When the Oxford basketball team hosted Great Valley last Thursday night, the Hornets’ starting lineup featured Brandon Sivels, Luke Campbell, Thomas Repetz, Brennan Rozich and Zach Gouty—all seniors—as the team made a bid for its seventh win of the season. Christian McCartney, Oxford’s sixth senior on the roster, also made a big contribution against Great Valley. The strong showing by all the upperclassmen was appropriate as Oxford celebrated Senior Night during the last game of the season.

For three quarters, the Hornets matched Great Valley basket for basket. They hustled after loose balls, fought for rebounds on both ends of the court, and worked hard on defense. They forced turnovers and did a good job of dictating the tempo of the game.

The Hornets concluded the first quarter with a nice run—Campbell hit a short basket, McCartney followed with a three-pointer, and then Sivels scored a bucket to give his team a 15-10 lead at the end of the first.

In the second quarter, Great Valley senior Josh Stehle scored from just about anywhere he wanted on the court. He knocked down a three-pointer about midway through the second quarter, and then tied the game with a short jumper that hit high off the glass and went in.

Baskets by Rozich, McCartney, and a turnaround jumper by Repetz boosted Oxford, but Stehle continued to keep his team on pace with Oxford, tying the game with a lay-up and later tying it again with a three-pointer. It was 23-23 at the half.

The two teams continued to trade baskets in the third quarter. The score was tied, 31-31, when Stehle hit a lefthanded jumper in the closing seconds of the third quarter to give his team the lead. Starting with that basket, Great Valley finished the game on a 15-4 run to hand Oxford a 46-35 loss.

Stehle poured in 28 points, which led all scorers.

Oxford had a very balanced offensive attack. Rozich and McCartney led the Hornets with 8 points each. Sivels contributed 7 points. Campbell and Repetz finished with 6 points each. The seniors, in particular, had a strong showing for the Hornets, and it was a good way for them to end their basketball careers with Oxford.

“I thought we played very hard. I was proud of the effort,” said Oxford head coach Brian Urig.

When Great Valley surged in the fourth quarter, the Hornets found it hard to score. Urig lamented that it was almost as if there was a lid on Oxford’s basket for one stretch during the fourth quarter when the shots just wouldn’t fall.

Urig credited the core group of seniors with making a positive impact during their time at Oxford. He said that during the last two years that he has been coach, the players all worked hard to improve their games.

“They are all quality young men and I enjoyed working with them,” Urig said.