MightyOaksFan....Ask and you shall receive. My thanks to ballhound for his website which enabled me to gather Huntington information. Enjoy. See you Monday in Waverly.
Lucky 13? Lady Oaks in district semis…again
By PAUL BOGGS
Sports Editor
OAK HILL — The Oak Hill High School girls basketball team has been better by the dozen.
Now, it’s time for lucky number 13.
The Lady Oaks are making their 13th straight Division III district semifinal appearance on Monday in Waverly, and are also aiming for their 13th straight appearance in the district championship tilt.
And, in the process, this year’s Lady Oaks are exorcising some ghosts of six seasons ago, as they face the Huntington Lady Huntsmen in the Division III district tournament at Waverly’s Downtown Arena.
Tipoff time on Monday is set for 6:15 p.m.
While the Lady Oaks are already 20-1, and the outright Southern Ohio Conference (Division II) and Division III sectional champions, another Oak Hill ‘march in March’ is anticipated.
Oak Hill’s lone loss was on Jan. 17 to Riverdale, which the Lady Oaks fell at the all-Ohio Prep PIckerington Shootout.
Since then, the Lady Oaks — which finished fifth in the Division III Associated Press statewide poll — have returned to their winning ways.
After winning their first 12, their current win streak stands at eight after Saturday’s 75-28 trouncing of the Portsmouth Lady Trojans in the sectional championship.
It’s also been 12 straight district semifinal victories, going on 13 on Monday.
Oak Hill head coach Doug Hale was asked about the ‘secret’ to the Lady Oaks’ tournament success.
“Our players and community get really excited for the tournament,†said Hale. “That gives us extra motivation to practice and prepare well for it (tournament). We look at our tournament schedule as one game at a time. We change our normal routine very little. One game at a time, one quarter at a time.â€
And, one opponent at a time, although there is some incentive for the Lady Oaks come Monday.
Their matchup with Huntington will be the first since the two teams last played in 2003, when Huntington ended Oak Hill’s run in the district championship.
After winning by over 30 early in the season, the Lady Oaks suffered three key injuries throughout the season by the time they rematched Huntington in the finals.
This time, the victory went the way of the Lady Huntsmen.
Since then, Oak Hill has lost only one other time in the district finals, which was two years ago to Eastern Brown.
Perhaps it’s a payback six years in the making for the Lady Oaks.
But Hale expects Steve Bridenbaugh’s team to be no different than his previous Huntington clubs come Monday.
“Huntington is always well-coached and they are accustomed to district play like we are,†he said. “Coach Bridenbaugh keeps his teams focused and prepared. This one is no different. They play great defense and with a lot of energy. We will need to focus and prepare well.â€
The Lady Huntsmen, in the early part of the season, were adjusting to life without Lydia Bridenbaugh.
Bridenbaugh, the coach’s daughter, graduated from Huntington as the Lady Huntsmen’s all-time leading scorer and as the three-time Scioto Valley Conference Player of the Year.
She was also a three-time first-team all-district honoree by both the District 14 Coaches Association and the Associated Press.
Huntington has played better in the month of February, following its 40-39 loss at Jackson on Feb. 2.
The Lady Huntsmen handed Adena, which swept them during the regular season, a 46-38 loss in the sectional championship last Saturday.
“We have been watching them throughout the season,†said Hale. “(Oak Hill boys basketball coach Norm) Coach Persin scouted their game with Adena.â€
Huntington, which averages 37 points per game while allowing just 39, will need to protect the basketball against the Lady Oaks’ full-court pressure.
The Lady Huntsmen are led by Bridgette Neighbors (five-foot-seven inch junior), who averages almost 12 points per game and often plays the point guard position.
On the inside, 5-8 sophomore Madison Vickers averages 10 points and six-and-a-half rebounds.
Vickers shoots at a 46.5-percent average while Neighbors nets 35-percent of her field goals and 66-percent of her free throws.
Neighbors also has 17 threes on the season.
“We have to play with energy and determination,†said Hale. “We have to play well defensively and as a team.â€
But defense — full-court trapping pressure defense — is indeed the Lady Oaks’ forte.
At least six Lady Oaks, paced by sophomore Mikie Strite (57), have amassed at least 40 steals for the season.
And, those same six are averaging at least six-and-a-half points per game.
The two junior standouts — Karissa Adkins and Rebecca Puckett — are averaging at least 11.2 points per game, including Adkins with a team-high 14.7.
The Lady Oaks’ third-leading scorer, freshman Breanna Butler at almost 10, leads the team in three-point goals with 34.
The other Lady Oaks with at least 131 points include Strite and freshmen Lakin Caudill and Taylor Hale.
Huntington has its hands full no doubt.
The Lady Oaks enter as a prohibitive favorite, but this young group in terms of age and playing together will be facing a tough tournament test.
Of Oak Hill’s regular eight-man rotation, only Adkins and Taylor Butler boast at least two years of tournament experience as Oaks.
As a freshman, Puckett played for the Vinton County Vikings in the Division II district championship.
She transferred to Oak Hill before this school year.
Both teams are also entering the game after an eight-day layoff.
But that is little worry to Coach Hale, as both teams have endured layoffs before, including a two-week span between games this season for the Lady Oaks.
That covered the last week of January, and into the first week of February, during the winter storm.
“We have had layoffs in the past, but we have a certain agenda we follow that we hope keeps our team rested as well as focused,†said Hale.
The layoff, and pregame hype toward Huntington, comes to an end at 6:15 p.m.
The winner will advance to the Division III district championship, which will be played on Saturday, March 7 at 9 p.m. at the Ohio University Convocation Center in Athens.
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Information from
www.svcsportszone.com was used in this story.
