise control in the second half, emptying out its bench and got buckets from all but two players.
It wasn’t entirely needed, however, as just one of Anzar’s players broke double figures, as Jarrott Demaral scored 10 points, thanks in large part to five he put up in the second quarter. Josiah Martinez followed with seven.
Now Oakwood has to play the waiting game.
The Central Coast Section playoff brackets will be announced on Sunday, where Oakwood is hoping to have a better seeding than the sixth-seed it got last year.
If the Hawks receive a Top 4 seed, they will automatically be placed in the quarterfinals, however a 5-8 seed will force them to play on Feb. 26 after a first round bye.
If Oakwood plays a second-round game, the Hawks will play at home. Should they advance to the quarterfinals, the game will be played Feb. 28 at Alma Heights.
