Oakwood trounces Trinity on senior night, 64-15

Kort Jensen has harped defense to his team over the past two weeks and Friday night, that focus was put on display.
The Oakwood boys basketball team pressured Trinity Christian into 32 turnovers, 23 coming by way of steals in a 64-15 win on senior night.
“We’re really on the kids heavy, I mean really heavy, about defending. I know we can put the ball in the hole, but can we really defend at an elite level that separates us?” said Oakwood’s coach.
The Hawks rolled to their 18^th consecutive league win, improving to 7-0 in Coastal Division play.
Before the game, seniors from the boys and girls basketball teams, plus the boys tennis team were honored in a ceremony that featured a video and introduction of all the seniors.
“It was a great feeling, but it was a little sad. But there are tons of great memories,” Mortensen said.
Oakwood did it through tenacity on the defensive end, holding Trinity Christian without a field goal through the first 12:22 of the game.
That streak was finally broken with a 3-pointer at the 3:38 mark of the second quarter.
The second turned into Trinity’s best scoring quarter, putting up nine points.
Much of that run came thanks to the Warriors pulling down offensive boards, a fact Jensen said is going to be worked on in practice.
“I haven’t seen the stats yet, but I know that’s going to jump out at me real fast,” Jensen said. “I’m sure I’ll be on the phone with the coaches tonight about that. We will definitely address that in the coming week.”
Oakwood, meanwhile, put up the game’s first 16 points before the Warriors hit a free throw with 0.2 seconds left.
The Hawks followed that with a 17-0 run before Trinity made its first bucket of the night.
That allowed Oakwood to empty its bench for much of the game and Jensen said the effort of his nonstarters was right up there with his staring unit.
“They really, really have gotten good. They work hard in practice, everyday. And you know what, they go against some really good players every day,” Jensen said. “Sooner or later, you go against that talent everyday, you’re going to get better. We let them know when you go in with our second unit, if you go in and there’s a drop off even this much even a half inch, you’re coming out and we’ll go back.”
Of the 11 players who got on the floor, everyone either had a basket, a rebound or a steal.
“It’s really great to see the whole team contribute, especially in a game like this where we have an awesome crowd and everyone got to show off a little bit,” Mortensen said.
After leading 41-10 at the half, Oakwood allowed just five more points for the game, including one put back with 2:50 left in the third and an NBA 3-pointer in the fourth with a running clock.
Youssef Eshra led the charge with 19 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and six steals.
Miles Batey followed with 10 points, Nate Schilling with nine points and Mortensen with six points, nine rebounds and four steals.
Schilling will normally score higher, Jensen said, but was limited in the game due to a nagging injury that left him in obvious pain on the sideline.
“It was one of those nights where it kind of got him,” Jensen said. “But his basketball IQ is so high that even if he doesn’t shoot, he makes every other play out there. … Nate never misses and assignment. Never.”
Oakwood will next take on Kirby Prep on the road with a 6 p.m. tipoff. The Hawks will then take on York on Feb. 17 and return home on Feb. 19 to host Anzar to close out the regular season.