West Oaks Academy Cruises Past Oldsmar Christian

ORLANDO, Fla. – On the way from Oldsmar to Orlando, to play West Oaks Academy, the Oldsmar Christian School team bus had a mechanical issue that delayed their arrival and pushed the start of the game back by 45 minutes. After losing to West Oaks by 41 points, they probably wish they had stayed home.

West Oaks Academy started the game on a 10-0 run and never looked back on the way to a 95-54 win Tuesday night. The game featured a running clock for the final 4:17.

“I thought the guards played really well,” West Oaks Academy coach Kenny Gillion said. “They shared the ball, and brought a lot of defensive intensity. I thought that was the difference in the game.”

Four West Oaks players scored in double figures for the night. Senior guard Tyrieke Blakeney led all scorers with 34 points -- 20 in the first half.

“He’s been out for the last four games so this is his first game back,” Gillion said about Blakeney. “We’ve been talking a lot in practice about just being aggressive, being locked in. Today he came in, he settled down, he took really good shots, he played good D and he just bought in to what we’ve been telling him to do.”

Sophomore wing Selton Miguel had 14, senior big man Rifen Miguel 13 and freshman guard J.J. Harris added 11 for West Oaks Academy.

Tyrese Williams was the high scorer for Oldsmar Christian with 17 points.

The game was a match up of the two most recent SIAA state champions but, following the sudden exit of former head coach John Bianchi, several Oldsmar Christian players transferred out of the school. Among the transfers were four-star combo guard Elijah Weaver (USC) and three-star senior center Michael Durr (USF).

Former West Oaks Academy assistant coach Alex Arias took over the reins of the Oldsmar Christian program on October 22.