Oxford’s Jocie Finch (#11) is pressured into making a long shot against a tough Harpursville defender. Finch led the Blackhawks with 12 points in the 54-34 victory. (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

OXFORD – Straight off defeating Deposit/Hancock on Thursday, the Oxford Blackhawks girls' basketball team hosted Harpursville. They picked up their fifth win of the season with a 54-34 victory. Oxford sits in third place in the MAC Division II standings behind both Greene and Bainbridge-Guilford with a 2-2 divisional record.

Oxford started off strong in the first quarter before settling in with a more comfortable lead before and after halftime. Harpursville got into foul troubles during that period of time, and the Blackhawks went to the line 20 times in those two quarters, making 11 of 20 free-throws. Oxford was also aggressive on defense, forcing Harpursville to turn the ball over multiple times, especially following the inbound, where the Hornets could not get down the court fast enough. Harpursville was also forced to make wild passes to create more opportunities offensively. Meanwhile, Oxford paced themselves with a heavy 20-point lead at the end of the third quarter that stuck for the final eight minutes as well.

Senior Jocie Finch led the Blackhawks with 12 points and knocked in two three's. Taegan Manwarren added nine points and had a strong second half, where she had six points in the third quarter. Margaret Rovente scored eight points while Ava Benjamin had six points in the win.

Oxford (5-9) heads to Unadilla Valley this evening at 7:15 p.m. Oxford will face the Storm twice in the next three games.

Scores by quarter:

HA 5 14 5 10–34

OX 13 14 17 10–54

HA: Adriana Hartman 13, Kylee Noyes 10, Gabby Pawela 5, Vanessa Card 4, Jessalyn Powell 2.

OX: Jocie Finch 12, Taegan Manwarren 9, Margaret Rovente 8, Ava Benjamin 6, Raya Warner 5, Leah Oliver 4, Emmalee Reiss 4, Emily Holbert 4, Christine Seiler 2.

Three-pointers: HA 2 (Noyes 2); OX 3 (Finch 2, Rovente).