Oxford’s road to reaching the MHSAA’s Class 5A North Half Tournament became a little more difficult Friday night after the Chargers suffered a 69-64 setback to West Point in Division 2-5A title game.
A late comeback by the Chargers (21-9 overall) wasn’t enough to overcome a series of mistakes and foul trouble that eliminated two of their best players, Justin Fondren and Romeo Johnson, midway through the fourth quarter.
Friday night’s title game was ultimately decided on the backboards. West Point (12-13) did a better job of getting second-chance shots compared to the Chargers, who had trouble creating offense against the Green Wave’s 2-3 zone.
Oxford coach Drew Tyler said the zone was a new wrinkle installed for the third meeting between the two schools.
The loss now means the Chargers have to travel to play Callaway in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs on Tuesday night. (February 13, 2012, Page 4B)
