EAST WHITELAND — To win games, teams must cherish every possession and take great care of the basketball. Tuesday night at Great Valley High School, the host Patriots did not execute that part of the game very well. Great Valley turned the ball over 20 times, fell behind in the first period when they had eight miscues and were knocked form the unbeaten ranks by Oxford, 51-43, in Ches-Mont League American Division action.
Oxford (2-0 Ches-Mont, 5-1 overall) put three players in double-figures, Brian Doresy led all scorers with 15 points, and Ryan Hubley and Tyler Farr had 10 points each. Sophomore point guard Dorsey ran the show for Oxford and coach Sean Harvey, as they led wire-to-wire.
“I like having the responsibility of having the ball in my hands and I know coach has faith in me,’ Dorsey said. “We play as a team and for each other. We hit our free throws in the fourth period because we practice so much on free-throw shooting in practice.’
Oxford scooted out to a 15-7 lead after one period and led the Patriots (0-1, 4-1) 29-19 at halftime. Oxford shot 12 for 21 in the first half, led by Dorsey and Farr, who had eight points at intermission. Great Valley shot 7 for 16 in the opening half and had 12 turnovers.
“You are not going to beat a team as good as Oxford with half as many turnovers as we had tonight,’ Great Valley coach Paul Girone said. “I was really disappointed in the way we came out in the first period. We did not execute our offense well at all and that is going to have to change.’
Oxford kept the pressure on in the third period as Thomas Cruz strolled down the lane for a bucket to make it a 33-23 lead with under three minutes to play. After a Great Valley miss, Josh Mosley scored from in close for a 36-23. Oxford led 42-29 heading into the fourth, and appeared the have the game in hand.
Great Valley did not go away easily. The Patriots shot 6 for 8 in the fourth period as Oxford missed its first five shots of the period and turned the ball over four times.
When Will Buzan hit a runner to make it a 44-37 lead with 2:10 left, it looked like the game may be slipping away from the young Hornets. but, senior Ryan Hubley hit two free throws to keep the lead at nine points.
“Ryan has been in these games in his four years here and he has a lot of experience,’ Oxford coach Sean Harvey said. “And the kids are smart to look for his senior leadership and he provides that. We will clean up the turnovers and we will learn how to win games from these tight games. I was real happy with our defensive effort tonight.’
Great Valley closed to 46-39 after Ryan Buchholz, who had 10 points, scored from in tight. Will Buzan led Great Valley 14 points. Doug Strang buried a 3-pointer to make it a 46-42 game with 1:17 and it looked like Great Valley may be able to steal one.
Oxford hit four straight free throws to keep the lead safe to come away with a huge road divsion win. Oxford was 11 for 16 from the free-throw line for the game, and were six of eight in the fourth.
“We are a team and we all play for each other,’ Hubley said. “It does not matter what grade or how old any of our guys are. We play as a team and we believe in each other.’
