Oakridge Middle 7th-grade basketball are conference champs

The Oakridge Middle School seventh-grade girls basketball team made school history, becoming the first OMS team to win the overall conference championship in the sport.

OMS defeated previously unbeaten Saluda Trail 52-35 at home.

The team fell behind early 5-0 and trailed 8-7 midway through the first quarter. Then the Gold Rush defense stepped up and shut down the conference’s second best offense allowing only 13 more points over the next 15 minutes of game time including a shut-out on the scoreboard during third period.

Bella Huston, Rylie Zohner and Autumn Huskey combined to contain several scoring threats. The team, as a whole, frustrated the Wildcats and their faithful fans with swarming pressure on the ball, physical rebounding and a willingness to dive all over the floor to gain ball possession.

On offense, OMS ran the floor and attacked the rim with vengeance. Creating 2 on 1 and 3 on 1 opportunities throughout the night, the girls were able to impose their will and get to the free throw line where the team converted 14 of 17 attempts on the night.

Aylesha Wade proved to be unstoppable on offense thanks to execution on offense by the team as a whole. Despite being double teamed most of the night, she was able to score 42 points as her teammates found her in open areas and freed her from her defenders with well timed screens.

The team ends the year as both division and conference champions.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 12:18 PM with the headline "Oakridge Middle 7th-grade basketball are conference champs."