Coach Gonzales and I could not be prouder of our boys at the tournament Jan. 23-25. We are coming together as a team and a family.

We started the season with a lot of injuries and we have everyone back except Jacob Oberle. Jacob had knee surgery and he will have to skip his junior year. Jacobs comes to every practice and fills a role in many ways for the team.

The Oilers opened the tournament with a number one seed — the Larned Indians — who had a record of 7-2. We played great team ball and held the Indians to 40 points to our 31. We had only 11 turnovers against a very athletic team. Tyler Holms led the scoring with 9 followed by Lawson Oeser, Jerred Bieberle and Ethan Hurley all with 6 points and J.J. Heredia with 4. It was this game where the boys realized their capabilities.

We were matched with KC Christian the second game and Lawson Oeser found his range on scoring, he scored 21 points while commanding his team with great leadership. We held them to 18 points while tossing in 48 and controlling the tempo with our defense and offense. Jerred Oberle followed with 9, Ethan Hurley 5, Michael Laymon and Tyler Holmes each had 4, Dylan Kitchen 3, Cole Lamatsch and J.J. Heredia with 2. We had only 8 turnovers. A win always builds confidence.

Game 3 matched us with Macksville and the Oilers took the wheel again. We controlled the tempo from the get go. We allowed only 11 points in the first half while scoring 23 with 5 - 3 pointers that stunned Macksville.

Our zone defense was tenacious and our offense found the range. The second half the Oilers tossed in 26 more finishing with a 49-36 win over a good team. Lawson Oeser again lead the team with 22 points followed by Tyler Holmes with 11, J.J. Heredia 6, Dylan Kitchen 4, Ethan Hurley 3, and Jerred Bieberle 2. After 3 games we averaged only 10 turnovers per game.

We are now becoming physically healthy and it feels great to have a point guard that can lead his team. Lawson Oeser is our man now. Jerred Bieberle and J.J. Heredia are three seniors that power the punch both offensively and defensively. Ethan Hurley and Tyler Holmes, two juniors who are showing their game as well.

These young men just make me proud to be a part of their basketball team. We traveled to Macksville Friday, Jan. 31, and I’m sure they were looking for revenge.