Light scores 35 in Oak Ridge's 78-41 district win

ORAN, Mo. -- After spending the first half of its Class 2 District 3 quarterfinal building a comfortable 21-point lead, the Oak Ridge boys basketball team probably could have coasted to a win over Puxico on Saturday.

The No. 2 seed Blue Jays (21-4) made a different choice on their way to a dominating 78-41 victory.

"We talked about they scored 14 in the first, 14 in the second and we really wanted to try to keep them under 10 in the third," Oak Ridge coach Adam Stoneking said. "Really don't let them build on what they had."

Oak Ridge reached its goal in the third, allowing Puxico to score just six points before repeating the feat in the fourth by giving up seven points.

"Of late, we've been looking a lot better on the defensive end," Oak Ridge senior Garret Light said. "Just in the last few games we've picked it up a lot. Holding teams to less than 10 has been our goal the whole time and if we do it, great. If they score a little more than 10, it happens."

Light opened the scoring for Oak Ridge on Saturday. He got a shot to fall in the lane as he was being fouled and made the subsequent free throw. It was a play that his opponent saw often Saturday as Light continued to score inside and finished with a game-high 35 points without hitting a 3-pointer.

"I mean, I'm a senior this year, and I know there's a couple other seniors on the team," Light said. "There's no room for error. It's one-and-done if you lose, so we know we have to work hard to keep playing."

Caleb Elam finished with 13 points, while Brett Thomas and Logan Mangels added nine each for Oak Ridge.

The Blue Jays will face Oran in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"We came out and we did everything that we wanted to do," Stoneking said.

Puxico 14 14 6 7 -- 41

Oak Ridge 21 28 19 10 -- 78

PUXICO (41) -- Skyler Moore 4, Ethan Walker 2, Derrick Durall 12, John Smith 11, Tyler Woolard 7, Nathan Martin 3, Corey Davis 2. FG 17, FT 5-9, F 18. (3-pointers: Woolard 1, Martin 1. Fouled out: none)

OAK RIDGE (78) -- Stephen Bolen 2, Caleb Elam 13, Lucas Rohde 6, Jacob Light 3, Garret Light 35, Hunter Metje 1, Brett Thomas 9, Logan Mangels 9. FG 29, FT 15-20, F 8. (3-pointers: Elam 1, Rohde 2, Thomas 1. Fouled out: none)