Oxford’s Yellow Jacket boys’ basketball team had an impressive 3-1 week. They had two big wins against two Mississippi schools and lost a heartbreaker at powerhouse Clay-Chalkville. In between was a blowout win at home against Pell City. The Jackets ended the week with a 10-3 record.

Clay-Chalkville 69 Oxford 64

Justin Lawler had 18 points in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough for the Jackets at Clay-Chalkville as they dropped a heart-stopping 69-64 decision against the 8-1 Cougars. The Jackets came out flat and found themselves down 58-42 with 4:32 to go in the game, but the fun was just beginning.

The Jackets put together a furious run of 16 straight points in less than two minutes to tie the game at 58-58 with 2:20 to go. Keith Wilson hit two free throws to start the run. Ulrich Jones got a tip in after a steal. Another steal and Lawler hit two free throws to cut the lead to 10. Lawler got another steal and a layup. Mason got a bucket with 3:20 to go to cut the lead to six and the Cougars called a time-out.

After the time out, Lawler drained a three and another steal and Lawler hit a long three and it was tied at 58-58. The Cougars hit a pair of free throws and pulled back ahead. The Cougars were making their free throws as the Jackets were fouling. Lawler drained another three with 16 seconds left, but Logan Craft missed a three with one second left that would have tied it and the Cougars added two meaningless free throws with less than a second to go.

The Jackets got themselves in a hole with a horrible second quarter that saw the Cougars go on an 18-2 run behind the hot shooting of Mario Baldwin who had 17 first half points.

Lawler had 21 points, Jamal Lee 13, Jones 8, Craft 6, Deon Wright 3, Terry Mason 2, Desmon Owens 2 and Wilson had 7 points for the Yellow Jackets.

Oxford 67 Pell City 26

It was a complete domination as the Jackets shut down Pell City 67-26 in the last home game before the break. The Jacket defense was all over Pell City forcing 16 first half turnovers and holding the Panthers to only nine shots from the floor and three field goals.

Meanwhile, the Jackets were getting off 35 shots of their own and ended up leading 40-12 at the half. Deon Wright drilled three consecutive three’s to end the half, Jones had 8 points and Coach Van Meter began clearing his bench early.

14 Jackets scored points in the game. Wright had 13 points, Craft 10, Jones 10, Lee 8, Lawler 7, Favion Sillman 4, Quinton Cotton 3, Desmon Owens 2, Josh Montgomery 2, Keith Wilson 2, Easy Lackey 2, Demetrius Maxwell 1, Clay Bishop 2, Terry Mason 1 and Ty Ball had 2 rebounds.

Pell City only had 8 field goals in the game and only 27 shots from the floor (8-27). The Yellow Jackets were 26 for 56 from the floor. 12 different players had rebounds in the contest. It was an Area win for the Yellow Jackets.

Oxford 83 Oxford, Miss. 41

In the First Mississippi Challenge the Jackets routed their namesake Oxford in Oxford, Miss. Oxford, Miss., has two schools in its city – Oxford High School and Lafayette High School – and these two schools are hosting their namesakes Lafayette and Oxford for two days of basketball between the girls and boys teams.

Urlic Jones led the Jackets in scoring with 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Jackets blasted the Chargers by 42 points. Keith Wilson added 14 points, Jamal Lee 12 and Deon Wright 9 for the winning Jackets. Mason had 8 rebounds and Lee had 6 boards.

Oxford 68 Lafayette, Miss. 52

The Jackets pulled away in the fourth quarter to take a win over Lafayette in Mississippi. Urlic Jones had another big night with 18 points and 22 rebounds to pace the Yellow Jackets.

Jamal Lee added 18 points and 10 rebounds. Lawler was the leading scorer for the Jackets with 20 points.