November 25, 2021
East Alabama Sports Today
Oxford goes 3-1 at Heritage Classic, beats Minor, then loses to Huffman in championship game
FAIRFIELD – Oxford basketball coach Joel VanMeter had a pretty good idea of the kind of team he was working with this season, but playing in the Heritage Classic this week “solidified” it for him.
Even thought they might be “far from a finished product,” the Yellow Jackets went 3-1 against a high-level field and got all the way to championship game before losing to Huffman 49-31 Wednesday night.
“It gives you a great idea of what you have, to be able to go over there and play in the championship game with all those great schools and that setting,” VanMeter said. “I think it just tells you a lot about what you have.
“I thought for a while that we had a chance to be a really good basketball team. I thought we’d go over here and play well. Your four games are J-O (Jackson-Olin), Pinson Valley, Minor and Huffman. You might play well and not win a game, but to be able to go 3-1 and losing in the championship game to Huffman … it makes you feel good about your team and the trajectory it’s on.”
The defensive battle that was the championship game was Oxford’s second game of the day. They defeated Minor 68-47 in the afternoon semifinals.
VanMeter said Huffman was just better this day. The Vikings were strong defensively, big and physical. They held the Jackets to single digits in every quarter. It was an 18-15 game at halftime. Rylan Houck was Oxford’s leading scorer with 12 points. [**read more]
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