Oak Ridge hoops defeat Crystal City for first win of season

The Oak Ridge Blue Jays defeated the Crystal City Hornets 62-50 for their first win of the season on Monday, Dec. 17, at Oak Ridge High School in Oak Ridge, Mo.

Led by Cohen Hahs’ 26 points, Oak Ridge used a balanced offense consisting of working the ball inside and making well-timed three-pointers to help propel the Blue Jays over the Hornets.

Oak Ridge's first-year head coach, Bryce Hahs, said it was nice to finally get a win, especially on their home floor.

“It feels a lot better than the losses we’ve had. We're coming along, every game we look just a little bit better. We finally put it all together, we hadn’t put a full four quarters yet,” Hahs said. It feels good. This is where I'm from, so to win in the home building feels good.”

Despite the now 1-5 record, two of the team's losses were very close. Hahs said they are getting better each game, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

“Our defense and our rotations have looked better and better, but we couldn't do it for four quarters. It was taking us too long to figure out what they're doing and what we need to do to stop them,” Hahs said. “I felt like tonight, we put it together quickly. We didn't get out on their three-point shooters a couple of times, but our rotations have been leading us this year for sure.”

The Blue Jays and Hornets were tied at the end of the first and second quarters before Crystal City pulled ahead 43-41 entering the fourth. Oak Ridge had their best quarter of the night and took control for the win.

Hahs said the big quarter came from the boys not wanting to give up in the final quarter and playing as hard as they could.

“I think that's all on the guys. I told them, ‘We're down two, all right? All year, we keep going down in the fourth quarter. You guys have to fight and you have to win.’ and they did,” Hahs said. “Cohen took over, and then Jaden McAllister got a couple of steals by being in the right place at the right time. We've been beating ourselves all year in the fourth quarter, but not tonight.”

The Blue Jays next host Bismarck on Thursday at 7 p.m., where they will hope to earn their second win of the year.