The Oxford Academy girls basketball team reached the championship game of the Oxford Academy Tournament for the first time in the eleven year history of the tournament. Oxford is a much improved team from previous years and features a young squad that includes three freshmen, a sophomore, and junior in the starting lineup.The Lady Patriots powered their way into the finals with the highest scoring offense in the tournament averaging 59 points a game while securing convincing victories over Orange (61-28), La Quinta (54-37), and Godinez (63-24). Oxford faced last year’s tournament champion and 2015 CIF 3A quarterfinalist, the St. Joseph Jesters who reached the championship by knocking off a solid Cypress team 48-39 in a semifinal game the Jesters controlled from start to finish. In the final, the Lady Patriots played a thrilling game that went down to the wire with St. Josephs coming out on top 45-41. St. Joseph used their experience and poise to take an early advantage in the game but had to hold on as Oxford challenged the Jesters down to the final buzzer.This was the first game that this Oxford squad was seriously challenged in and met with adversity.The Lady Patriots showed resilience by fighting back and although they fell short, the audience could tell there is a bright future for this exciting young team. St. Josephs jumped out to a 16-9 first quarter lead as Oxford team struggled to handle the St Joseph’s full court press.St. Josephs used a solid transition fast break offense led by sophomore sensation Stefanie Berberabe who had 17 points in the game to take early control.For Oxford, freshman Center Austyn Masuno kept the Lady Patriots in the game by scoring 7 of the teams 9 first quarter points. In the 2nd quarter, Oxford was able to slow down the Jesters offense, but St. Josephs stilled managed to stretch their lead to a comfortable score of 27-19 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, the momentum shifted as Oxford stepped up their defensive efforts. The Lady Patriots were able to hold St. Josephs to 6 points while picking up their offensive effort to score 11 points to close the quarter and cut the St. Joseph lead to 33-30. The 4th quarter was a nail-biter that had Oxford challenging St. Joseph the rest of the game as the team was being inspired by their freshman trio who all made key plays in crunch time.St. Joseph built a lead up to 40-34 with 4:30 left, but freshman Guard Angie Gagnon drilled a three-pointer to tighten the score to 40-37 with 3:45 remaining.With 2:20 remaining freshman Center Austyn Masuno converted an inside bank shot to cut the lead to 41-39. After St. Josephs scored another basket, freshman Point Guard Mylee Madrazo drove down the lane to score a bucket cutting the lead back to two points with 1:20 left. However, the Patriots couldn’t get any closer from there and Berberabe of St. Josephs made two free throws to put the game away. “I know we lost, but I am proud of this team as we played well throughout the tournament and ended up with a 3-1 record, and that’s pretty good,” Oxford coach David Clifton told his team after the game. Oxford scoring was led by Austyn Masunowith 16 points. Angie Gagnon had 9, Mylee Madrazo 7, and Jocelyn Lopez added 6. Oxford Tournament Top Performers Oxford averaged 55 points a game and was led by its three freshmen who averaged scoring the following during the four-game tournament:Austyn Masuno (19), Angie Gagnon (8), Mylee Madrazo (7), additional scoring came from Sophomores Sophia Chan (8) and Ashleigh Perez (4) and from Junior Jocelyn Lopez (4). This week the Lady Patriots will be competing in the Ocean View Tournament and are scheduled to play Dana Hills, El Toro, and Irvine High, all strong teams from South Orange County. In the 3rd place game, Cypress High took on Godinez High of Santa Ana and came out with a convincing 47-31 victory over the Grizzlies.The Centurions led from start to finish as they used a tough full court press defense to create turnovers and transition baskets. Cypress jumped out to a 24-12 lead by halftime and never looked back.Cypress was led in scoring by Aggie Manu with 16 points while Justina Yoo chipped in 12 points in the Centurion victory.