OAKFIELD – The Oakfield boys basketball team had its eyes on a third straight conference title as it went into a matchup with Horicon on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
It took all 36 minutes to decide a winner, but Oakfield pulled away in the final seconds with a 70-63 win.
Oakfield led 61-54 with just over two minutes left in the game before a 9-2 scoring run by Horicon tied it at 63. Oakfield senior Bo Bijl made the go-ahead basket and Brayden Glugla salted the game away with four free throws in the final 15 seconds.
“Horicon’s a really good team, they’re not going to give up. They forced us into some turnovers. The main thing was, we didn’t actually give up the lead,” Oakfield coach Jason Collien said. "They tied it up and then we just had to execute and we got a big and-1 from Bo at the end.”
The win is Oakfield's eighth straight as it improved to 18-3 overall and 12-0 in conference play. With just one conference game left and Horicon adding a second conference loss, Oakfield won the Trailways East Conference outright. After the game there was celebrating with the trophy and the team cut down a net.
“For the last three years, nobody’s won it undefeated, so it’s great to win it undefeated," Bijl said.
There were ebbs and flows throughout the game as it went into halftime tied at 29. The largest first half lead was when Oakfield led 17-10.
Oakfield opened the second on a 9-0 scoring run and looked to pull away. But Horicon always had an answer even after it went down 49-39 with just over nine minutes left to play.
At the root of Horicon’s success was Barrett Meyer who finished with a game-high 29 points.
“He was just knocking everything down. We just wanted to try and get a hand in his face and make him take tough shots and he did,” Collien said.
With just three games remaining in the regular season, the test was welcomed by Oakfield who’s had two games decided by less than 10 points.
“It’s definitely good for us. We haven’t had too many close games all year so it’s good to be in a pressure-packed situation. We’ve got to be ready for that when it comes to the tournament,” Collien said.
Here are two takeaways from the game.
Turnovers
Horicon’s defense had spurts throughout the game that it turned defense into offense. Its scoring runs in the first and second half started with forcing turnovers while also being cautious with the ball.
Oakfield had an unofficial total of six turnovers in the first half and seven more in the second. Horicon was able to time the game late thanks to its full-court press forcing turnovers.
“They’re good at getting pressure on you. They’re good at making you turn the ball over,” Collien said. "They key to handling that kind of pressure is just to keep your head and stay cool but it doesn't work all the time.”
Scoring Seniors
Bijl was the driving force of the offense in the first half for Oakfield as he took position in the post and went to work time and time again. He had 10 first-half points and finished with a team-high 16 points.
“Part of our game plan was to power it inside especially to start the game. We wanted to get established inside, get our offense going and work inside out,” Collien said.
Oakfield’s Broede Collien found his stride midway through the second half as he scored seven-straight points to extend the lead to seven. He finished the game with 14 points.
Glugla had 15 points with 10 coming in the second half and six in the final two minutes.
Each of those seniors had their moments throughout the game.
“I’m so proud of those guys, been coaching them since they were in the third grade and just really happy to see them be able to step up and do something in a big game their senior year,” Collien said.
Contact or send game stats/info to Ben Schultz at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @benschultz52.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Oakfield boys basketball wins third straight conference title