HS Girls Basketball: Battle of the Oaks | Grand Oaks Wins Thriller Against Oak Ridge

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The undefeated Grand Oaks Grizzlies hosted the Oak Ridge Lady War Eagles in the second installment of Battle of the Oaks on Tuesday night. Grand Oaks looks to keep their perfect season going while Oak Ridge looks to take down the district leader.

Grand Oaks came out aggressive quickly on offense, attacking the paint and trying to draw the fouls early on Oak Ridge. The War Eagles would come out in the middle of the quarter with many shots on goal. Taylor Jones would light up the first, scoring 11 of the 14 points scored by Oak Ridge, including a three point buzzer beater from halfcourt. This would put Oak Ridge right behind Grand Oaks by one point going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Grand Oak would struggle getting buckets. Oak Ridge would tighten up their defense and keep them from scoring for almost six minutes. After finally making a shot Grand Oaks would try to chip away at the lead but fell short as the quarter ended.

“We need to execute, it’s all about execution,” said head coach Carter with Grand Oaks.

The teams would come out of the locker rooms ready to keep battling it out. Grand Oaks was down but not out just yet, but Oak Ridge would showcase great defense under the basket making the Grizzlies work for their buckets.

With two and a half minutes left, Grand Oaks would tie it up at 30 but things would get heated and with a personal foul and technical foul, Oak Ridge would take the lead. Once again Taylor Jones would be on fire as she forced the fouls and headed to the line four times in the third quarter. With those shots Oak Ridge would lead 37-32 going into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, things would once again get a little rowdy but Grand Oaks would chip away at the lead and tie it up with just under four minutes left in regulation. It would come down to the wire as Oak Ridge would keep it close but Grand Oaks was able to hold them off in the end. Grand Oaks would win the second Battle of the Oaks 48-45 and continue to keep their perfect season alive.

“I told them it was going to take us 26 minutes to win this ball game,” said coach Carter. “I hope they believe me. Which it took us about 30…31 and a half…I’m just glad that we came out on top.”

With just a couple more games left in the season Grand Oaks will head over to New Caney while Oak Ridge hosts Cleveland at home on Friday night.