Oxford’s Donovan Rickard (Black #15) has the ball and is looking to move against UV defenders’ Zach Smith and Denzel Peter. Rickard scored 16 points in Oxford’s 55-39 victory. (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

NEW BERLIN – With both teams off to a slow start in the 2023 season, the Oxford Blackhawks and the Unadilla Valley boys basketball teams faced off in a league contest on Friday before Christmas break. Oxford picked up their second win of the season 55-39 as UV was unable to make the complete comeback.

Both teams came out strong in the first half with Oxford taking the brief 28-21 lead at halftime. UV pushed through to start the second half and cut the lead down to one late in the third quarter. Each time the Storm got close, Oxford would rebuild their lead and never let go. The Blackhawks even held UV to four points in the final eight minutes.

Oxford was led by Donovan Rickard who scored an all-round high of 16 points as Caden Rifanburg finished with 10 points. Eli Bennett and Jared Sheridan both had nine points each in the win.

UV’s Zach Smith knocked in two three’s and had 12 points on the night while Denzel Peter followed with 11. Haywood Edwards went five-for-eight at the foul line and scored all four of the team’s points in the final quarter and finished with nine points overall in the loss.

Oxford (2-3) will be competing in the Edmeston Holiday tournament on Thursday against host Edmeston at 8 p.m. UV (0-6) hosts their annual holiday tournament, welcoming Charlotte Valley, Norwich, and Sherburne-Earlville. The Storm seek their first win of the season as they face Sherburne-Earlville on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Scores by quarter:

OX 13 15 11 16–55

UV 10 11 14 4–39

OX: Donovan Rickard 16, Caden Rifanburg 10, Eli Bennett 9, Jared Sheridan 9, Ben Sheridan 7, Sam Hendricks 4, Kyle Benjamin 1.

UV: Zach Smith 12, Denzel Peter 11, Haywood Edwards 9, Tucker Cattanach 4, Dalton Allen 3.

Three-pointers: OX 2 (Rifanburg, Bennett); UV 2 (Smith 2)